Posted by andrew on Friday, November 3, 2006 at 9:54am.
Imagine a LONG bike with a total of 4 wheels - 2 in the front and 2 in the back.
For the bike to work at all, at least 1 front wheel and 1 back wheel must be operational.
All 4 tires are the same and each, individually, has probability 'p' of failing.
What is the probability that I will have a working bike? (meaning, that at least 1 tire is working up front, and at least 1 is working in the back).
When you want to know the probability that more than one probability will occur, you
multiply the probabilities. To find out if either one or another of events will occur, you
add the probabilities.
Thus you would use the following formula:
1 - (pF1 + pF2)(pR1 + pR2), where pF1 is the probability for one front tire failing.
However, since the probability is the same for each tire, the formula would be:
1 - (p + p)(p + p) = 1 - (2p)(2p) = 1 - 4p
I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
Pardon my typo.
1 - (2p)(2p) = 1 - 4p
^2
That is p squared.
Sorry for the omission.
No one has answered this question yet.
Answer this Question
Related Questions
physics - A bicycle has wheels 67.3 cm in diameter and pedal cranks 17.5 cm long...
Math - If you are riding a bike and your front sprocket (the one with the pedals...
Math - The wheels of a bicycle have a 24 inch diameter. When the bike is being ...
phys - When a car is weighed, it is allowed to move over a scale which records a...
Physics - Workers have loaded a delivery truck in such a way that its center of ...
Physics - A 965 kg car is driving along a boardwalk. The car's center of ...
Physics - A 984 kg car is driving along a boardwalk. The car's center of ...
Physics Class - A 965 kg car is driving along a boardwalk. The car's center ...
Word Problem - In last Saturdays parade Tom counted a total of 76 bicycles and ...
Math HURRY !!!!!!!! - There are two bikes one with normal wheels and one with ...
For Further Reading
