Lita flipped a coin 5 times. On each flip the coin landed on tails. Which of these shows how to calculate the probability of this outcome?

Question

a. 5 x 1/2

b. 1/2 x 1/5

c. 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2

d. 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2

Answer 1

Let E₁, E₂, E₃, E₄ and E₅ be the event coin 1, coin 2 , coin 3, coin 4 and coin 5 landed on tail respectively.

P(E₁∩ E₂∩ E₃∩E₄∩E₅) = P(E₁)*P(E₂)*P(E₃)*P(E₄)*P(E₅) .....all events are independent from each other

P(E₁∩ E₂∩ E₃∩E₄∩E₅) = 1/2 X 1/2 X 1/2 X 1/2 X 1/2

I hope this helps.