Which situation can be modeled by tossing a coin three times?
a.
choosing which one of sixteen teams will win a tournament
c.
selecting a desk from thirty-six in a classroom
b.
deciding which English teacher of eight will win a trip to London
d.
picking one of six math teachers
divide the eight teachers into two groups of four A and B
Toss coin, group A wins.
Divide the four English teachers into two groups of two C and D.
Toss coin, group C wins
Now the two teachers in group toss the third coin to see who goes to London.
Note: 2^3 = 8
The situation that can be modeled by tossing a coin three times is option b. Deciding which English teacher of eight will win a trip to London.
To understand why this is the correct answer, let's look at the other options:
a. Choosing which one of sixteen teams will win a tournament: This situation involves selecting one team out of many, which can be better modeled by using a random number generator or drawing lots rather than a coin toss.
c. Selecting a desk from thirty-six in a classroom: This situation involves selecting one desk out of many, which can be better modeled by using a random number generator or any other method that assigns a number to each desk.
d. Picking one of six math teachers: This situation involves selecting one teacher out of many and is not related to the tossing of a coin.
Therefore, option b is the most appropriate situation to model with a coin toss because there are two possible outcomes (heads or tails) for each of the three coin tosses, which aligns with the eight English teachers vying for the trip to London.