Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/ia/paper-2/9f/b/solution

This is the waiting time to observe both Bernoulli outcomes. Write , and let record the sex of the first captured animal. That first capture is always needed. If is male, every subsequent trial independently produces the required female with probability , so has a geometric distribution with parameter . If is female, has a geometric distribution with parameter . By the law of total expectation,
Since , this simplifies to , or
The expectation includes both the first capture and the final capture completing the pair.

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