can someone tell me please how to work out the following:- three people, call them X, Y, & Z each toss a coin in that order. The winner is the first to get a 'tail'. what are their respective chances of winning expressed as fractions.
Angie Ward | (203.54.164.142) | Wednesday, 27 March 2002 10:32:11 AM
possibility for X is 1/2 (ie one out of two chances of winning.
Possibility for Y winning is: poss of X losing multiplied by the poss of Y winning which is: 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/4
Equally the poss. for Z is the poss. of X losing multiplied by poss. of Y losing multiplied by poss. of Z winning. So 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/8
This process is then continued until some one wins, thus based on the number of throws, say n the possibility of any X Y or Z winning is 1/(2^n). (This means 1 over 2 to the power n)
P Hasell | (152.163.204.84) | Monday, 1 April 2002 1:37:37 AM
thankyou Angie, for the answer and the explanation which makes it nice and clear