Probability Simulations

Which is the best way to simulate choosing one student out of 12 to be the class president?

• use a random number generator for the numbers 1 through 12

• roll a die
• spin a spinner with 4 sections
• flip a coin

A certain brand of TV has a 50% chance of being defective. Which model could be used to determine the probability that when two TVs are chosen, they will both be defective?

• spin a spinner with 4 equal sections
• roll a die twice
• flip a coin twice
• flip a coin, then roll a die

 A teacher wants to randomly choose 4 students to answer a series of questions. If there are 20 students in the classroom, describe a model that the teacher could use to simulate choosing these 4 students. 

• rolling a number cube 20 times
• spinning a spinner with 20 sections 4 times
• flipping a coin 20 times
• rolling a number cube and flipping a coin 20 times

 A game requires drawing tiles with letters A through E for each of 8 slots to determine the winning code. Describe a model that could be used to simulate the selection of the number

• a number cube and a coin are flipped 8 times
• a spinner has 8 different sections and is spun 5 times
• a number cube is rolled 5 times
• a spinner has 5 different sections and is spun 8 times

 A student has 2 black jackets and 5 white jackets. Each day they pick a jacket at random. Which key could they use to determine what color jacket they wear?

• Flip a coin:

  Heads = Black

  Tails = White

• Random Number Generator:

  2 = Black

  5 = White

• Random Number Generator:

  1 - 2 = Black

  3 - 7 = White

• Roll a die:

  Rolling a 2 = Black

  Rolling a 5 = White

• Random Number Generator:

  1 - 2 = Black

  1 - 5 = White

 Alex likes three types of music. 30% of his songs are Rock, 50% are Jazz, and 20% are Pop. Which key could he use to represent what type of song will play when he randomizes his music?

• Flip a coin:

  Heads = Rock/Pop

  Tails = Jazz

• Random Number Generator 1 -10:

  3 = Rock

  5 = Jazz

  2 = Pop

• Random Number Generator 1 - 10:

  1 - 3 = Rock

  4 - 8 = Jazz

  9 - 10 = Pop

• Random Number Generator 1 - 10:

  1 - 3 = Rock

  1 - 5 = Jazz

  1 - 2 = Pop

A cereal company is placing one of 6 different tickets into its boxes of cereal. If each ticket is equally likely to appear in a box of cereal, which model could be used to simulate the tickets you would find in 50 boxes of cereal?

• a coin that is flipped 50 times
• a spinner that has 4 sections that is spun 50 times
• a number cube that is rolled 50 times
• a coin is flipped and a number cube is rolled 50 times 

The questions on a multiple choice test each have 6 answer choices. Which model can be used to simulate randomly selecting the correct answer on a 20 question multiple choice test?

• rolling a six-sided number cube 6 times
• rolling a six-sided number cube 20 times
• spinning a spinner with 4 equal sized sections 4 times
• choosing 1 marble in a bag of 20 different colored marbles

Which is the best way to represent answering 25 multiple-choice questions with 4 choices for each answer?

• spin a spinner with four sections 25 times
• roll a die 25 times
• flip a coin 25 times
• roll a die 4 times

If you were using a random number generator to represent answering 25 multiple-choice questions with 4 choices for each answer, which option would best represent the key used for the numbers?

• For 1-4:

  1, 2, 3 = Correct

  4 = Wrong

• For 1-4:

  1 = Correct

  2, 3, 4 = Wrong

• For 1-25:

  1 - 24 = Correct

  25 = Wrong

• For 1-25:

  1 = Correct

  2 - 25 = Wrong

• For 1-25:

  4 = Correct

  • 1 - 3, 5 -25 = Wrong