Pairs who swap hats
Five people check their hats and, at the end of the night, the hats are handed back in a uniformly random order (a random permutation). What is the expected number of pairs of people who exchange hats - that is, unordered pairs where gets 's hat and gets 's hat? Give a decimal to four places.
Show hints (2)+
- Put an indicator on each of the pairs; a swap needs both hats to align.
- One pair swaps with probability ; sum by linearity.
Answer
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Asked at: Timed Mental-Math & Sequences, Game-Based Aptitude