Boy or Girl Paradox - First Question

First Question

  • Mr. Jones has two children. The older child is a girl. What is the probability that both children are girls?

Under the forementioned assumptions, in this problem, a random family is selected. In this sample space, there are four equally probable events:

Older child Younger child
Girl Girl
Girl Boy
Boy Girl
Boy Boy

Only two of these possible events meet the criteria specified in the question (e.g., GG, GB). Since both of the two possibilities in the new sample space {GG, GB} are equally likely, and only one of the two, GG, includes two girls, the probability that the younger child is also a girl is 1/2.

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