Probability

A bag contains red and blue balls. You are told the probabilities of drawing certain combinations of balls. Find how many red and how many blue balls there are in the bag.

Explore the distribution of molecular masses for various hydrocarbons

You'll need to work in a group for this problem. The idea is to decide, as a group, whether you agree or disagree with each statement.

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?

Some relationships are transitive, such as `if A>B and B>C then it follows that A>C', but some are not. In a voting system, if A beats B and B beats C should we expect A to beat C?

Heads or Tails - the prize doubles until you win it. How much would you pay to play?

Investigate the molecular masses in this sequence of molecules and deduce which molecule has been analysed in the mass spectrometer.

If you asked your mum/dad/friend to take you to the park today, what sort of response might you get?

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?

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.