Question

An unbiased six-faced dice whose faces are marked with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 is rolled twice in succession and the number on the top face is recorded each time. The probability that the number appearing in the second roll is an integer multiple of the number appearing in the first roll is __________

Choose one option
Official answer and solution
Official answer
C
From
Official GATE 2026 answer key

Solution

Count all ordered pairs (x,y)∈{1,2,3,4,5,6}2(x, y) \in \{1,2,3,4,5,6\}^2 such that xx divides yy, and divide by 3636.

Let xx and yy be the numbers rolled on the first and second rolls, respectively. There are 6×6=366 \times 6 = 36 equally likely ordered outcomes (x,y)(x, y). Counting the pairs where yy is an integer multiple of xx:

  • x=1x = 1: y∈{1,2,3,4,5,6}y \in \{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6\} (66 pairs)
  • x=2x = 2: y∈{2,4,6}y \in \{2, 4, 6\} (33 pairs)
  • x=3x = 3: y∈{3,6}y \in \{3, 6\} (22 pairs)
  • x=4x = 4: y∈{4}y \in \{4\} (11 pair)
  • x=5x = 5: y∈{5}y \in \{5\} (11 pair)
  • x=6x = 6: y∈{6}y \in \{6\} (11 pair)

Total favorable outcomes =6+3+2+1+1+1=14= 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 14. Thus the probability is 1436=718\frac{14}{36} = \frac{7}{18}.

Final answer

Option (C)

Common trap

Forgetting that every number is a multiple of itself (1×x=x1 \times x = x).

The answer is the one in the official GATE answer key. The solution is this site's own explanation.

Source

Paper
GATE 2026 Computer Science and Information Technology - Session 1 (CS1)
Question
10 of 65
Section
General Aptitude

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