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Question of 165

Q.A coin is tossed 5 times. What is the probability of getting

(i) 3 heads,
(ii) at most 3 heads ?
(OR)
Find the probability distribution of X, the number of heads in a simultaneous toss of two coins.
CBSECBSE Class XII Board 2019Subjective· 2mImportance★★★★★
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Part (a): with X∼B(5,12)X\sim B(5,\tfrac12), P(3 heads)=516P(3\text{ heads})=\tfrac{5}{16} and P(at most 3)=1316P(\text{at most }3)=\tfrac{13}{16}.

Part (b): for two coins, P(X=0)=14P(X=0)=\tfrac14, P(X=1)=12P(X=1)=\tfrac12, P(X=2)=14P(X=2)=\tfrac14.

Each coin toss is an independent Bernoulli trial with success (head) probability p=12p=\tfrac12. For nn tosses the count of heads follows the binomial law.

P(X=k)=(nk)pk(1−p)n−k.P(X=k)=\binom{n}{k}p^{k}(1-p)^{n-k}.

Part (a)

Here n=5n=5, p=1−p=12p=1-p=\tfrac12, so every term carries (12)5=132\left(\tfrac12\right)^5=\tfrac1{32}.

  1. Exactly 3 heads.

    P(X=3)=(53)(12)3(12)2=10⋅132=1032=516.P(X=3)=\binom{5}{3}\left(\tfrac12\right)^3\left(\tfrac12\right)^2=10\cdot\tfrac1{32}=\tfrac{10}{32}=\tfrac{5}{16}.

  2. At most 3 heads. X≤3X\le 3 is the complement of X≥4X\ge 4:

    P(X≥4)=P(4)+P(5)=(54)132+(55)132=532+132=632=316,P(X\ge4)=P(4)+P(5)=\binom{5}{4}\tfrac1{32}+\binom{5}{5}\tfrac1{32}=\tfrac{5}{32}+\tfrac1{32}=\tfrac{6}{32}=\tfrac{3}{16},

    P(X≤3)=1−316=1316.P(X\le3)=1-\tfrac{3}{16}=\tfrac{13}{16}. …

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