http://www.ck12.org Chapter 3. Introduction to Discrete Random Variables
3.6 Theoretical and Experimental Coin Tosses
Here you’ll simulate coin tosses using technology to calculate experimental probability. Then you’ll compare your
results to the results you would get from calculating the theoretical probability.
What is the probability that when you toss a coin it will come up heads? If you tossed a coin 100 times and kept a
record of your results would it be the same as the probability you expected? Would heads come up exactly 50% of
the time?
Watch This
First watch this video to learn about theoretical and experimental coin tosses.
MEDIA
Click image to the left for more content.CK-12 Foundation: Chapter3TheoreticalandExperimentalCoinTossesA
Then watch this video to see some examples.
MEDIA
Click image to the left for more content.CK-12 Foundation: Chapter3TheoreticalandExperimentalCoinTossesB
Guidance
In an example in a previous concept, we were tossing 2 coins. If you were to repeat this experiment 100 times, or if
you were going to toss 10 coins 50 times, these experiments would be very tiring and take a great deal of time. On
the TI-84 calculator, there are applications built in to determine the probability of such experiments. In this section,
we will look at how you can use your graphing calculator to calculate probabilities for larger trials and draw the
corresponding histograms.
On the TI-84 calculator, there are a number of possible simulations you can do. You can do a coin toss, spin a
spinner, roll dice, pick marbles from a bag, or even draw cards from a deck. Press
APPSand choose Prob Sim to see these simulations.