Physics A185 Lab  Probability & Statistics  A.

Vaucher 

Toss of Coin

1.0 Introduction
All scientific activities involve measurement or collection of data at one point or another.
Repeated measurements of any quantity will yield many values, how do we know which
value to use?
Measured data tends to exhibit clustering in some well-known distributions, with
properties that allows us to obtain meaningful information. A most commonly occurring
distribution is the Gaussian, or Normal Distribution.
In this lab, will use a coin toss to collect data and construct a probability distribution.

2.0 Procedure
2.1 For each student in your group, collect 16 pennies in a cup. Shake the cup and
throw the pennies on the table, and count the number of heads. This is one trial.
Repeat 10 trials per student and fill out the table below.

Trial Number of Heads

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

2.2 Open an excel file, and combine all the trials from members of your group with the
total number of trials in one column, and the number of heads in the next column. Below
the number of heads column, use excel functions to calculate the Mean (average),
Median, Mode, and Standard Deviation.

2.3 Make another set of columns with all the possible number of heads from each trials,
Probability of Occurrence, and Gaussian Distribution. This will look like this:
A B C D
# of Possible Heads # of Trials With Probability of Gaussian
Many Heads occurrence (value in Distribution
Column B/16)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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Physics A185 Lab  Probability & Statistics  A.Vaucher 

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

To fill out the last column, use excel NORM.DIST function. This will require you to enter
the mean and standard deviation values obtained in previous section.

2.4 Plot the data in Column B in the table above in a bar-plot. It should look something
like this:

Frequency of Occurance (# trials with this
many heads)
8
# of trials (Occurance)

6
4
# trials with this
2
 many heads
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111213141516
Number of Heads

2.5 Do the same for Columns C. Label the plots appropriately. Do this twice: Once for
your 10 trials, and once for the combined trials. It should look similar to this:

Probability of
occurance (#heads/possible 16)
0.4
Probability of Occurance

0.3
0.2
Probability of
0.1  occurance
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111213141516
Number of Heads

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Physics A185 Lab  Probability & Statistics  A.Vaucher 

2.6 Plot the data in Column D in a scatter-continuous plot and label appropriately. it
should look similar to this:

Gaussian Dist. 24 trials, 16 pennies each
0.2

Probability Density
0.15

0.1

0.05 Gaussian Dist

0
0 5 10 15 20
Number of Heads

2.7 Superimpose the last two plots to obtain something similar to this:

Gaussian Dist. 24 trials, 16 pennies each
0.4
Probability Density

0.3

0.2 Probability of
 occurance
0.1 Gaussian Dist

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111213141516
Number of Heads

3.0 Additional Questions:

3.1 Compare the histograms in section 2.5 with your data (10 trials) with the
combined data (all the trials) in your group.

3.2 How does the mean value you obtained for the 10 trials compare with value
obtained with the combined trials? Compare each with the theoretical value (8
heads), calculate % difference for each. What can you conclude from this
comparison?

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