Question

You flip a fair coin 3 times, and get a different amount of money depending on how many heads you get. What is the probability of getting exactly 2 heads?

1) 1/8
2) 1/4
3) 3/8
4) 1/2

Answer 1

The probability of getting exactly 2 heads when flipping a fair coin 3 times is 3/8, accounting for 3 possible combinations that meet the condition.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is to find the probability of getting exactly 2 heads when flipping a fair coin 3 times. To solve this, consider that each flip has two possible outcomes: heads (H) or tails (T), and each outcome has a probability of 0.5. The different combinations of 3 flips that result in exactly 2 heads are: HHT, HTH, and THH. Since there are 3 favorable outcomes and each one has a probability of (0.5)3 or 1/8, the total probability of getting exactly 2 heads is 3 x 1/8 = 3/8.