2000 Paper 1 Q12

Year: 2000
Paper: 1
Question Number: 12

Course: LFM Stats And Pure
Section: Geometric Distribution

Difficulty: 1500.0 Banger: 1480.9

Problem

I have \(k\) different keys on my key ring. When I come home at night I try one key after another until I find the key that fits my front door. What is the probability that I find the correct key in exactly \(n\) attempts in each of the following three cases?
  1. At each attempt, I choose a key that I have not tried before but otherwise each choice is equally likely.
  2. At each attempt, I choose a key from all my keys and each of the \(k\) choices is equally likely.
  3. At the first attempt, I choose from all my keys and each of the \(k\) choices is equally likely. Thereafter, I choose from the keys that I did not try the previous time but otherwise each choice is equally likely.

No solution available for this problem.

Rating Information

Difficulty Rating: 1500.0

Difficulty Comparisons: 0

Banger Rating: 1480.9

Banger Comparisons: 5

Show LaTeX source
Problem source
I have $k$ different keys on my key ring. When I 
come home at night I try one key after another until I 
find the key that fits my front door. What is the probability 
that I find the correct key in exactly $n$ attempts in 
each of the following three cases?
 \begin{questionparts}
 \item At each attempt,
I choose a key that I have not tried 
before but otherwise each choice is equally likely. 
 
\item At each attempt,
I choose a key from all my 
keys and each of the $k$ choices is equally likely. 
 
\item
At the first attempt,
I choose from all my 
keys and each of the $k$ choices is equally likely. Thereafter, 
I choose from the keys that I did not try the previous time 
but otherwise each choice is equally likely. 
 \end{questionparts}