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

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the probability of obtaining at most 30 heads when tossing a fair coin 100 times. Participants explore the distribution of single tosses, the application of the central limit theorem, and the calculations related to expected values and variances in the context of probability theory.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant states that each toss of the coin is Bernoulli distributed, leading to the conclusion that the average of tosses approximates a normal distribution for large n.
  • Another participant questions the initial calculations regarding the variance of the average, suggesting that the variance should be based on the correct formula for the variance of a Bernoulli distribution.
  • There is a discussion about the implications of a very large argument in the normal distribution function, with one participant noting that this leads to the conclusion that the probability of getting at most 30 heads is approximately zero.
  • Subsequent replies confirm the correctness of the revised calculations and the conclusions drawn from them.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the correctness of the calculations after revisions, although initial disagreements about the variance and implications of the normal distribution function were present.

Contextual Notes

Some calculations were corrected during the discussion, particularly regarding the variance of the average of Bernoulli trials. The implications of using the normal approximation for large sample sizes were also debated.

mathmari
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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*}
 
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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)
 

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