heads or tails? (beat my 12 heads in a row!)

[Unisykolist]

I don't know if americans and and europeans know what I am talking about but I think you mite. Heads is on one side of the coin and Tails on the other. There's a 50/50 chance of the coin landing one one of them.

So today I bet my friend's record. I flipped a coin 12 times in a row and all of them were heads. The chances of this? ...

Amount of Flips:
1- 50% chance or 1 in 2 flips
2- 25% chance or 1 in 4 flips
3- 12.5% chance or 1 in 8 flips
4- 6.25% chance or 1 in 16 flips
5- 3.125% chance or 1 in 32 flips
6- 1.5625% chance or 1 in 64 flips
7- 0.71825% chance or 1 in 128 flips
8- 0.390625% chance or 1 in 256 flips
9- 0.1953125% chance or 1 in 512 flips
10- 0.09765625% chance or 1 in 1024 flips
11- 0.048828125% chance or 1 in 2058
12- 0.0244140625% chance or 1 in 4116 flips

sound about right?

I did flip it alot and it was over a few days, just below my thumb nail, it almost started bleeding from flipping it so much.

Think you can beat my record?

[nimblelight]

Think you can beat my record?

Can I use a random number generator instead of a real coin?:rolleyes:

[nimblelight]

The odds for doing what you did aren't necessarily so bad:

Some processes, like coin flipping, are not truly random and are called "pseudo-random." If you knew which side of the coin was facing up and exactly how much force was applied to the flip, you would know how the flip would turn out. Diaconis, a magician/mathematician, has taught himself how to apply the right amount of force so he can flip silver dollars in any pattern he wishes. He uses this ability in his "psychic" demonstrations! (He can't consistently flip a coin with less mass than a silver dollar).

http://faculty.rhodes.edu/wetzel/random/mainbody.html

In any case, lots of flips means lots of 12-coin series.

I congratulate you on your waste of time, and counter it with something that took me far less time.

35821

From http://www.random.org/coins/?num=16&cur=60-ats.1schilling

I got 6 heads in a row on a first attempt with 16 flips.

[nubcake]

ask any pro roulette wheel worker how often they see red or black consecutively occur and i think you'd be seriously surprised at the number.

you need a better hobby me-thinks! learn some coin magic or something.

oh, and yes i think with minor practice i could beat your effort. it's not THAT hard to flip a coin intending for it to land a specific way. it just takes a little practice and a little luck.

[unibikeling]

your stats are off.


The heads side of a coin is heavier.

[BillyTheMountain]

isn't it done best with real magic?

[Michaelgoround]

ask any pro roulette wheel worker how often they see red or black consecutively occur and i think you'd be seriously surprised at the number.

you need a better hobby me-thinks! learn some coin magic or something.

oh, and yes i think with minor practice i could beat your effort. it's not THAT hard to flip a coin intending for it to land a specific way. it just takes a little practice and a little luck.
Maybe he fliped it without intentions!

[nubcake]

well if he flipped it without intention then he's a nubcake, and not i.

[SirSkillz]

your stats are off.


The heads side of a coin is heavier.

+1

The odds of tossing a heads is actually 51%

Edit: Actually I don't know. I know with Canadian coins the odds are 51%, but I'm not sure if it's different in Australia.

[crazyjoe]

I just got 2 9-in-a-rows and a 12-in-a-row with the random coin flipper. And I only flipped it 10 times.

[Mikefule]

I tossed H H H T H T T H T H.

The odds of tossing ten consecutive coins in exactly that sequence are 1 in 1,024.

I then tossed H T H H T H T H T T.

The odds of tossing ten consecutive coins in exactly that sequence are 1 in 1,024.

Then I tossed H H H H H H H H H H.

The odds of tossing ten consecutive coins in exactly that sequence are 1 in 1,024, but because they're all heads it seems more special.

Pity I was aiming for 10 tails.:rolleyes:

All figures made up to illustrate a point.

[Into the blue]

This thread is full of tossers!

[Jethro]

This thread is full of tossers!

It's not full yet. There's still room for a waffle tosser

[maestro8]

All figures made up to illustrate a point.

The point is lost on many people, unfortunately. Can you believe there are people amazed every time their watch reads 12:34:56 (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79972)?

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a world full of Rainmen (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095953/). Then I remember that reality only exists in my head, and I'm crazy, so it all makes sense.

[Mikefule]

The point is lost on many people, unfortunately. Can you believe there are people amazed every time their watch reads 12:34:56 (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79972)?


Only the other day on the radio, they were saying thay they would make sure we all knew the exact moment when it was 12:34:56 on 7/8/09.

(This only works the way we do dates in the UK.)