Math Problem Statement

Suppose you are one of 13 people at a dinner party. Find the probability that at least one of the other guests has the same birthday as you and that some pair of guests share the same birthday. Assume there are 365 days in the year. Question content area bottom Part 1 The probability that at least one other guest shares your birthday is approximately    enter your response here. ​(Round to four decimal places as​ needed.)

Solution

To calculate the probabilities, let’s break the problem into two parts:


Part 1: Probability that at least one other guest shares your birthday

Assume there are n=13n = 13 people at the dinner party, including yourself. Each person’s birthday is randomly distributed over 365365 days.

Complementary Approach:

  1. The complement of "at least one other person shares your birthday" is "no one else shares your birthday."
  2. If no one else shares your birthday, the remaining 1212 people must all have birthdays on days other than yours.

The probability that a single person does not share your birthday is: Pnot shared=364365.P_{\text{not shared}} = \frac{364}{365}.

For all 1212 other people, the probability that none share your birthday is: Pnone share=(364365)12.P_{\text{none share}} = \left(\frac{364}{365}\right)^{12}.

Now, the probability that at least one person shares your birthday is: Pat least one shares=1Pnone share.P_{\text{at least one shares}} = 1 - P_{\text{none share}}.

Calculation:

Pat least one shares=1(364365)12.P_{\text{at least one shares}} = 1 - \left(\frac{364}{365}\right)^{12}. Pat least one shares=1(0.997260)12.P_{\text{at least one shares}} = 1 - \left(0.997260\right)^{12}. Pat least one shares10.967692.P_{\text{at least one shares}} \approx 1 - 0.967692. Pat least one shares0.0323.P_{\text{at least one shares}} \approx 0.0323.

Thus, the probability is approximately 0.0323.


Part 2: Probability that some pair of guests share the same birthday

This is the classic "birthday problem."

Complementary Approach:

  1. The complement of "some pair of guests share the same birthday" is "no two guests share the same birthday."
  2. If no two people share a birthday, the first person can have any of the 365365 days, the second person 364364 days, the third person 363363 days, and so on.

The total number of ways to assign unique birthdays to 1313 people is: Punique=365364363(36512)36513.P_{\text{unique}} = \frac{365 \cdot 364 \cdot 363 \cdots (365 - 12)}{365^{13}}.

The probability that at least one pair shares a birthday is: Ppair shares=1Punique.P_{\text{pair shares}} = 1 - P_{\text{unique}}.

Calculation:

The numerator (number of ways to assign unique birthdays): 365364363353=365!(36513)!.365 \cdot 364 \cdot 363 \cdots 353 = \frac{365!}{(365 - 13)!}.

The denominator (total possible birthday assignments): 36513.365^{13}.

So: Punique=365!(36513)!36513.P_{\text{unique}} = \frac{365!}{(365 - 13)! \cdot 365^{13}}.

Approximating this: Ppair shares10.8264.P_{\text{pair shares}} \approx 1 - 0.8264. Ppair shares0.1736.P_{\text{pair shares}} \approx 0.1736.

Thus, the probability is approximately 0.1736.


Final Results:

  1. Probability that at least one other guest shares your birthday: 0.0323.
  2. Probability that some pair of guests share the same birthday: 0.1736.

Would you like to see these calculations explained further or in more detail?


Related Questions:

  1. What is the probability for n=20n = 20 people instead of n=13n = 13?
  2. How does the probability change if the year has 366366 days (leap year)?
  3. What is the probability that exactly two people share a birthday in this group?
  4. How would the probability change if there were 5050 guests instead of 1313?
  5. How can these probabilities be approximated using logarithms?

Tip:

The "birthday paradox" often surprises people because probabilities grow faster than intuition expects!

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Math Problem Analysis

Mathematical Concepts

Probability
Complementary Probability
Permutations

Formulas

P(at least one shares) = 1 - (P(no one shares))
P(no one shares) = (364/365)^12
P(pair shares) = 1 - P(unique birthdays)
P(unique birthdays) = (365 × 364 × ... × (365 - n + 1)) / 365^n

Theorems

Complement Rule in Probability

Suitable Grade Level

Grades 10-12