Question

For the experiment of tossing a coin three times, how do you find the probability of getting exactly one tail?

Answer 1

`P(1 T)=3/8`

Explanation:

If we do this from first principals.

List all the possible outcomes for tossing a coin three times.

`H=" head, T=" tail"`

on three tosses:

`HHH`

`color(blue)(HHT)`
`color(blue)(HTH)`
`color(blue)(THH)`

`HT T`
`THT`
`T TH`

`T T T`

8 possibilities in all

if we look at the list there three ways of obtaining one tail

`P(1 T)=3/8`

Other ways of doing this would involve the laws of probability or Binomial distribution.