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In this follow-up to the problem Odds and Evens, we invite you to analyse a probability situation in order to find the general solution for a fair game.
Can you decide whether these short statistical statements are always, sometimes or never true?
When two closely matched teams play each other, what is the most likely result?
Engage in a little mathematical detective work to see if you can spot the fakes.
Can you work out the probability of winning the Mathsland National Lottery?
Some people offer advice on how to win at games of chance, or how to influence probability in your favour. Can you decide whether advice is good or not?
If everyone in your class picked a number from 1 to 225, do you think any two people would pick the same number?
Imagine a room full of people who keep flipping coins until they get a tail. Will anyone get six heads in a row?
Move your counters through this snake of cards and see how far you can go. Are you surprised by where you end up?
Can you work out which spinners were used to generate the frequency charts?
This interactivity invites you to make conjectures and explore probabilities of outcomes related to two independent events.
Six balls are shaken. You win if at least one red ball ends in a corner. What is the probability of winning?
Seven balls are shaken. You win if the two blue balls end up touching. What is the probability of winning?
Discs are flipped in the air. You win if all the faces show the same colour. What is the probability of winning?
A simple spinner that is equally likely to land on Red or Black. Useful if tossing a coin, dropping it, and rummaging about on the floor have lost their appeal. Needs a modern browser; if IE then at least version 9.
Simple models which help us to investigate how epidemics grow and die out.
Which of these ideas about randomness are actually correct?
Can you generate a set of random results? Can you fool the random simulator?
Think that a coin toss is 50-50 heads or tails? Read on to appreciate the ever-changing and random nature of the world in which we live.
This article, for students and teachers, is mainly about probability, the mathematical way of looking at random chance and is a shorter version of Taking Chances Extended.
This article, for students and teachers, is mainly about probability, the mathematical way of looking at random chance.
Can you beat Piggy in this simple dice game? Can you figure out Piggy's strategy, and is there a better one?
This is a game for two players. Does it matter where the target is put? Is there a good strategy for winning?
All you need for this game is a pack of cards. While you play the game, think about strategies that will increase your chances of winning.
A maths-based Football World Cup simulation for teachers and students to use.
A counter is placed in the bottom right hand corner of a grid. You toss a coin and move the star according to the following rules: ... What is the probability that you end up in the top left-hand corner of the grid?
A gambler bets half the money in his pocket on the toss of a coin, winning an equal amount for a head and losing his money if the result is a tail. After 2n plays he has won exactly n times. Has he more money than he started with?
You and I play a game involving successive throws of a fair coin. Suppose I pick HH and you pick TH. The coin is thrown repeatedly until we see either two heads in a row (I win) or a tail followed by a head (you win). What is the probability that you win?