Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and the Yahoo Answers website is now in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

Probability question. I'm asking for the best method to solve it. I don't need the numerical answer.?

You have a probability of 3/5 of winning a game of chance. You play the game 100 times. What is the prob of winning more than 70 games? 

Do I need to calculate the prob of winning exactly 71 games, then prob of winning 72 games, and so on up to 100, then add those probabilities together? Is there a better faster way to do it? 

2 Answers

Relevance
  • 7 months ago
    Favorite Answer

    This is a binomial distribution. Since n is so large the binomial can be cumbersome to compute. So for large n use the normal approximation to the binomial

    Do I need to calculate the prob of winning exactly 71 games, then prob of winning 72 games, and so on up to 100, then add those probabilities together? Is there a better faster way to do it?

    You final answer will be more accurate if you computed for each exact value but this tends to be too cumbersome and time consuming.

    n = 100 

    p = ⅗

    µ = np = 100( ⅗ ) = 60

    σ² = np( 1 - p ) = 60( 1 - ⅗ ) = 24

    ∴σ = √24

    …… winning more than 70 games implies using x > 70.5 for normal approximation to the binomial

    z = ( x - µ ) / σ

    z = ( 70.5 - 60 ) / √24

    z = 2.1433

    from the table: 

    z = 2.14, P = 0.9838

    z = 2.15, P = 0.9842

    by interpolation, 

    (2.1433 - 2.14)/(P - 0.9838) = (2.15-2.1433)/(0.9842 - P)

    P ≈ 0.9839

    P( winning > 70 ) = 1 - P( @z = 2.1433 )

    P( winning > 70 ) = 1 - 0.9839

    P( winning > 70 ) = 0.0161 = 1.61%

    ————————————————

  • ?
    Lv 6
    7 months ago

    You outlined how to get the exact answer. But with n = 100, you can, and are probably supposed to, use the normal distribution to the binomial.

    The properties of the binomial are well-known. The mean is np = 100 x 3/5 = 60

    The variance is npq = 100(3/5)(2/5) = 24. So the s.d. is √24 = 4.899.

    Now you just use those facts and pretend you have a normal distribution.

    the answer is the area under the "normal" curve from 70.5 to infinity.

    You really want 71 and above, but when you use this approximation you extend things by 1/2, so 71 is represented by the interval (70.5, 71.5).

    So 70.5 is 70.5 - 60 = 10.5 above the mean.

    That is 10.5 / 4.899 standard deviations.

    Now just calculate that and use a Z-table to get the area you want.

    See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCqWkJ_pqNU

    for a tutorial.

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.