A pretty easy but fun math problem, Coin flip |
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 Sep 22 2009, 09:46 AM
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#1
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 Senior Member  Group: Administrator Posts: 2,648 Joined: Apr 2008 Member No: 639,265  |
On Monday, you flip a coin all day. You start flipping it until you see the pattern Head, Tail, Head. You record the number of flips required to reach this pattern, and start flipping again (and counting up from 1 again) until you see that pattern again, you record the second number, and start again. At the end of the day you average all of the numbers you’ve recorded.
On Tuesday you do the EXACT same thing except you flip until you see the pattern Head, Tail, Tail. Will Monday’s number be higher than Tuesday’s, equal to Tuesday’s, or lower than Tuesday’s? No Googling for the answer! |
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Sep 22 2009, 01:24 PM
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#2
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 Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 7,020 Joined: May 2008 Member No: 653,768 |
 I've seen this problem before. I couldn't figure it out and when I finally read an explanation I was thinking "OOooooohhhhh! Now I get it!" |
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Sep 22 2009, 01:33 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Administrator Posts: 2,648 Joined: Apr 2008 Member No: 639,265 |
I think I am missing something in that comic.
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Sep 22 2009, 01:39 PM
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#4
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Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 7,020 Joined: May 2008 Member No: 653,768 |
o idk i just found it amusing, kinda a jab at people who try to tell jokes or riddles or word problems that are kinda aimed at tricking people, as clever as they may be
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Sep 22 2009, 02:00 PM
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#5
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Senior Member Group: Administrator Posts: 2,648 Joined: Apr 2008 Member No: 639,265 |
Yeah, I just don't get the clever trick inherent in the comic -- the part where he says "It's language!" I was hoping that by taking the time to type this out, it would suddenly dawn on me...but that didn't happen.
Anyway, this problem isn't really "clever", it just demonstrates an (arguably) interesting use of statistics. |
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Sep 22 2009, 02:05 PM
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#6
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Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 7,020 Joined: May 2008 Member No: 653,768 |
Yeah, I suppose so. I guess I found the comic humorous because in high school we had an english teacher that did the same thing to us, and everyone got "hungry" and "angry." No one assumed that "Gry" was the third word.
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Sep 22 2009, 02:11 PM
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#7
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Senior Member Group: Administrator Posts: 2,648 Joined: Apr 2008 Member No: 639,265 |
QUOTE(serotonin @ Sep 22 2009, 03:05 PM)  Yeah, I suppose so. I guess I found the comic humorous because in high school we had an english teacher that did the same thing to us, and everyone got "hungry" and "angry." No one assumed that "Gry" was the third word. "Gry" is an obsolete word, though. Wikipedia has an article on this riddle, of course; I think the comic is referring to #1 in this list. |
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Sep 22 2009, 02:14 PM
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#8
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Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 7,020 Joined: May 2008 Member No: 653,768 |
I think so, too.
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Sep 22 2009, 04:42 PM
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#9
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 Senior Member Group: Member Posts: 944 Joined: Jul 2008 Member No: 663,413 |
Wow, that comic plus the Wikipedia link is totally tripping me out. I'm very confused.
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