Expected number of urns that are empty












1












$begingroup$



We have $n$ balls that are numbered $1,...,n$ and are put into $n$
urns also numbered 1 thru n in such way that ball $i$ is equally
likely to go into any of the urns $1,2,...,n$. Find the expected
number of urns that are empty. Also, find the probability that none of
urns are empty.




Attempt



Im confused as to how we place the balls into the urns. What is the convention in such problems? Because for instance, I don't know whether an urn can have at most one ball, or can hold more than one ball. This is my confusion, but my idea is to let $X$ be the number of empty urns and then define



$$ X_i = begin{cases} 1, ; ; ; urn ; i ; empty \ 0, ; ; ; otherwise end{cases}$$



So that $X = sum_{i=1}^n X_i$. Now, since we want $E(X) $ and $E(X)= sum^{n} E(X_i)$, then we just need to care about $E(X_i) = P(X_i=1)$. SO, in other words, the problem reduces to find the probability that the ith urn is empty.



my Assumption: an urn can contain any number of balls



Assuming this, then the sample space is $n^n$ and the number of ways an urn is empty is just $n!$ since to have the ith urn empty all the other $n$ balls must go into remaining $n-1$ urns. Therefore $E(X_i) = frac{n!}{n^n} $ and thus



$$ E(X) = n frac{n!}{n^n} = frac{n!}{n^{n-1} } $$



Now, if we want none of the urn empty, we just have to count in how many ways can all $n$ balls be placed in $n$ urns so that no urn is empty, well this is just $n!$. Threfore



$$ P(no ; urn ; empty) = frac{n!}{n^n} $$



is my approach correct?










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    I believe that urns in probability problems usually have infinite capacity $ddotsmile$
    $endgroup$
    – Lord Shark the Unknown
    Nov 28 '18 at 6:12










  • $begingroup$
    I don't get $E(X_i)$ as $n!/n^n$.
    $endgroup$
    – Lord Shark the Unknown
    Nov 28 '18 at 6:13
















1












$begingroup$



We have $n$ balls that are numbered $1,...,n$ and are put into $n$
urns also numbered 1 thru n in such way that ball $i$ is equally
likely to go into any of the urns $1,2,...,n$. Find the expected
number of urns that are empty. Also, find the probability that none of
urns are empty.




Attempt



Im confused as to how we place the balls into the urns. What is the convention in such problems? Because for instance, I don't know whether an urn can have at most one ball, or can hold more than one ball. This is my confusion, but my idea is to let $X$ be the number of empty urns and then define



$$ X_i = begin{cases} 1, ; ; ; urn ; i ; empty \ 0, ; ; ; otherwise end{cases}$$



So that $X = sum_{i=1}^n X_i$. Now, since we want $E(X) $ and $E(X)= sum^{n} E(X_i)$, then we just need to care about $E(X_i) = P(X_i=1)$. SO, in other words, the problem reduces to find the probability that the ith urn is empty.



my Assumption: an urn can contain any number of balls



Assuming this, then the sample space is $n^n$ and the number of ways an urn is empty is just $n!$ since to have the ith urn empty all the other $n$ balls must go into remaining $n-1$ urns. Therefore $E(X_i) = frac{n!}{n^n} $ and thus



$$ E(X) = n frac{n!}{n^n} = frac{n!}{n^{n-1} } $$



Now, if we want none of the urn empty, we just have to count in how many ways can all $n$ balls be placed in $n$ urns so that no urn is empty, well this is just $n!$. Threfore



$$ P(no ; urn ; empty) = frac{n!}{n^n} $$



is my approach correct?










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    I believe that urns in probability problems usually have infinite capacity $ddotsmile$
    $endgroup$
    – Lord Shark the Unknown
    Nov 28 '18 at 6:12










  • $begingroup$
    I don't get $E(X_i)$ as $n!/n^n$.
    $endgroup$
    – Lord Shark the Unknown
    Nov 28 '18 at 6:13














1












1








1





$begingroup$



We have $n$ balls that are numbered $1,...,n$ and are put into $n$
urns also numbered 1 thru n in such way that ball $i$ is equally
likely to go into any of the urns $1,2,...,n$. Find the expected
number of urns that are empty. Also, find the probability that none of
urns are empty.




Attempt



Im confused as to how we place the balls into the urns. What is the convention in such problems? Because for instance, I don't know whether an urn can have at most one ball, or can hold more than one ball. This is my confusion, but my idea is to let $X$ be the number of empty urns and then define



$$ X_i = begin{cases} 1, ; ; ; urn ; i ; empty \ 0, ; ; ; otherwise end{cases}$$



So that $X = sum_{i=1}^n X_i$. Now, since we want $E(X) $ and $E(X)= sum^{n} E(X_i)$, then we just need to care about $E(X_i) = P(X_i=1)$. SO, in other words, the problem reduces to find the probability that the ith urn is empty.



my Assumption: an urn can contain any number of balls



Assuming this, then the sample space is $n^n$ and the number of ways an urn is empty is just $n!$ since to have the ith urn empty all the other $n$ balls must go into remaining $n-1$ urns. Therefore $E(X_i) = frac{n!}{n^n} $ and thus



$$ E(X) = n frac{n!}{n^n} = frac{n!}{n^{n-1} } $$



Now, if we want none of the urn empty, we just have to count in how many ways can all $n$ balls be placed in $n$ urns so that no urn is empty, well this is just $n!$. Threfore



$$ P(no ; urn ; empty) = frac{n!}{n^n} $$



is my approach correct?










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$





We have $n$ balls that are numbered $1,...,n$ and are put into $n$
urns also numbered 1 thru n in such way that ball $i$ is equally
likely to go into any of the urns $1,2,...,n$. Find the expected
number of urns that are empty. Also, find the probability that none of
urns are empty.




Attempt



Im confused as to how we place the balls into the urns. What is the convention in such problems? Because for instance, I don't know whether an urn can have at most one ball, or can hold more than one ball. This is my confusion, but my idea is to let $X$ be the number of empty urns and then define



$$ X_i = begin{cases} 1, ; ; ; urn ; i ; empty \ 0, ; ; ; otherwise end{cases}$$



So that $X = sum_{i=1}^n X_i$. Now, since we want $E(X) $ and $E(X)= sum^{n} E(X_i)$, then we just need to care about $E(X_i) = P(X_i=1)$. SO, in other words, the problem reduces to find the probability that the ith urn is empty.



my Assumption: an urn can contain any number of balls



Assuming this, then the sample space is $n^n$ and the number of ways an urn is empty is just $n!$ since to have the ith urn empty all the other $n$ balls must go into remaining $n-1$ urns. Therefore $E(X_i) = frac{n!}{n^n} $ and thus



$$ E(X) = n frac{n!}{n^n} = frac{n!}{n^{n-1} } $$



Now, if we want none of the urn empty, we just have to count in how many ways can all $n$ balls be placed in $n$ urns so that no urn is empty, well this is just $n!$. Threfore



$$ P(no ; urn ; empty) = frac{n!}{n^n} $$



is my approach correct?







probability






share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question











share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question










asked Nov 28 '18 at 6:07









Jimmy SabaterJimmy Sabater

2,648321




2,648321












  • $begingroup$
    I believe that urns in probability problems usually have infinite capacity $ddotsmile$
    $endgroup$
    – Lord Shark the Unknown
    Nov 28 '18 at 6:12










  • $begingroup$
    I don't get $E(X_i)$ as $n!/n^n$.
    $endgroup$
    – Lord Shark the Unknown
    Nov 28 '18 at 6:13


















  • $begingroup$
    I believe that urns in probability problems usually have infinite capacity $ddotsmile$
    $endgroup$
    – Lord Shark the Unknown
    Nov 28 '18 at 6:12










  • $begingroup$
    I don't get $E(X_i)$ as $n!/n^n$.
    $endgroup$
    – Lord Shark the Unknown
    Nov 28 '18 at 6:13
















$begingroup$
I believe that urns in probability problems usually have infinite capacity $ddotsmile$
$endgroup$
– Lord Shark the Unknown
Nov 28 '18 at 6:12




$begingroup$
I believe that urns in probability problems usually have infinite capacity $ddotsmile$
$endgroup$
– Lord Shark the Unknown
Nov 28 '18 at 6:12












$begingroup$
I don't get $E(X_i)$ as $n!/n^n$.
$endgroup$
– Lord Shark the Unknown
Nov 28 '18 at 6:13




$begingroup$
I don't get $E(X_i)$ as $n!/n^n$.
$endgroup$
– Lord Shark the Unknown
Nov 28 '18 at 6:13










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2












$begingroup$

Standard probability assumptions say that urns have unlimited capacity and/or balls have zero volume (wow!). Your ideas seem to be on the right track, although some of the calculations are off. $P(X_i = 1)$ is the probability that every single ball misses the $i$th bin. Each ball is independent and each is equally likely to land in every bin, so this is just $left(frac{n-1}{n}right)^n$. Then you would apply linearity of expectation in much the same manner as you do above.



The solution for the second problem seems fine.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$













    Your Answer





    StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
    return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
    StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
    StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
    });
    });
    }, "mathjax-editing");

    StackExchange.ready(function() {
    var channelOptions = {
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "69"
    };
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
    createEditor();
    });
    }
    else {
    createEditor();
    }
    });

    function createEditor() {
    StackExchange.prepareEditor({
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: true,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: 10,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader: {
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    },
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    });


    }
    });














    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function () {
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3016790%2fexpected-number-of-urns-that-are-empty%23new-answer', 'question_page');
    }
    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes








    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    2












    $begingroup$

    Standard probability assumptions say that urns have unlimited capacity and/or balls have zero volume (wow!). Your ideas seem to be on the right track, although some of the calculations are off. $P(X_i = 1)$ is the probability that every single ball misses the $i$th bin. Each ball is independent and each is equally likely to land in every bin, so this is just $left(frac{n-1}{n}right)^n$. Then you would apply linearity of expectation in much the same manner as you do above.



    The solution for the second problem seems fine.






    share|cite|improve this answer









    $endgroup$


















      2












      $begingroup$

      Standard probability assumptions say that urns have unlimited capacity and/or balls have zero volume (wow!). Your ideas seem to be on the right track, although some of the calculations are off. $P(X_i = 1)$ is the probability that every single ball misses the $i$th bin. Each ball is independent and each is equally likely to land in every bin, so this is just $left(frac{n-1}{n}right)^n$. Then you would apply linearity of expectation in much the same manner as you do above.



      The solution for the second problem seems fine.






      share|cite|improve this answer









      $endgroup$
















        2












        2








        2





        $begingroup$

        Standard probability assumptions say that urns have unlimited capacity and/or balls have zero volume (wow!). Your ideas seem to be on the right track, although some of the calculations are off. $P(X_i = 1)$ is the probability that every single ball misses the $i$th bin. Each ball is independent and each is equally likely to land in every bin, so this is just $left(frac{n-1}{n}right)^n$. Then you would apply linearity of expectation in much the same manner as you do above.



        The solution for the second problem seems fine.






        share|cite|improve this answer









        $endgroup$



        Standard probability assumptions say that urns have unlimited capacity and/or balls have zero volume (wow!). Your ideas seem to be on the right track, although some of the calculations are off. $P(X_i = 1)$ is the probability that every single ball misses the $i$th bin. Each ball is independent and each is equally likely to land in every bin, so this is just $left(frac{n-1}{n}right)^n$. Then you would apply linearity of expectation in much the same manner as you do above.



        The solution for the second problem seems fine.







        share|cite|improve this answer












        share|cite|improve this answer



        share|cite|improve this answer










        answered Nov 28 '18 at 6:32









        plattyplatty

        3,370320




        3,370320






























            draft saved

            draft discarded




















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid



            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


            Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3016790%2fexpected-number-of-urns-that-are-empty%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            mysqli_query(): Empty query in /home/lucindabrummitt/public_html/blog/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 1924

            How to change which sound is reproduced for terminal bell?

            Can I use Tabulator js library in my java Spring + Thymeleaf project?