A math problem in a game for all you mathematicians out there!

Splitty · 05-20-2009, 08:36 PM

I understand this isn't really a game itself but I have a math problem that involves a game, anyone really good at math feel free to help me out here, thank you in advance!

So I am trying to find a mathematical equation that would solve this by just substituting in the correct variables, here is the situation:
When you flip a coin you have a 50% chance of winning, but when there is consecutive flips it decreases the chance of you winning by the number of flips so I came up with this formula - (0.5^f)x100 = chance of winning (r = number of flips) for example 5 flips would leave you with a 3.125% chance of winning every time. Now is where I begin to get confused. The more times you play this game the more chances you get of winning so I need to make a variable for number of times played because if you play once you will probably not be able to call the flip 5x in a row, but if you play 100 times you will probably be able to call the flip 5x in a row more than once. The purpose of this is to find out the number times you will lose before you win once. I know this sounds confusing (at least it does to me) but any help would be fantastic, thank you for your time and I look forward to your solution!

Tiber Septim · 05-21-2009, 12:41 AM

Hi.

This sounds like a homework or assignment question, which we can't help you with.
You've pretty much answered your own question though 'When you flip a coin you have a 50% chance of winning'. The number of times the coin has been flipped should have no effect on the outcome.

I'll close this thread for now. If I am wrong, and this has nothing to do with schoolwork feel free to PM me an explain, and I will reopen the thread.

05-20-2009, 08:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
Splitty Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 23 OS: Windows XP	A math problem in a game for all you mathematicians out there! I understand this isn't really a game itself but I have a math problem that involves a game, anyone really good at math feel free to help me out here, thank you in advance! So I am trying to find a mathematical equation that would solve this by just substituting in the correct variables, here is the situation: When you flip a coin you have a 50% chance of winning, but when there is consecutive flips it decreases the chance of you winning by the number of flips so I came up with this formula - (0.5^f)x100 = chance of winning (r = number of flips) for example 5 flips would leave you with a 3.125% chance of winning every time. Now is where I begin to get confused. The more times you play this game the more chances you get of winning so I need to make a variable for number of times played because if you play once you will probably not be able to call the flip 5x in a row, but if you play 100 times you will probably be able to call the flip 5x in a row more than once. The purpose of this is to find out the number times you will lose before you win once. I know this sounds confusing (at least it does to me) but any help would be fantastic, thank you for your time and I look forward to your solution!

05-21-2009, 12:41 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tiber Septim Asst Manager, Games Team Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Queensland, Australia Posts: 2,821 OS: Fedora 11 / Windows 7 My System Blog Entries: 5	Re: A math problem in a game for all you mathematicians out there! Hi. This sounds like a homework or assignment question, which we can't help you with. You've pretty much answered your own question though 'When you flip a coin you have a 50% chance of winning'. The number of times the coin has been flipped should have no effect on the outcome. I'll close this thread for now. If I am wrong, and this has nothing to do with schoolwork feel free to PM me an explain, and I will reopen the thread. __________________ First Steps - System Specs - SIW Help TSF beat Cancer and other serious Illness.