Don't be Caught Out with Probability

I throw three dice simultaneously. What is the probability of throwing a six with at least one of them?

1/2 1/216 125/216 3/6 108/216 91/216 3/216 29/325

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3 solutions

Caleb Townsend
Feb 6, 2015

Let A A be the event of rolling at least one 6 6 with 3 dice. Let B B be the event of NOT rolling at least one 6. 6.
The probability of NOT rolling at least one 6 is P ( B ) = ( 5 6 ) 3 = 125 216 . P(B) = (\frac{5}{6})^3 = \frac{125}{216}.
Since A and B are mutually exclusive events, P ( A ) = 1 P ( B ) P(A) = 1 - P(B) P ( A ) = 91 216 P(A) = \boxed{\frac{91}{216}}

It isn't 1 6 + 1 6 + 1 6 = 1 2 \frac{1}{6} + \frac{1}{6}+ \frac{1}{6}=\frac{1}{2} because then what would happen with 7 dice? The probability would be 7 6 \frac{7}{6} , which is impossible. So we try a different approach.

We take the probability of NOT getting a six with one throw: 5 6 \frac{5}{6} . Now, the probability of NOT getting a single six with 3 throws will be ( 5 6 ) 3 = 125 216 (\frac{5}{6})^3=\frac{125}{216} . But we're not done! This is the complement: the probability of the event P(at least one six)= 1 125 216 = 91 216 1-\frac{125}{216}=\frac{91}{216} .

Nice solution. Just a few reminders for the LaTeX.

It isn't /(/frac {1}{6} + \frac {1}{6}+ \frac {1}{6}=\frac {1}{2}}\­) because ...

LaTeX almost never uses "/". Always use "\". (without the apostrophes)

... would be \­(\frac {7}{6}, which is impossible. ...

Remember to put "\)" (without the apostrophes) at the end. Also, there shouldn't be a space between "\frac" and "{7}{6}". It should be like \frac{7}{6}, not \frac {7}{6}

Siddhartha Srivastava - 6 years, 4 months ago
Brock Brown
Mar 9, 2015

Python:

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from itertools import product
from fractions import Fraction
dice = xrange(1,7)
six_throws = 0
trials = 0
for throw in product(dice, repeat=3):
    if 6 in throw:
        six_throws += 1
    trials += 1
print Fraction(six_throws, trials)

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