Probability that we get totally at most 30 times "head"

  • Context: MHB 
  • Thread starter Thread starter mathmari
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Head Probability
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the probability of obtaining at most 30 heads when tossing a fair coin 100 times. The random variable for each toss, denoted as $X_i$, follows a Bernoulli distribution. The calculations reveal that to ensure the proportion of heads falls between 0.45 and 0.55 with 90% probability, at least 273 tosses are required. The final probability calculation shows that $P(Z \leq 30)$ approaches 0, confirming that obtaining 30 or fewer heads in 100 tosses is highly unlikely.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Bernoulli distribution and its properties
  • Familiarity with the Central Limit Theorem
  • Knowledge of normal distribution and its parameters
  • Ability to perform probability calculations using the cumulative distribution function (CDF)
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the Central Limit Theorem in depth to understand its implications in probability
  • Learn about the properties of the normal distribution and how to use Z-scores
  • Explore advanced topics in probability theory, such as the Law of Large Numbers
  • Investigate statistical software tools for performing probability calculations, such as R or Python's SciPy library
USEFUL FOR

Statisticians, data scientists, and students studying probability theory who are interested in understanding the behavior of random variables and conducting probability calculations.

mathmari
Gold Member
MHB
Messages
4,984
Reaction score
7
Hey! :o

A fair coin is tossed $ n $ times; $ X_i = 1 $ denotes the event that "head" appears in the $ i $-th toss.

a) How are the single toss $X_i$, $=1, \ldots , n$, distributed?

b) How many toss are needed so that the proportion of "head" $\overline{X}_n$ is in the interval $0, 45 < \overline{X}_n < 0, 55$ with probability $90\%$ ?

c) Given that the coin is tossed $100$ times, determine the probability that we get totally at most $30$ times "head".

I have done the following:

a) Each $X_i$ is Bernoulli distributed, since we either have success or not.

b) Let $\overline{X} = \frac{1}{n}(X_1 + X_2+ \ldots +X_n)$. According to the zentral limit theorem $\overline{X}$ approximates the normal distribution for large $n$ with parameters \begin{equation*}E(\overline{X})=\frac{1}{2}=0.5 \ \text{ and } \ V(\overline{X})=\frac{\sigma_X^2}{n}=\frac{\left (\frac{1}{4}\right )^2}{n}=\frac{1}{16n}\Rightarrow \sigma_{\overline{X}}=\frac{1}{4\sqrt{n}}\end{equation*}

Therefore, so that it hods $0, 45 < \overline{X}_n < 0, 55$ with probability $90\%$, we have the following:
\begin{align*}P\left (0,45<\overline{X}_n<0,55\right )\geq 90\% &\Rightarrow \Phi \left (\frac{0.55-0.5}{\frac{1}{4\sqrt{n}}}\right )-\Phi \left (\frac{0.45-0.5}{\frac{1}{4\sqrt{n}}}\right )\geq 0.9 \\ & \Rightarrow \Phi \left (0.2\sqrt{2}\right )-\Phi \left (-0.2\sqrt{n}\right )\geq 0.9\\ & \Rightarrow 2\Phi \left (0.2\sqrt{2}\right )\geq 1.9 \\ & \Rightarrow \Phi \left (0.2\sqrt{2}\right )\geq 0.95 \\ & \Rightarrow 0.2\sqrt{n}\geq 1.65 \\ & \Rightarrow n\geq \frac{1089}{16}=8.25 \end{align*}

So, we need at least 9 toss.
Is everything correct s far? At c) do we define the random variable $Z:=n\cdot \overline{X}_n$ with $n=100$ and calculate the probability $P(Z\leq 30)$ ?

If yes, I must have somewhere a mistake, because I get the following:

We have that \begin{equation*}E(Z)=E(100\overline{X}_{100})=100\cdot E(\overline{X}_{100})=100\cdot 0.5=50\end{equation*} nd \begin{equation*}V(Z)=Z(100\overline{X}_{100})=100^2\cdot V(\overline{X}_{100})=10000\cdot \frac{1}{16\cdot 100}=\frac{25}{4}=6.25\end{equation*}

So $Z\sim N(50, 6.25)$.

The probability that we are looking for is then equal to \begin{equation*}P(Z\leq 30)=\Phi \left (\frac{30-50}{\sqrt{6.25}}\right )=\Phi \left (\frac{-20}{2.5}\right )=\Phi \left (-8\right )=1-\Phi (8)\end{equation*}
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Hey mathmari!

That looks all correct to me.
How come that you think there is a mistake? (Wondering)
 
I like Serena said:
That looks all correct to me.
How come that you think there is a mistake? (Wondering)

I thought so because we have $\Phi (8)$ so a very big argument, that doesn't exist in a table of normal distribution. At such a table the largest number converge to $1$. Does this mean that $\Phi (8)\approx 1$ and so $P(Z\leq 30)\approx 1-1=0$ ? (Wondering)
 
mathmari said:
b) Let $\overline{X} = \frac{1}{n}(X_1 + X_2+ \ldots +X_n)$. According to the zentral limit theorem $\overline{X}$ approximates the normal distribution for large $n$ with parameters \begin{equation*}E(\overline{X})=\frac{1}{2}=0.5 \ \text{ and } \ V(\overline{X})=\frac{\sigma_X^2}{n}=\frac{\left (\frac{1}{4}\right )^2}{n}=\frac{1}{16n}\Rightarrow \sigma_{\overline{X}}=\frac{1}{4\sqrt{n}}\end{equation*}

Shouldn't we have $\sigma_X^2=\frac 14$ instead of $\sigma_X^2 =(\frac 14)^2$? (Wondering)
 
I like Serena said:
Shouldn't we have $\sigma_X^2=\frac 14$ instead of $\sigma_X^2 =(\frac 14)^2$? (Wondering)

Oh yes. (Blush)

So, we have the following:
\begin{equation*}E(\overline{X})=\frac{1}{2}=0.5 \ \text{ and } \ V(\overline{X})=\frac{\sigma_X^2}{n}=\frac{\frac{1}{4}}{n}=\frac{1}{4n}\Rightarrow \sigma_{\overline{X}}=\frac{1}{2\sqrt{n}}\end{equation*}

So, we get that
\begin{align*}P\left (0,45<\overline{X}_n<0,55\right )\geq 90\% &\Rightarrow \Phi \left (\frac{0.55-0.5}{\frac{1}{2\sqrt{n}}}\right )-\Phi \left (\frac{0.45-0.5}{\frac{1}{2\sqrt{n}}}\right )\geq 0.9 \\ & \Rightarrow \Phi \left (0.1\sqrt{n}\right )-\Phi \left (-0.1\sqrt{n}\right )\geq 0.9 \\ & \Rightarrow \Phi \left (0.1\sqrt{n}\right )-\left [1-\Phi \left (0.1\sqrt{n}\right )\right ]\geq 0.9 \\ & \Rightarrow \Phi \left (0.1\sqrt{n}\right )-1+\Phi \left (0.1\sqrt{n}\right )\geq 0.9 \\ & \Rightarrow 2\Phi \left (0.1\sqrt{n}\right )\geq 1.9 \\ & \Rightarrow \Phi \left (0.1\sqrt{n}\right )\geq 0.95 \\ & \Rightarrow 0.1\sqrt{n}\geq 1.65 \\ & \Rightarrow n\geq 272.25\end{align*}

So, at least $273$ toss have to be done.
Then, we have that \begin{equation*}E(Z)=E(100\overline{X}_{100})=100\cdot E(\overline{X}_{100})=100\cdot 0.5=50\end{equation*} and \begin{equation*}V(Z)=Z(100\overline{X}_{100})=100^2\cdot V(\overline{X}_{100})=10000\cdot \frac{1}{4\cdot 100}=25\end{equation*}

Therefore, $Z\sim N(50, 25)$.

So, the probability is equal to \begin{equation*}P(Z\leq 30)=\Phi \left (\frac{30-50}{\sqrt{25}}\right )=\Phi \left (\frac{-20}{5}\right )=\Phi \left (-4\right )=1-\Phi (4)\approx 1-1=0\end{equation*}
Is everything correct now? (Wondering)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Looks good to me! (Nod)
 
I like Serena said:
Looks good to me! (Nod)

Great! Thank you very much! (Yes)
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
Replies
10
Views
3K
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
3K
  • · Replies 42 ·
2
Replies
42
Views
5K
Replies
1
Views
4K
  • · Replies 0 ·
Replies
0
Views
2K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K