A box contains 4 red balls and 6 black balls. Three balls are selected randomly from the box one after another, without replacement. The probability that the selected set contains one red ball and two black balls is A. $$\frac{1}{{20}}$$ B. $$\frac{1}{{12}}$$ C. $$\frac{3}{{10}}$$ D. $$\frac{1}{2}$$

$$rac{1}{{20}}$$
$$rac{1}{{12}}$$
$$rac{3}{{10}}$$
$$rac{1}{2}$$

The correct answer is $\boxed{\frac{3}{10}}$.

The probability of event A happening, given that event B has already happened, is called the conditional probability of A given B, and is denoted by $P(A|B)$. It can be calculated using the following formula:

$$P(A|B) = \frac{P(A \cap B)}{P(B)}$$

In this case, event A is “the selected set contains one red ball and two black balls” and event B is “the first ball selected is red”. We are asked to find the probability of event A happening, given that event B has already happened.

The probability of event A happening is the number of ways to select one red ball and two black balls from a total of 10 balls, divided by the total number of ways to select 3 balls from 10 balls. This is:

$$P(A) = \frac{\binom{4}{1} \binom{6}{2}}{\binom{10}{3}} = \frac{4 \times 15}{120} = \frac{3}{20}$$

The probability of event B happening is the number of ways to select one red ball from a total of 4 red balls, divided by the total number of ways to select 1 ball from 10 balls. This is:

$$P(B) = \frac{\binom{4}{1}}{\binom{10}{1}} = \frac{4}{10} = \frac{2}{5}$$

Therefore, the conditional probability of event A happening, given that event B has already happened, is:

$$P(A|B) = \frac{P(A \cap B)}{P(B)} = \frac{\frac{4 \times 15}{120}}{\frac{2}{5}} = \frac{3}{10}$$

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