A small airplane has $4$ rows of seats with $3$ seats in each row. Eight passengers have boarded the plane and are distributed randomly among the seats. A married couple is next to board. What is the probability there will be 2 adjacent seats in the same row for the couple?
一架小型飞机有 $4$ 排座位,每排 $3$ 个座位。已有 $8$ 名乘客随机坐在座位上。接下来有一对夫妇要登机。夫妇能坐同一排相邻两个座位的概率是多少?
Suppose the passengers are indistinguishable. There are $\binom{12}{8} = 495$ total ways to distribute the passengers. We proceed with complementary counting, and instead, will count the number of passenger arrangements such that the couple cannot sit anywhere. Consider the partitions of $8$ among the rows of $3$ seats, to make our lives easier, assuming they are non-increasing. We have $(3, 3, 2, 0), (3, 3, 1, 1), (3, 2, 2, 1), (2, 2, 2, 2)$.
For the first partition, clearly, the couple will always be able to sit in the row with $0$ occupied seats, so we have $0$ cases here.
For the second partition, there are $\frac{4!}{2!2!} = 6$ ways to permute the partition. Now the rows with exactly $1$ passenger must be in the middle, so this case generates $6$ cases.
For the third partition, there are $\frac{4!}{2!} = 12$ ways to permute the partition. For rows with $2$ passengers, there are $\binom{3}{2} = 3$ ways to arrange them in the row so that the couple cannot sit there. The row with $1$ passenger must be in the middle. We obtain $12 \cdot 3^2 = 108$ cases.
For the fourth partition, there is $1$ way to permute the partition. As said before, rows with $2$ passengers can be arranged in $3$ ways, so we obtain $3^4 = 81$ cases.
Collectively, we obtain a total of $6 + 108 + 81 = 195$ cases. The final probability is $1 - \frac{195}{495} = \boxed{\textbf{(C)}~\frac{20}{33}}$.
假设乘客不可区分,总方式数 $\binom{12}{8} = 495$。用补集计数,计算夫妇无处可坐的乘客分布情况。考虑 $8$ 人分到 $4$ 排(每排 $3$ 座)的分区(非递增):$(3, 3, 2, 0), (3, 3, 1, 1), (3, 2, 2, 1), (2, 2, 2, 2)$。
第一种分区,有空排,夫妇总能坐,$0$ 种情况。
第二种,排列方式 $\frac{4!}{2!2!} = 6$。$1$ 人排必须在中间,$6$ 种情况。
第三种,排列方式 $\frac{4!}{2!} = 12$。$2$ 人排无相邻空座方式 $\binom{3}{2} = 3$,$1$ 人排在中间,得 $12 \cdot 3^2 = 108$ 种。
第四种,$1$ 种排列,每排 $2$ 人无相邻空座 $3$ 方式,得 $3^4 = 81$ 种。
总计 $6 + 108 + 81 = 195$ 种。概率 $1 - \frac{195}{495} = \boxed{\textbf{(C)}~\frac{20}{33}}$。