Two coins are tossed in order. What is the probability of getting a head on the first coin and then getting a tail on the second coin?
The two trials are independent
1/2 * 1/2 = 1/4
You could get
H H
H T
T H
T T
Only one of those four possible equally probable outcomes is H T
To find the probability of getting a head on the first coin and then getting a tail on the second coin, we first need to calculate the probability of each individual event.
The probability of getting a head on a fair coin toss is 1/2, since there are two equally likely outcomes (head or tail) and one favorable outcome (head).
Similarly, the probability of getting a tail on a fair coin toss is also 1/2.
Since these two coin tosses are independent events (the outcome of the first coin toss does not affect the outcome of the second coin toss), we can multiply the probabilities of each event to find the probability of both events occurring.
So, the probability of getting a head on the first coin and then getting a tail on the second coin is (1/2) * (1/2) = 1/4.
Therefore, the probability of getting a head on the first coin and then getting a tail on the second coin is 1/4 or 0.25, which can also be expressed as 25%.