If you select two cards from a deck of 52 cards what is the probability that the first card is an 6 of diamaond and the second card is an 3 of hearts?

First off, how do I calculate the probability that any one event occurs. The answer is equal to: Number of Possible Chances of Success / Total Number of Chances In this case, the number of possible chances of success is one (there is only one 6 of Diamonds in any deck of cards). The total number of chances equal 52 (there are 52 cards to choose from). Therefore the probability of picking a 6 of Diamonds on the first card is 1/52 or .019. In order to calculate the probability that the first card is a 6 of Diamonds AND the second card is a 3 of Hearts, you multiply the two probabilities. Prob. of 1st Card 6D AND 2nd Card 3H = Prob. 1st Card 6D * Prob. 2nd Card 3H We already know the probability of getting a 6 of Diamonds on the first card is 1/52 or .019. To calculate the probability of getting a 3 of Hearts on the second card, it is important to remember that random occurances do not affect the probability of other random occurrances. What I mean is, if I were to draw a 6 of Diamonds from a deck of cards and then replace it, the probability that I would pick a 6 of Diamonds again is the same as it was the first time. Even if I flip a coin 5 times in a row and they all landed on heads, the probability that I would flip another heads is still 50/50. So basically we can ignore what happened on the first draw, and jsut calculate the probability of getting a 3 of Hearts. Again we use our probability formula: Number of Possible Chances of Success / Total Number of Chances In this case, the number of possible chances of success is one (there is only one 3 of Hearts in any deck of cards). The total number of chances equal 52 (THIS ASSUMES THAT WE PUT THE 6 OF DIAMONDS BACK INTO THE DECK AFTER THE FIRST DRAW IF NOT THE NUMBER OF CHANCES IS 51). Therefore the probability of picking a 3 of Hearts on the second card is 1/52 or .019. Multiply the two probabilities together to get the probability of both occurring: 1/52 * 1/52 = 1/2704 = .00037 (or a .037 percent of a chance)