Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: April 19, 2024, 3:27 am

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Unfair Coin Flip
#31
RE: Unfair Coin Flip
(September 29, 2017 at 12:29 pm)Tiberius Wrote:
(September 29, 2017 at 12:28 pm)Lutrinae Wrote: My last guess:

Use a coin that has both heads and tails on each side?

How would that help?

Also, no. The coin is a standard coin with heads/tails. It's completely normal in that regard.

Yeah lol even if you could do that... that would just double both the fair and unfair results lol.
Reply
#32
RE: Unfair Coin Flip
So for a clue, the word "simulate" is important. For obvious reasons you can't do this with a single coin flip, we've established that is unfair. The method will involve multiple coin flips, but will produce a final answer of either "heads" or "tails".
Reply
#33
RE: Unfair Coin Flip
(September 29, 2017 at 12:32 pm)Tiberius Wrote: So for a clue, the word "simulate" is important. For obvious reasons you can't do this with a single coin flip, we've established that is unfair. The method will involve multiple coin flips, but will produce a final answer of either "heads" or "tails".

How do multiple coin flips produce only one final answer of "heads" or "tails"?
Let's say I do ten coin flips, those ten flips only result in one answer of heads or one answer of tails, or does it result in an added percentage of more; for example, six heads and four tails?
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
Reply
#34
RE: Unfair Coin Flip
(September 29, 2017 at 12:32 pm)Tiberius Wrote: So for a clue, the word "simulate" is important. For obvious reasons you can't do this with a single coin flip, we've established that is unfair. The method will involve multiple coin flips, but will produce a final answer of either "heads" or "tails".

What I don't understand about it is that it doesn't matter how many flips you do because each flip is the same chance.
Reply
#35
RE: Unfair Coin Flip
Your answer to Poca's question has me piqued.

Thinking like a programmer, if I can toss the com more than once to determine a result, then I can define two tosses as a 'throw' let's say. Now, what say we discount any throw that's HH or TT.

Brain working.... Not sure how this helps yet. Am I on the right track?
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great

PM me your email address to join the Slack chat! I'll give you a taco(or five) if you join! --->There's an app and everything!<---
Reply
#36
RE: Unfair Coin Flip
(September 29, 2017 at 11:57 am)Tiberius Wrote: Suppose you have a coin, and you suspect it is unfair (i.e. it lands on one side more often than the other). You don't know which side it lands on more, and for sake of argument assume you can't find out.

How can you simulate a fair coin flip using this coin only? By "fair" I mean that you should get a "heads" result exactly 50% of the time, and a "tails" result exactly 50% of the time.

Get a reference that details all the characteristics of a fair coin and subject it to minute scientific scrutiny using all the equipment of a large university.



You can fix ignorance, you can't fix stupid.

Tinkety Tonk and down with the Nazis.




 








Reply
#37
RE: Unfair Coin Flip
DAMN IT, I am going to pull a Trump here, I made a funny suggesting we should flip livestock instead. "I WILL NOT BE IGNORED DAN!"
Reply
#38
RE: Unfair Coin Flip
Wait I think that solves it.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great

PM me your email address to join the Slack chat! I'll give you a taco(or five) if you join! --->There's an app and everything!<---
Reply
#39
RE: Unfair Coin Flip
At this point, I know I said I wasn't going to play, my only logical thought is that if it is an unfair coin flip then the answer of 50-50 is inaccurately claimed to make pretend that it is real.
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
Reply
#40
RE: Unfair Coin Flip
(September 29, 2017 at 12:36 pm)Lutrinae Wrote:
(September 29, 2017 at 12:32 pm)Tiberius Wrote: So for a clue, the word "simulate" is important. For obvious reasons you can't do this with a single coin flip, we've established that is unfair. The method will involve multiple coin flips, but will produce a final answer of either "heads" or "tails".

How do multiple coin flips produce only one final answer of "heads" or "tails"?
Let's say I do ten coin flips, those ten flips only result in one answer of heads or one answer of tails, or does it result in an added percentage of more; for example, six heads and four tails?

It's up to you how you get the answer from multiple flips. There is a method which will guarantee a fair result. So for example, one method might be to average out the flips over time and use that average as the result. That's not the answer, but it's an example of how you can use multiple flips to get one result.

(September 29, 2017 at 12:37 pm)Hammy Wrote:
(September 29, 2017 at 12:32 pm)Tiberius Wrote: So for a clue, the word "simulate" is important. For obvious reasons you can't do this with a single coin flip, we've established that is unfair. The method will involve multiple coin flips, but will produce a final answer of either "heads" or "tails".

What I don't understand about it is that it doesn't matter how many flips you do because each flip is the same chance.

Each flip isn't the same chance though. There's the unfairness, which you can use to your advantage in the method which eliminates it.

(September 29, 2017 at 12:39 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: Your answer to Poca's question has me piqued.

Thinking like a programmer, if I can toss the com more than once to determine a result, then I can define two tosses as a 'throw' let's say. Now, what say we discount any throw that's HH or TT.

Brain working.... Not sure how this helps yet. Am I on the right track?

You are on the right track. Smile
Reply



Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  The "classic" counterfiet coin puzzle jvwert 18 8639 December 7, 2010 at 12:08 am
Last Post: Rhizomorph13
  Coin Flipping Poll Tiberius 15 5144 April 19, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Last Post: Violet



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)