do you see any mistakes in this?
lets start with the probability of an event (any event) occuring,
we will call this probability p
then, it follows, that the probability of this event NOT occuring is (1-p)
probabilities of independent events multiply, so the chance that this event does not occur in N independent trials is (1-p)^n
and, then the probability that this event WILL occur in at least one of those N trials is 1-(1-p)^n
the interesting part comes now, when we set the probability of the event occuring to ZERO, but give it an infinite number of chances.
logic would tell you that if an event has zero probability-absoulutely no chance of ever occuring, then it will never happen, no matter how long you wait. it is impossible.
or is it?
Using the probability equations found above to calculate this strange scenario, you need to take the limit of the expression as p approaches zero and n approaches infinity. the equation becomes
2006-07-29
09:51:57
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9 answers
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Mathematics