Let $X1, \ X2, \ X3, \ X4$ denote the number of hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades drawn from 10 draws with replacement from a standard 52 card deck of playing cards.
What is $E\ [X2\ |\ X1 + X4 = 5]$ ?
Is the answer $1/4 * 5 = 5/4$ ? My reasoning is that we know that 5 of the 10 cards are not $X2$, so we are only concerned with the other 5. So we multiply the other 5 by the probability of getting a heart, i.e. $1/4$. Thanks in advance
Your answer $\dfrac14*5$ would be correct for $E[X2 | X1+X4 \geq 5]$. As would your reasoning. But $X1 + X4$ is exactly 5, no more.
Your reasoning starts out correctly: we know that 5 cards are not X2, so we can disregard them. This leaves us with 5 cards.
This is where you cut a crucial corner. We know that the remaining 5 cards are not X1 or X4, because X1 + X4 is already 5 from the first 5 cards. Another card in that camp would push the sum over 5. We know that the remaining 5 cards are not X1 or X4, so they must be X2 or X3 with equal probability: $\dfrac12$ for both.
Ultimately, the correct answer is $5*0 + 5*\dfrac12 = \dfrac52$
That's 5 cards that are X1 or X4 and 5 cards that are X2 or X3.