can u guys telll me how to do this problem>??
a fair coin is thrown in the air four times. if the coin lands with the head up on the first three tosses,what is the probability that the coin will land with the head up on the fourth toss?
2007-12-13 10:03:51 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Hi,
1/16 is the probability!
All the best,
Mika
2007-12-13 10:08:45 · answer #1 · answered by Mika 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
½
What happened prior to the fourth toss, or the four hundredth toss, is irrelevant. The coin doesn't "remember" what results have happened in the past. Every toss is independent. If we tossed the coin 400 times and got 400 heads, we might suspect the claim that the coin is fair. But as long as we assume this to be true, the probability of a head on each and every toss is ½.
2007-12-13 10:16:36 · answer #2 · answered by Ron W 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the probability is still 1/2 because each toss is an independent event, the previous toss doesn't affect the next one.
2007-12-13 10:09:37 · answer #3 · answered by math 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1/2 heads or tails the previous toss makes no difference upon it because heads is still an avaliable option
2007-12-13 10:13:21 · answer #4 · answered by firstbase5831 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋