If you toss a coin and it comes up tails on eight consecutive tosses, what is the likelihood it will come up heads on the ninth toss?
To determine the likelihood of the ninth coin toss coming up heads, you need to understand the concept of independent events and the probability of a single coin toss.
A fair coin has two possible outcomes: heads or tails. If the coin is unbiased and each toss is independent, the probability of getting heads on each toss is 1/2, or 0.5.
Since each coin toss is independent, the previous outcome of eight consecutive tails does not impact the probability of the next toss. Regardless of the previous outcomes, the probability of getting heads on the ninth toss remains 1/2, or 0.5.
Therefore, the likelihood of the ninth coin toss coming up heads is 50%, the same as any other individual coin toss.