Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 exptools; site ihnet.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!ihnp4!ihnet!eklhad From: eklhad@ihnet.UUCP (K. A. Dahlke) Newsgroups: net.math Subject: Pistachio Probabilities Message-ID: <285@ihnet.UUCP> Date: Thu, 22-Aug-85 10:56:54 EDT Article-I.D.: ihnet.285 Posted: Thu Aug 22 10:56:54 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 24-Aug-85 17:56:46 EDT Distribution: net Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 19 < literally, munch! > You people are going to start thinking I am weird. While eating pistachios last night, I noticed some of them were unopenable (using the simple fingernail method). These, I simply tossed back into the bag, only to run across them later. So, another useless irrelevant question was born!!! Suppose you begin with a bag containing O openable pistachios, and U unopenable pistachios. A trial consists of selecting a nut at random, and eating it (if possible), or returning it to the bag. How many trials, on the average, are required to consume all the "openable" pistachios? Express the answer in terms of U and O. Any ideas on the variance/distribution of trials(U,O)? Although I have not given this problem a lot of thought (yet), it looks surprisingly difficult. The pistachios, by the way, were delicious. -- This .signature file intentionally left blank. Karl Dahlke ihnp4!ihnet!eklhad