Final answer:
The probability of getting heads on four consecutive coin tosses is indeed 1/16 or 0.0625, as each event is independent and the probability of each event is multiplied together.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that the joint probability of getting heads four times in a row when tossing a coin is 1/16 or 0.0625 is true. To understand why, recall that the probability of getting heads on a single toss of a fair coin is 0.5. Each toss of a coin is an independent event, which means the outcome of one toss does not affect the outcome of another. For independent events, we can find the joint probability of multiple events occurring by multiplying the probabilities of each individual event.
Thus, the probability of getting heads on four successive tosses is calculated as follows:
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- P(First toss results in heads) = 0.5
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- P(Second toss results in heads) = 0.5
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- P(Third toss results in heads) = 0.5
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- P(Fourth toss results in heads) = 0.5
Multiplying these probabilities together:
P(Four heads in a row) = 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 = 0.0625 or 1/16