A coin is tossed 8 times. If the probability that exactly 4 heads appear in the first six tosses and exactly 3 heads appear in the last five tosses is p, then 96p is equal to .
Answer
9
Solution
Tosses 1–6 must have 4 heads and tosses 4–8 must have 3 heads; tosses 4, 5, 6 are common.
Let the numbers of heads be a in tosses 1–3, b in tosses 4–6, c in tosses 7–8.
a+b=4, b+c=3, with a, b 3, c 2 b=1, 2, 3
b=1: a=3, c=2: 3C3 3C1 2C2=3
b=2: a=2, c=1: 3C2 3C2 2C1=18
b=3: a=1, c=0: 3C1 3C3 2C0=3
Favourable outcomes =24, total outcomes =28=256
p= 24256= 332
96p=9
Answer: 9