Question

This is Mathematics 800

Data:
Cereal companies often advertise with statements like "collect all 8 dinosaurs" or "one in each specially marked box." Assume that the company sells an equal number of boxes with each type of dinosaur. If you wanted to collect all eight dinosaurs, does this mean that you will only have to purchase eight boxes of cereal?

This investigation will help you better understand how theoretical probability compares to experimental probability
Questions
What was the theoretical probability of collecting a specific dinosaur, such as a Velociraptor, in a single purchase?
How many spins did it take before you had at least one of each dinosaur in Trial 1? Trial 2? Trial 3?
How does the number of spins correlate to the number of boxes of cereal that you would need to purchase?
What was the experimental probability for each dinosaur from Trial 1? Trial 2? Trial 3?
How does the experimental probability of getting each dinosaur differ from the theoretical probability? Here, you are comparing the experimental vs. theoretical probability of getting each type of dinosaur in a single purchase. In other words, you are determining the probability for a single event, not a compound event.
If someone bought eight boxes of cereal and got all eight dinosaurs, would you be surprised? Why or why not?
How did the experimental probabilities change between the trials?
What are the advantages of using a simulation versus actually buying boxes of cereal? Please help quickly thank you.

Answer 1

It is possible to get all 8 in one go. However, it is very unlikely because...

Explanation:

You have a 1/8 chance of getting the dinosaur you want from a box. That means obviously you are significantly more likely to get another less dinosaur. Which it likely won't have lasers and stuff. Which is always sad.

The theoretical probability is far less likely to actually happen than the experimental probability.