Probability that poles will be correctly hung together


Snow skiing is a popular sport. Many people feel that an important part of the equipment needed to participate in the sport is a pair of ski poles, which are carried by the skier (one in each hand) to aid with weight distribution and turning maneuvers. At the top of each pole a strap is attached, which can be placed over the wrist to prevent losing the pole during a fall. These straps are also commonly used to hang the ski poles from hooks or pegs during periods of non-use.

Scenario 1: Wes and Andy each have a pair of ski poles. There are two hooks on the garage wall where the boys have been instructed to hang their ski poles. However, much to their mother's dismay, they have left their poles in a heap on the garage floor. (The poles look very similar to one another so without looking closely it is difficult to determine which two belong to Wes and which two belong to Andy.) Their mother randomly hangs up the poles, two poles on each hook. What is the probability that Wes' poles will be correctly hung together on one hook with Andy's correctly hung together on the other hook?

Scenario 2: A ski club with 4 members uses a similar storage system as the one described above. Each member normally hangs his (or her) ski poles on a hook, with each member using a separate hook. Suppose that the cleaning person takes down all the poles to wash the wall, and puts them back up randomly with two poles to each of the 4 hooks. What is the probability that the poles will be paired correctly (i.e. each hook will hold two poles belonging to the same member)?

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Basic Statistics: Probability that poles will be correctly hung together
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