probability question

lmslms

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Nov 13, 2010
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Here's the question: "Six students tried out for the lead role of Captain Marvel in the sixth-grade musical comedy. The drama coach decides to pick the lead by chance. She drops 25 cubes, five cubes of five colors (red, blue, green, yellow, and orange), into a box. Each of the students must reach into the box and, without looking, pull out two of the same colored counters. If he or she doesn't pull out a matching set, then the counters are returned to the box and the student waits until everyone else has had another chance. What is the probability that any one of the actors will pull out a matching set of colored counters?"

According to the answer key, the answer is 1 in 600. I don't get that at all. It seems as though the probability for each student should be 1 in 6... Once they pick the first cube, there are 4/24 cubes remaining of the same color. There are six students... Any help would be much appreciated!
 
The cubes are tossed back into the box, so the trials are independent.

\(\displaystyle \frac{1}{P(25,2)}=\frac{1}{600}\)

It really does not matter how many students there are. The probability remains the same for each person because the cubes are placed back in the box.
 
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