A coin is flipped six times. In how many possible outcomes are the number of heads and tails not equal?

pobi1k

pobi1k

Answered question

2022-09-05

A coin is flipped six times. In how many possible outcomes are the number of heads and tails not equal?
This is an example question from my Discrete Mathematics course textbook. I'd like help on whether I'm approaching it correctly and how to continue from where I am, that is if I'm right so far.
A coin is flipped six times where each flip comes up either heads or tails. In how many possible outcomes are the number of heads and tails not equal?
I've figured out that order doesn't matter, indicating I'll use combination and that there are 64 possible outcomes ( 2 6 = 64 ) and that for the number of heads and tails not to be equal any outcome is possible apart from 3 heads and 3 tails. I'm fairly new to this so I'm not sure how to proceed from here.

Answer & Explanation

Grace Moses

Grace Moses

Beginner2022-09-06Added 13 answers

Step 1
The order of the flips does matter, for the reason that N.F.Taussig has mentioned in the comments: the sequence HHHHTT is a different outcome to HTHTHH. Moreover, if you neglect the order, then there are not 64 possible outcomes, but rather 7. Can you see why?
Step 2
The simplest way to solve this problem is as follows: let p equal the number of ways of getting the same number of heads as tails (where the order is taken into account); and let p′ equal the number of ways of not getting the same number of heads as tails. Clearly, p + p = 2 6 = 64, meaning that p = 64 p. There are ( 6 3 ) ways of getting exactly 3 heads and 3 tails, and
( 6 3 ) = 6 5 4 3 2 1 = 20 .
Therefore, p = 44

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