Question

An experiment consists of tossing 3 coins at the same time. What is the probability of tossing 2 tails and 1 head?

Answer 1

3/8 or 0.375 or 37.5%

Explanation:

You have three coins. The probability of getting a head or a tail for each coin is 1/2. So,

`(1)/(2)` ×
`(1)/(2)` ×
`(1)/(2)` =
`(1)/(8)`

There are 8 possible combinations that can come from tossing 3 coins at the same time: HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT, THH, THT , TTH , or TTT.

Every time you toss the 3 coins, there is a
`(1)/(8)` chance that you get either of these combinations. So,

`(1)/(8)` +
`(1)/(8)` +
`(1)/(8)` =
`(3)/(8)`

The probability of tossing 2 tails and 1 head is 3/8.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

3/8.

Explanation:

The probability of a head or a tail on one toss of a single coin is 1/2.

So the required probability when 3 coins are tossed of getting say 3 heads = (1/2)*3 = 1/8.

The probabilities are multiplied because each event ( 1 coin tossed) is independent of the others.

There are 3 ways to get 2 H and 1 tail (HHT, HTH and THH) so the answer is 3 * 1/8

= 3/8.