Q.There are three coins. One is a two-headed coin, another is a biased coin that comes up heads 75% of the time and the third is an unbiased coin. One of the three coins is chosen at random and tossed. If it shows heads, what is the probability that it is the two-headed coin?
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →We use Bayes’ theorem to reverse the conditional probability: given that the toss shows heads, the probability that the chosen coin is the two-headed one is .
Why Bayes’ theorem?
We are told: a coin is chosen at random from three coins, then tossed. The toss shows heads. We need the probability that the two-headed coin was the one chosen.
This is a classic “inverse probability” problem. We know the probability of heads given each coin, but we want the probability of a particular coin given that heads occurred. That’s exactly what Bayes’ theorem handles.
Let’s label the coins:
- : two-headed coin (heads with probability )
- : biased coin (heads with probability )
- : unbiased coin (heads with probability )
Since the coin is chosen at random, each has prior probability .
Step-by-step solution
1. Write down what we want.
We want , the probability that the coin is given that the toss showed heads.
2. Recall Bayes’ theorem in this context:
The denominator is the total probability of heads, which we must compute by considering all three coins.
3. Compute using the law of total probability.
Substitute the values:
Factor :
4. Simplify inside the parentheses.
Convert to quarters: , . So:
Thus: …
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