Probability with Coins or Dice
Probability
w/ Coins
or Dice- Enter a formula to count the throws of the die.
Click on cell C10, and click on the summation icon (∑) on the toolbar at the
top. The formula =SUM(C4:C9) will appear. Click OK to accept it. - Change the temporary number to a formula to randomly generate a num-
ber from one to six.
Click on cell B2 and type in the following formula =RANDBETWEEN(1,6)
Press Enter. Before doing anything else, save the file as “Roll the Die”. - As with the Coin Toss, you now have a worksheet that will do what you
want it to, but that is not visually attractive. Before you make any changes,
press F9 a few times to see it work.
Close the workbook. When Excel asks “Do you want to save the changes
you made to....” select No. Now re-open the file, but do not press F9 until
you have saved any new additions to the file.
Note:The function you will use to generate the random numbers, RANDBETWEEN, is
not a standard Excel function, but is, instead, part of something called the Analy-
sis ToolPak. To have this and other functions available, you need to do the follow-
ing: From the Tools menu, select Add-Ins. When the dialog box opens, click on the
boxes next to Analysis ToolPak and Analysis ToolPak –VBA. Click OK to exit.
See page 53, Creating the Solution for more details.
Figure 220
Changing formulas in each cell to match the
value in the same row of column B