Two players each flip a fair coin. The probability that they get the same result can be expressed as a b where a and b are coprime positive integers. What is the value of a+b ?
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http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1365593486
I saw the the problem already answered but I just don't get what is a and what is b.
To find the probability that two players flipping fair coins get the same result, let's break it down step by step.
When we flip a fair coin, there are two possible outcomes: heads (H) or tails (T). Since there are two players, we need to consider the four possible combinations of outcomes:
Player 1: H, Player 2: H
Player 1: H, Player 2: T
Player 1: T, Player 2: H
Player 1: T, Player 2: T
Out of these four possibilities, there are two cases where the players get the same result: when they both get heads (HH) or both get tails (TT).
So the probability of getting the same result can be expressed as a fraction. The number of favorable outcomes (getting the same result) is 2, and the total number of possible outcomes is 4.
Therefore, the probability is 2/4 = 1/2.
Now, we need to express this probability as a fraction where the numerator and denominator are coprime (meaning they have no common factors other than 1).
In this case, the numerator is 1 and the denominator is 2, which are already coprime.
Finally, we need to find the sum of the numerator and denominator, which is a + b.
In this case, a = 1 and b = 2, so the value of a + b is 1 + 2 = 3.
Hence, the value of a + b is 3.