What is the probability that two people chosen at random from 8 married couples are married to each other?

I figured out I needed to use permutations to get the answer, which is 1/15, but I don't understand why.What is the probability that two people chosen at random from 8 married couples are married to each other?
I would say one in eight.





1/8





The first person you pick is irrelevant... the odds of picking his or her spouse is based entirely on your next random pick.





There are eight people left over from the original sixteen to chose from. Because each husband has a wife and each wife has a husband. If the picker has a brain and can isolate one gender from the other... then there are only 8 people to pick from.





If there is no thinking brain... and the pick truly is random... then there are 15 people to pick from.... so the odds are 1/15What is the probability that two people chosen at random from 8 married couples are married to each other?
(1/16) (1/15)





2 ways you can pick a husband and a wife


either the husband first then the wife


or the wife first then the husband





and there are 8 couples





8 * 2 * (1/16) (1/15) = 1/15





hope it helps :)
1/15.





Assume the first person is picked....the probability of picking that person's spouse is 1/15 because there are 15 people left and one of them is the spouse of the first person.