A pair of dice is rolled 100 times and the sum of each roll is recorded. Explain why a histogram is not an appropriate type of graph to display the frequency distribution.
2007-03-02 03:24:16 · 3 answers · asked by slow_math 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Histograms are used for displaying continuous data that has been grouped. e.g. a persons age could be 11.1 years, 11.3 years and the histogram may have a group of 11-12 year olds.
Rolling dice results in discrete data. i.e. a roll can be 7 or 8 but cannot be 7.54. So display the graph as a bar chart.
Histogram blocks touch each other, on bar charts they are separated.
2007-03-02 03:59:24 · answer #1 · answered by kinvadave 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would disagree - I think a histogram is a very good way to display this type of data. If the dice are not biased the distribution should appear to be a normal (Bell Curve) centred on 7. The actual odds for each number are not as the first person answered- - they are
2 1/36
3 2/36 (1:2 and 2:1)
4 3/36 (1:3 3:1 or 2:2)
and so on - the most common roll is 7 because there are 6 different ways to get it (1:6 6:1 2:5 5:2 3:4 4:3) 6/36 or 1/6
2007-03-02 12:23:28 · answer #2 · answered by Mal 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's because when you roll a pair of dice, you are more likely to get some totals than others.
total of 2 = 1/21 (only 1 + 1)
total of 3 = 1/21 (only 1 + 2)
total of 4 = 2/21 (either 1 + 3 or 2 + 2)
total of 5 = 2/21
total of 6 = 3/21
total of 7 = 3/21
total of 8 = 3/21
total of 9 = 2/21
total of 10 = 2/21
total of 11 = 1/21
total of 12 = 1/21
So, your graph is going to be higher on 6, 7, and 8 automatically.
2007-03-02 11:35:53 · answer #3 · answered by Mathematica 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋