In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Shareef Siddeek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >In a local radio presentation, one mathematician has shown that tossing >a coin is not always random. If one positions the head up when tossing, >he/she will more likely end up with the head more than 50% (to be exact >51%) of the time. What do the stat gurus say about this? Cheers. Siddeek >
While lecturing on probability at Warwick University one day in October 1972, Jeffrey Hamilton, demonstrating the effect of chance, took a coin from his pocket and casually tossed it in the air. The probability that the coin would land face up (heads) was exactly the same as the probability that it would land face down (tails); it was, Hamilton explained, a 50-50 proposition. Hamilton and the assembled students then watched as it hit the floor, bounced, rolled, spun around - and came to rest on its edge. After a stunned silence, the entire room broke into wild applause. This is from http://www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=2741 I hope it is true. -- Graham Jones http://www.visiv.co.uk Emails to [EMAIL PROTECTED] may be deleted as spam Please add a j just before the @ to ensure delivery . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
