A drawer contains 3 red paperclips, 4 green paperclips, and 5 blue paperclips. One paperclip is taken from the drawer and then replaced. Another paperclip is taken from the drawer. Explain why this is an independent or a dependent event.

The first paperclip is replaced before the second draw, so the drawer still contains 3 red, 4 green, and 5 blue paperclips. The sample space remains 12 paperclips, and the first draw does not affect the probabilities for the second draw. Therefore, this is independent: “the first paper clip is replaced, the sample space of 12 paperclips does not change.”

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.