Question

Mark spins a penny 100 times and it lands head side up 41 times.

A.Explain why Mark's experimental probability may be different from the theoretical probability of spinning a coin.

B.Explain what would happen to Mark's experimental probability if he continued to spin the penny 1,000 times?

(10 points)

You may use these sentence frames to help you answer:

Mark's experimental probability is ______________.

Mark's theoretical probability is______________.

Mark's experimental probability may be different from the theoretical probability because____________.

If Mark continued to spin the penny 1,000 times his experimental probability would______________.

Answer 1

Mark's experimental probability is 41/100.

Mark's theoretical probability is 1/2, as there are 2 sides to a coin and each side has an equal chance of landing face up.

Mark's experimental probability may be different from the theoretical probability because in a small sample size like 100 spins, there is a higher likelihood of random variation causing the results to deviate from the expected probability.

If Mark continued to spin the penny 1,000 times, his experimental probability would likely approach the theoretical probability of 1/2. This is due to the law of large numbers, which states that as the number of trials increases, the experimental probability becomes closer to the theoretical probability.