A coin is flipped 6 times. What is the probability that heads and tails occur an equal number of times?












1












$begingroup$


Question from my first semester Discrete Mathematics course.



A coin is flipped 6 times. What is the probability that heads and tails occur an equal number of times?



I've figured out that there are $64$ possible outcomes ($2$ outcomes each flip, $6$ flips $= 2^6 = 64$) and that in order for there to be an equal number of heads and tails exactly $3$ heads and $3$ tails must occur.



I also think order doesn't matter, so then it would be a combination / the total possible outcomes, but I'm not sure how to set up the combination or go any further.



Thanks!










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Not "at least". You require exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.
    $endgroup$
    – Graham Kemp
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:45










  • $begingroup$
    lol sorry. Fixed the wording.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:47






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    it sounds like you are all the way there. you have the correct denominator. It is a combinations problem. You have idenified how many of each you need to choose. So what is the problem?
    $endgroup$
    – Doug M
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:47










  • $begingroup$
    I'm not sure how to set up the combination problem. I know if it was 3 heads then it would be out of 6 possibilities, take 3... 6!/3!3! and the same for 3 tails, but I don't know how to put it together... 3 heads AND 3 tails.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:50






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Okay, I went ahead and did the 6!/3!3! and got 20; then I took the 20 and divided it by the total possibilities from before (64) and got 20/64 or 5/16.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:56
















1












$begingroup$


Question from my first semester Discrete Mathematics course.



A coin is flipped 6 times. What is the probability that heads and tails occur an equal number of times?



I've figured out that there are $64$ possible outcomes ($2$ outcomes each flip, $6$ flips $= 2^6 = 64$) and that in order for there to be an equal number of heads and tails exactly $3$ heads and $3$ tails must occur.



I also think order doesn't matter, so then it would be a combination / the total possible outcomes, but I'm not sure how to set up the combination or go any further.



Thanks!










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Not "at least". You require exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.
    $endgroup$
    – Graham Kemp
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:45










  • $begingroup$
    lol sorry. Fixed the wording.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:47






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    it sounds like you are all the way there. you have the correct denominator. It is a combinations problem. You have idenified how many of each you need to choose. So what is the problem?
    $endgroup$
    – Doug M
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:47










  • $begingroup$
    I'm not sure how to set up the combination problem. I know if it was 3 heads then it would be out of 6 possibilities, take 3... 6!/3!3! and the same for 3 tails, but I don't know how to put it together... 3 heads AND 3 tails.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:50






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Okay, I went ahead and did the 6!/3!3! and got 20; then I took the 20 and divided it by the total possibilities from before (64) and got 20/64 or 5/16.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:56














1












1








1





$begingroup$


Question from my first semester Discrete Mathematics course.



A coin is flipped 6 times. What is the probability that heads and tails occur an equal number of times?



I've figured out that there are $64$ possible outcomes ($2$ outcomes each flip, $6$ flips $= 2^6 = 64$) and that in order for there to be an equal number of heads and tails exactly $3$ heads and $3$ tails must occur.



I also think order doesn't matter, so then it would be a combination / the total possible outcomes, but I'm not sure how to set up the combination or go any further.



Thanks!










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




Question from my first semester Discrete Mathematics course.



A coin is flipped 6 times. What is the probability that heads and tails occur an equal number of times?



I've figured out that there are $64$ possible outcomes ($2$ outcomes each flip, $6$ flips $= 2^6 = 64$) and that in order for there to be an equal number of heads and tails exactly $3$ heads and $3$ tails must occur.



I also think order doesn't matter, so then it would be a combination / the total possible outcomes, but I'm not sure how to set up the combination or go any further.



Thanks!







probability discrete-mathematics






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited Nov 9 '17 at 0:56









Michael Hardy

1




1










asked Nov 9 '17 at 0:43









CheykoCheyko

63




63












  • $begingroup$
    Not "at least". You require exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.
    $endgroup$
    – Graham Kemp
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:45










  • $begingroup$
    lol sorry. Fixed the wording.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:47






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    it sounds like you are all the way there. you have the correct denominator. It is a combinations problem. You have idenified how many of each you need to choose. So what is the problem?
    $endgroup$
    – Doug M
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:47










  • $begingroup$
    I'm not sure how to set up the combination problem. I know if it was 3 heads then it would be out of 6 possibilities, take 3... 6!/3!3! and the same for 3 tails, but I don't know how to put it together... 3 heads AND 3 tails.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:50






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Okay, I went ahead and did the 6!/3!3! and got 20; then I took the 20 and divided it by the total possibilities from before (64) and got 20/64 or 5/16.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:56


















  • $begingroup$
    Not "at least". You require exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.
    $endgroup$
    – Graham Kemp
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:45










  • $begingroup$
    lol sorry. Fixed the wording.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:47






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    it sounds like you are all the way there. you have the correct denominator. It is a combinations problem. You have idenified how many of each you need to choose. So what is the problem?
    $endgroup$
    – Doug M
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:47










  • $begingroup$
    I'm not sure how to set up the combination problem. I know if it was 3 heads then it would be out of 6 possibilities, take 3... 6!/3!3! and the same for 3 tails, but I don't know how to put it together... 3 heads AND 3 tails.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:50






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Okay, I went ahead and did the 6!/3!3! and got 20; then I took the 20 and divided it by the total possibilities from before (64) and got 20/64 or 5/16.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:56
















$begingroup$
Not "at least". You require exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.
$endgroup$
– Graham Kemp
Nov 9 '17 at 0:45




$begingroup$
Not "at least". You require exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.
$endgroup$
– Graham Kemp
Nov 9 '17 at 0:45












$begingroup$
lol sorry. Fixed the wording.
$endgroup$
– Cheyko
Nov 9 '17 at 0:47




$begingroup$
lol sorry. Fixed the wording.
$endgroup$
– Cheyko
Nov 9 '17 at 0:47




1




1




$begingroup$
it sounds like you are all the way there. you have the correct denominator. It is a combinations problem. You have idenified how many of each you need to choose. So what is the problem?
$endgroup$
– Doug M
Nov 9 '17 at 0:47




$begingroup$
it sounds like you are all the way there. you have the correct denominator. It is a combinations problem. You have idenified how many of each you need to choose. So what is the problem?
$endgroup$
– Doug M
Nov 9 '17 at 0:47












$begingroup$
I'm not sure how to set up the combination problem. I know if it was 3 heads then it would be out of 6 possibilities, take 3... 6!/3!3! and the same for 3 tails, but I don't know how to put it together... 3 heads AND 3 tails.
$endgroup$
– Cheyko
Nov 9 '17 at 0:50




$begingroup$
I'm not sure how to set up the combination problem. I know if it was 3 heads then it would be out of 6 possibilities, take 3... 6!/3!3! and the same for 3 tails, but I don't know how to put it together... 3 heads AND 3 tails.
$endgroup$
– Cheyko
Nov 9 '17 at 0:50




1




1




$begingroup$
Okay, I went ahead and did the 6!/3!3! and got 20; then I took the 20 and divided it by the total possibilities from before (64) and got 20/64 or 5/16.
$endgroup$
– Cheyko
Nov 9 '17 at 0:56




$begingroup$
Okay, I went ahead and did the 6!/3!3! and got 20; then I took the 20 and divided it by the total possibilities from before (64) and got 20/64 or 5/16.
$endgroup$
– Cheyko
Nov 9 '17 at 0:56










4 Answers
4






active

oldest

votes


















0












$begingroup$

You need to count the arrangements for exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.



That is the permutations of $sf HHHTTT$.



As you state in subsequent comments, that is $6!/3!^2$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Does the fact that it can be HTHTHT or any other variation of 3 heads and 3 tails not change the calculation at all?
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:48










  • $begingroup$
    @Cheyko counting the variations is exactly what you need to do.
    $endgroup$
    – Doug M
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:48










  • $begingroup$
    Yes it does: as stated, you need to count these arangements.
    $endgroup$
    – Graham Kemp
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:51










  • $begingroup$
    I'm sorry, I don't know what it means to 'count those arrangements'. Is that a permutation or a combination problem?
    $endgroup$
    – Cheyko
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:53










  • $begingroup$
    Which part of "You need to count the permutations of" is unclear?
    $endgroup$
    – Graham Kemp
    Nov 9 '17 at 0:57



















0












$begingroup$

As the other answer has said you need to count the number of permutations of $displaystyle HHHTTT$. Keep in mind that there are two groups of indistinguishable items (outcomes).



The total number of permutations of six dissimilar objects is $displaystyle 6! = 720$.



When there are two groups comprising $3$ identical objects, the number of permutations becomes: $displaystyle frac{720}{3!3!} = 20$.



If you divide this by the total number of possibilities in the event space which you've already figured out ($2^6 = 64$), you get the required probability as $displaystyle frac{20}{64} = frac{5}{16}$.



That's the combinatorics approach. If you're not limited in the way you can solve this, I would just use the concept of Bernoulli trials here. The probability you're looking for is exactly the middle term of the binomial sum of $displaystyle (frac 12 + frac 12)^6$, which is $displaystyle binom 63 (frac 12)^3(frac 12)^3 = frac{5}{16}$ as before.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$





















    0












    $begingroup$

    In general, there are $$n choose k$$ ways to get $k$ heads with $n$ coin flips. The $n$-th row in Pascal's Triangle gives those values for $k$ ranging from $0$ to $k$. So, one way to find the probability of getting $k$ heads with $n$ flips is to divide $n choose k$ by the sum of all these values ... which turns out to be $2^n$ ... and so the probability is:



    $$frac{n choose k}{2^n}$$






    share|cite|improve this answer









    $endgroup$





















      0












      $begingroup$

      This is equivalent to asking what's the probability of getting exactly 3 heads in 6 tosses of a fair coin. Using the binomial distribution formula, the answer is $binom{6}{3} (1/2)^3 (1/2)^3 = binom{6}{3}/2^6$.






      share|cite|improve this answer









      $endgroup$













        Your Answer





        StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
        return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
        StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
        StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
        });
        });
        }, "mathjax-editing");

        StackExchange.ready(function() {
        var channelOptions = {
        tags: "".split(" "),
        id: "69"
        };
        initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

        StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
        // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
        if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
        StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
        createEditor();
        });
        }
        else {
        createEditor();
        }
        });

        function createEditor() {
        StackExchange.prepareEditor({
        heartbeatType: 'answer',
        autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
        convertImagesToLinks: true,
        noModals: true,
        showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
        reputationToPostImages: 10,
        bindNavPrevention: true,
        postfix: "",
        imageUploader: {
        brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
        contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
        allowUrls: true
        },
        noCode: true, onDemand: true,
        discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
        ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
        });


        }
        });














        draft saved

        draft discarded


















        StackExchange.ready(
        function () {
        StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f2511583%2fa-coin-is-flipped-6-times-what-is-the-probability-that-heads-and-tails-occur-an%23new-answer', 'question_page');
        }
        );

        Post as a guest















        Required, but never shown

























        4 Answers
        4






        active

        oldest

        votes








        4 Answers
        4






        active

        oldest

        votes









        active

        oldest

        votes






        active

        oldest

        votes









        0












        $begingroup$

        You need to count the arrangements for exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.



        That is the permutations of $sf HHHTTT$.



        As you state in subsequent comments, that is $6!/3!^2$.






        share|cite|improve this answer











        $endgroup$













        • $begingroup$
          Does the fact that it can be HTHTHT or any other variation of 3 heads and 3 tails not change the calculation at all?
          $endgroup$
          – Cheyko
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:48










        • $begingroup$
          @Cheyko counting the variations is exactly what you need to do.
          $endgroup$
          – Doug M
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:48










        • $begingroup$
          Yes it does: as stated, you need to count these arangements.
          $endgroup$
          – Graham Kemp
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:51










        • $begingroup$
          I'm sorry, I don't know what it means to 'count those arrangements'. Is that a permutation or a combination problem?
          $endgroup$
          – Cheyko
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:53










        • $begingroup$
          Which part of "You need to count the permutations of" is unclear?
          $endgroup$
          – Graham Kemp
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:57
















        0












        $begingroup$

        You need to count the arrangements for exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.



        That is the permutations of $sf HHHTTT$.



        As you state in subsequent comments, that is $6!/3!^2$.






        share|cite|improve this answer











        $endgroup$













        • $begingroup$
          Does the fact that it can be HTHTHT or any other variation of 3 heads and 3 tails not change the calculation at all?
          $endgroup$
          – Cheyko
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:48










        • $begingroup$
          @Cheyko counting the variations is exactly what you need to do.
          $endgroup$
          – Doug M
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:48










        • $begingroup$
          Yes it does: as stated, you need to count these arangements.
          $endgroup$
          – Graham Kemp
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:51










        • $begingroup$
          I'm sorry, I don't know what it means to 'count those arrangements'. Is that a permutation or a combination problem?
          $endgroup$
          – Cheyko
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:53










        • $begingroup$
          Which part of "You need to count the permutations of" is unclear?
          $endgroup$
          – Graham Kemp
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:57














        0












        0








        0





        $begingroup$

        You need to count the arrangements for exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.



        That is the permutations of $sf HHHTTT$.



        As you state in subsequent comments, that is $6!/3!^2$.






        share|cite|improve this answer











        $endgroup$



        You need to count the arrangements for exactly 3 heads and 3 tails.



        That is the permutations of $sf HHHTTT$.



        As you state in subsequent comments, that is $6!/3!^2$.







        share|cite|improve this answer














        share|cite|improve this answer



        share|cite|improve this answer








        edited Nov 9 '17 at 0:56


























        community wiki





        2 revs
        Graham Kemp













        • $begingroup$
          Does the fact that it can be HTHTHT or any other variation of 3 heads and 3 tails not change the calculation at all?
          $endgroup$
          – Cheyko
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:48










        • $begingroup$
          @Cheyko counting the variations is exactly what you need to do.
          $endgroup$
          – Doug M
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:48










        • $begingroup$
          Yes it does: as stated, you need to count these arangements.
          $endgroup$
          – Graham Kemp
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:51










        • $begingroup$
          I'm sorry, I don't know what it means to 'count those arrangements'. Is that a permutation or a combination problem?
          $endgroup$
          – Cheyko
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:53










        • $begingroup$
          Which part of "You need to count the permutations of" is unclear?
          $endgroup$
          – Graham Kemp
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:57


















        • $begingroup$
          Does the fact that it can be HTHTHT or any other variation of 3 heads and 3 tails not change the calculation at all?
          $endgroup$
          – Cheyko
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:48










        • $begingroup$
          @Cheyko counting the variations is exactly what you need to do.
          $endgroup$
          – Doug M
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:48










        • $begingroup$
          Yes it does: as stated, you need to count these arangements.
          $endgroup$
          – Graham Kemp
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:51










        • $begingroup$
          I'm sorry, I don't know what it means to 'count those arrangements'. Is that a permutation or a combination problem?
          $endgroup$
          – Cheyko
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:53










        • $begingroup$
          Which part of "You need to count the permutations of" is unclear?
          $endgroup$
          – Graham Kemp
          Nov 9 '17 at 0:57
















        $begingroup$
        Does the fact that it can be HTHTHT or any other variation of 3 heads and 3 tails not change the calculation at all?
        $endgroup$
        – Cheyko
        Nov 9 '17 at 0:48




        $begingroup$
        Does the fact that it can be HTHTHT or any other variation of 3 heads and 3 tails not change the calculation at all?
        $endgroup$
        – Cheyko
        Nov 9 '17 at 0:48












        $begingroup$
        @Cheyko counting the variations is exactly what you need to do.
        $endgroup$
        – Doug M
        Nov 9 '17 at 0:48




        $begingroup$
        @Cheyko counting the variations is exactly what you need to do.
        $endgroup$
        – Doug M
        Nov 9 '17 at 0:48












        $begingroup$
        Yes it does: as stated, you need to count these arangements.
        $endgroup$
        – Graham Kemp
        Nov 9 '17 at 0:51




        $begingroup$
        Yes it does: as stated, you need to count these arangements.
        $endgroup$
        – Graham Kemp
        Nov 9 '17 at 0:51












        $begingroup$
        I'm sorry, I don't know what it means to 'count those arrangements'. Is that a permutation or a combination problem?
        $endgroup$
        – Cheyko
        Nov 9 '17 at 0:53




        $begingroup$
        I'm sorry, I don't know what it means to 'count those arrangements'. Is that a permutation or a combination problem?
        $endgroup$
        – Cheyko
        Nov 9 '17 at 0:53












        $begingroup$
        Which part of "You need to count the permutations of" is unclear?
        $endgroup$
        – Graham Kemp
        Nov 9 '17 at 0:57




        $begingroup$
        Which part of "You need to count the permutations of" is unclear?
        $endgroup$
        – Graham Kemp
        Nov 9 '17 at 0:57











        0












        $begingroup$

        As the other answer has said you need to count the number of permutations of $displaystyle HHHTTT$. Keep in mind that there are two groups of indistinguishable items (outcomes).



        The total number of permutations of six dissimilar objects is $displaystyle 6! = 720$.



        When there are two groups comprising $3$ identical objects, the number of permutations becomes: $displaystyle frac{720}{3!3!} = 20$.



        If you divide this by the total number of possibilities in the event space which you've already figured out ($2^6 = 64$), you get the required probability as $displaystyle frac{20}{64} = frac{5}{16}$.



        That's the combinatorics approach. If you're not limited in the way you can solve this, I would just use the concept of Bernoulli trials here. The probability you're looking for is exactly the middle term of the binomial sum of $displaystyle (frac 12 + frac 12)^6$, which is $displaystyle binom 63 (frac 12)^3(frac 12)^3 = frac{5}{16}$ as before.






        share|cite|improve this answer









        $endgroup$


















          0












          $begingroup$

          As the other answer has said you need to count the number of permutations of $displaystyle HHHTTT$. Keep in mind that there are two groups of indistinguishable items (outcomes).



          The total number of permutations of six dissimilar objects is $displaystyle 6! = 720$.



          When there are two groups comprising $3$ identical objects, the number of permutations becomes: $displaystyle frac{720}{3!3!} = 20$.



          If you divide this by the total number of possibilities in the event space which you've already figured out ($2^6 = 64$), you get the required probability as $displaystyle frac{20}{64} = frac{5}{16}$.



          That's the combinatorics approach. If you're not limited in the way you can solve this, I would just use the concept of Bernoulli trials here. The probability you're looking for is exactly the middle term of the binomial sum of $displaystyle (frac 12 + frac 12)^6$, which is $displaystyle binom 63 (frac 12)^3(frac 12)^3 = frac{5}{16}$ as before.






          share|cite|improve this answer









          $endgroup$
















            0












            0








            0





            $begingroup$

            As the other answer has said you need to count the number of permutations of $displaystyle HHHTTT$. Keep in mind that there are two groups of indistinguishable items (outcomes).



            The total number of permutations of six dissimilar objects is $displaystyle 6! = 720$.



            When there are two groups comprising $3$ identical objects, the number of permutations becomes: $displaystyle frac{720}{3!3!} = 20$.



            If you divide this by the total number of possibilities in the event space which you've already figured out ($2^6 = 64$), you get the required probability as $displaystyle frac{20}{64} = frac{5}{16}$.



            That's the combinatorics approach. If you're not limited in the way you can solve this, I would just use the concept of Bernoulli trials here. The probability you're looking for is exactly the middle term of the binomial sum of $displaystyle (frac 12 + frac 12)^6$, which is $displaystyle binom 63 (frac 12)^3(frac 12)^3 = frac{5}{16}$ as before.






            share|cite|improve this answer









            $endgroup$



            As the other answer has said you need to count the number of permutations of $displaystyle HHHTTT$. Keep in mind that there are two groups of indistinguishable items (outcomes).



            The total number of permutations of six dissimilar objects is $displaystyle 6! = 720$.



            When there are two groups comprising $3$ identical objects, the number of permutations becomes: $displaystyle frac{720}{3!3!} = 20$.



            If you divide this by the total number of possibilities in the event space which you've already figured out ($2^6 = 64$), you get the required probability as $displaystyle frac{20}{64} = frac{5}{16}$.



            That's the combinatorics approach. If you're not limited in the way you can solve this, I would just use the concept of Bernoulli trials here. The probability you're looking for is exactly the middle term of the binomial sum of $displaystyle (frac 12 + frac 12)^6$, which is $displaystyle binom 63 (frac 12)^3(frac 12)^3 = frac{5}{16}$ as before.







            share|cite|improve this answer












            share|cite|improve this answer



            share|cite|improve this answer










            answered Nov 9 '17 at 1:00









            DeepakDeepak

            17k11436




            17k11436























                0












                $begingroup$

                In general, there are $$n choose k$$ ways to get $k$ heads with $n$ coin flips. The $n$-th row in Pascal's Triangle gives those values for $k$ ranging from $0$ to $k$. So, one way to find the probability of getting $k$ heads with $n$ flips is to divide $n choose k$ by the sum of all these values ... which turns out to be $2^n$ ... and so the probability is:



                $$frac{n choose k}{2^n}$$






                share|cite|improve this answer









                $endgroup$


















                  0












                  $begingroup$

                  In general, there are $$n choose k$$ ways to get $k$ heads with $n$ coin flips. The $n$-th row in Pascal's Triangle gives those values for $k$ ranging from $0$ to $k$. So, one way to find the probability of getting $k$ heads with $n$ flips is to divide $n choose k$ by the sum of all these values ... which turns out to be $2^n$ ... and so the probability is:



                  $$frac{n choose k}{2^n}$$






                  share|cite|improve this answer









                  $endgroup$
















                    0












                    0








                    0





                    $begingroup$

                    In general, there are $$n choose k$$ ways to get $k$ heads with $n$ coin flips. The $n$-th row in Pascal's Triangle gives those values for $k$ ranging from $0$ to $k$. So, one way to find the probability of getting $k$ heads with $n$ flips is to divide $n choose k$ by the sum of all these values ... which turns out to be $2^n$ ... and so the probability is:



                    $$frac{n choose k}{2^n}$$






                    share|cite|improve this answer









                    $endgroup$



                    In general, there are $$n choose k$$ ways to get $k$ heads with $n$ coin flips. The $n$-th row in Pascal's Triangle gives those values for $k$ ranging from $0$ to $k$. So, one way to find the probability of getting $k$ heads with $n$ flips is to divide $n choose k$ by the sum of all these values ... which turns out to be $2^n$ ... and so the probability is:



                    $$frac{n choose k}{2^n}$$







                    share|cite|improve this answer












                    share|cite|improve this answer



                    share|cite|improve this answer










                    answered Nov 9 '17 at 1:05









                    Bram28Bram28

                    62k44793




                    62k44793























                        0












                        $begingroup$

                        This is equivalent to asking what's the probability of getting exactly 3 heads in 6 tosses of a fair coin. Using the binomial distribution formula, the answer is $binom{6}{3} (1/2)^3 (1/2)^3 = binom{6}{3}/2^6$.






                        share|cite|improve this answer









                        $endgroup$


















                          0












                          $begingroup$

                          This is equivalent to asking what's the probability of getting exactly 3 heads in 6 tosses of a fair coin. Using the binomial distribution formula, the answer is $binom{6}{3} (1/2)^3 (1/2)^3 = binom{6}{3}/2^6$.






                          share|cite|improve this answer









                          $endgroup$
















                            0












                            0








                            0





                            $begingroup$

                            This is equivalent to asking what's the probability of getting exactly 3 heads in 6 tosses of a fair coin. Using the binomial distribution formula, the answer is $binom{6}{3} (1/2)^3 (1/2)^3 = binom{6}{3}/2^6$.






                            share|cite|improve this answer









                            $endgroup$



                            This is equivalent to asking what's the probability of getting exactly 3 heads in 6 tosses of a fair coin. Using the binomial distribution formula, the answer is $binom{6}{3} (1/2)^3 (1/2)^3 = binom{6}{3}/2^6$.







                            share|cite|improve this answer












                            share|cite|improve this answer



                            share|cite|improve this answer










                            answered Dec 24 '18 at 10:11









                            littleOlittleO

                            29.8k646109




                            29.8k646109






























                                draft saved

                                draft discarded




















































                                Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


                                • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                                But avoid



                                • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                                • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                                Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                                To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                                draft saved


                                draft discarded














                                StackExchange.ready(
                                function () {
                                StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f2511583%2fa-coin-is-flipped-6-times-what-is-the-probability-that-heads-and-tails-occur-an%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                                }
                                );

                                Post as a guest















                                Required, but never shown





















































                                Required, but never shown














                                Required, but never shown












                                Required, but never shown







                                Required, but never shown

































                                Required, but never shown














                                Required, but never shown












                                Required, but never shown







                                Required, but never shown







                                Popular posts from this blog

                                Bressuire

                                Cabo Verde

                                Gyllenstierna