Assuming it was totally random, and equal numbers of girls and boys in the population, then the chance of a class of 20 boys or 20 girls would be the same, 1/2^20 or 1 in 1,048,576. But the numbers aren't quite equal, as the population in that age range has 51.2% boys and 48.8% girls. Not a big difference, you might think, but in fact a class of 20 boys is more than twice as likely as a class of 20 girls -- 1 in 647,000 and 1 in 1,719,000 respectively.
Counterintuitive Results
Assuming it was totally random, and equal numbers of girls and boys in the population, then the chance of a class of 20 boys or 20 girls would be the same, 1/2^20 or 1 in 1,048,576. But the numbers aren't quite equal, as the population in that age range has 51.2% boys and 48.8% girls. Not a big difference, you might think, but in fact a class of 20 boys is more than twice as likely as a class of 20 girls -- 1 in 647,000 and 1 in 1,719,000 respectively.
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