Probability - FAQ
I recall reading an interesting statistic about a situation where if there are twenty individuals gathered together, the likelihood that two of them share the same birthday is under 50%. Is that accurate?
The chance that all 20 individuals have unique birthdays (not counting leap years) is computed as (364/365) multiplied by (363/365) and so on, leading to a total of 58.8562%. Thus, the chance of at least one pair sharing a birthday stands at 41.1438%. Interestingly, it takes just 23 people for the chances of a match to exceed 50%.
Imagine you have a group of 30 people, all born within the span of a single 365-day year. What would be the odds that at least two of them celebrate their birthdays on the same day? Please clarify the formula behind these calculations.
Envision those 30 individuals arranged in a line. The probability that the second person doesn’t share a birthday with the first is 364/365. If that’s the case, the chance that the next person also doesn't share a birthday with either of the first two drops to 363/365, and so on. The total probability that no one shares a birthday is (364/365) multiplied by (363/365) continuing down to (346/365), which results in 29.3684%. It’s often a point of inquiry about the minimum number of people needed for the likelihood of a birthday match to surpass 50%, and the answer is 23 individuals, where the probability of at least one match increases to 50.7297%.
In a test comprising 75 multiple-choice questions, where each question has four options and only one choice is correct, what are the odds of passing if a student guesses all their answers?
1 in 635,241.
Data on life expectancy has been calculated for individuals of various age groups and compiled comprehensively. However, I’m interested in determining the life expectancy for two specific individuals: a 30-year-old male (myself) and a 28-year-old female (my girlfriend). Based on the chart, I have an estimated lifespan of an additional 46.89 years, while she is projected to live another 53.22 years. Given this information, how can I figure out the expected time until both of us pass away? Social Security web site To answer your question accurately, it's better to use cohort life tables instead of the period life table you mentioned. I couldn’t locate cohort life tables through my search, but we can still refer to the provided data. It may slightly underestimate your longevity predictions because it won’t factor in any anticipated increases in life expectancy over time.
In addressing your inquiry, I've constructed a detailed matrix representing the probabilities of all possible combinations regarding the years of death for both you and the 28-year-old female. I won't delve into the specifics, but the key takeaway is that, according to calculations, one of you will pass away in approximately 41.8 years, and the other will pass around 57.3 years. These figures are rounded down—not accounting for partial years.
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I want to provide you with the answer, but I also wish to give you the chance to work through it on your own. Wizard of Vegas .
What is i^i?
to assist you. If this equation is unfamiliar to you, then solving it might be quite challenging.
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I recently learned about a woman in the UK who had her first and second children born on the exact same dates as Prince George and Princess Charlotte. What do you think are the chances of that occurring? Wizard of Vegas .
To formulate an answer, I’ll need to make a few rough assumptions.
To recap, Prince George was born on July 22, 2013, and Princess Charlotte arrived on May 2, 2015—this means there's a gap of 649 days. If we account for a typical nine-month gestation period, that leaves us with 379 days from George's birth to Charlotte's conception.
Based on personal observation, let us assume that the average interval between siblings is about three years. This would imply there are 825 days from the birth of the first child to the conception of the second. Applying the exponential distribution to this, I calculate that the likelihood of a gap of precisely 379 days is approximately 0.0442%.
Next, we'll assume that any woman aged between 20 and 39 is a possible candidate. According to the statistics, there are about 16,924,000 women in the United Kingdom who fall into this age bracket. If we divide this number by two to focus only on women, we arrive at 8,462,000 potential mothers in the UK.
The fertility rate in the UK, which signifies the average number of offspring born to women of childbearing age, is roughly 1.92. Using the Poisson distribution, I find that the probability of having two or more children is about 69.83%. This means the estimated number of women in the UK of childbearing age who will have two or more children is 8,462,000 multiplied by 69.83%, which equals approximately 5,909,015. Wikipedia Considering that women typically give birth at younger ages, let’s average the age of first-time mothers across the range from 20 to 37. Therefore, the estimated count of women in the UK who give birth on exactly Prince George's birthday is calculated to be 5,909,015 divided by (17 times 365), yielding about 952.32.
We have previously established that the probability of a precise age difference of 379 days between the first and second child stands at 0.0442%. Consequently, the expected number of women whose second child was born on the same day as Princess Charlotte, given that their first child shared the same birthday as Prince George, is approximately 952.32 multiplied by 0.000442, which equals roughly 0.421.
Utilizing the exponential distribution, with a mean of 0.421, the chance that at least one woman gives birth to children on the exact same days as Prince George and Princess Charlotte is 34.36%.
Additionally, I discovered that the equivalent probability for the same set of circumstances occurring in the United States is estimated to be 86.32%.
On average, how many random draws would you need from a uniform distribution ranging from 0 to 1 for their sum to equal 1?
What is the expected number of draws needed from a uniform distribution between 0 and 1 before the sum exceeds 1?
In a game scenario, two players, Sam and Dan, each possess five coins. Both players must decide how many coins, from one to five, to place in their hand. When the time comes to reveal their choices, if both players select the same number of coins, Sam will take all coins played. However, if they choose differently, Dan will collect all the coins. Assuming both players apply rigorous logical reasoning, what would be the best strategy for Dan?
Dan should adopt a randomized strategy designed as follows:
With this approach, Dan can anticipate winning an average of 3.640510949 coins every play, regardless of how many coins Sam selects.
A related inquiry, which led to this discussion, can be explored further on my forum at
- Probability of picking one coin = 77/548.
- Probability of picking one coin = 107/548.
- Probability of picking one coin = 117/548.
- Probability of picking one coin = 122/548.
- Probability of picking one coin = 125/548.
You can discover mathematically sound strategies and insights for a variety of casino games such as blackjack, craps, and roulette among many others that are available.
A solution can be found in my Math Problems site, problem 230.
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