Question

Ellen flipped a coin 80 times. The coin landed heads up 44 times and tails up 36 times. Compare the theoretical and experimental probabilities of the coin landing tails up.

Answer 1

Given:

Ellen flipped a coin 80 times. The coin landed heads up 44 times and tails up 36 times.

To find:

The theoretical and experimental probabilities of the coin landing tails up and compare them.

Solution:

We know that, the coin landed either heads up or tails up. So, the theoretical probabilities of the coin landing tails up is

$P(T)=\dfrac{Tails}{Total}$

$P(T)=\dfrac{1}{2}$

$P(T)=0.5$

Ellen flipped a coin 80 times. The coin landed heads up 44 times and tails up 36 times.

Total = 80

Tails =36

The experimental probabilities of the coin landing tails up is

$P(T)=\dfrac{Tails}{Total}$

$P(T)=\dfrac{36}{80}$

$P(T)=0.45$

Therefore, the theoretical and experimental probabilities of the coin landing tails up are 0.5 and 0.45 respectively. The theoretical probability is greater than the experimental probability.