THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL BANGALORE

IB HL/SL MATHEMATICS AA / AI EXPLORATION

PROPOSAL FORM

General Information

Name: Sushmit Kishore Teacher:

Vijayalakshmi J.

Primary Proposal
Topic Title: The birthday paradox what is the probability of two or more people in a group
sharing a birthday

Aim: What is the probability of two or more people in a group sharing a birthday?

Topic Description: /Introduction

For this topic, I want to investigate the probability of two people in a large group of others sharing
the same birthday. The birthday paradox, also known as the birthday dilemma, says that there is
a 50% probability that two persons with the same birthdate will be found in a random group of 23
people. There are several reasons why this appears to be a contradiction. One is that if a person
compares his or her birthday to the birthdays of 22 other persons in a room, there will only be 22
comparisons—only 22 opportunities for people to have the same birthdate. Most of my prior
knowledge consists of probability I have learnt in all of my previous math classes, as well as my
reading into this paradox.
Proposed Topic Rationale: (Explain why you are interested in this topic, with reference to
global perspective)

I am interested in this topic as it is quite an intriguing one. The probability of two people in a random
group sharing the same birthday is not a probability statistic that many people in the world think about.
Researching about this topic would require me to conduct more work and research about this paradox,
leading to me finding out more about it. I could also potentially find out the probability of two people out
of everyone in the world sharing the same birthday.

Use of Math:
What relevant math concept/concepts/areas of mathematics will be used? [provide suitable
evidence]

Probability
- This topic centers around probability

Statistics
- I would need to use a lot of statistics in order to calculate probabilities

Algebra
- I am not as sure about algebra, but I may need to calculate unknown variables
Plan of action: [ What are the steps will you be undertaking in the course of exploring. Is there mathematics
outside the syllabus that you would have to learn/ collect data/ understand technological tools to complete the
exploration successfully?]

1. Research on the topic, read the results of previous studies and the math used
2. Collect all previous statistics found from other studies
3. Calculate the probability of people in a group of 20 people sharing a birthday
4. Conduct this experiment with a group of 20 people
5. Collect all results, further probability calculations

Sources used: [ What are the sources used in your preliminary research?]

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-probability-birthday-
paradox/#:~:text=The%20birthday%20paradox%2C%20also%20known,people%20have%20the%20same
%20birthday.&text=But%20when%20all%2023%20birthdays,much%20more%20than
%2022%20comparisons

https://ibmathsresources.com/2013/11/14/the-birthday-problem/

https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-the-birthday-paradox