Faith Phillips, Max Keebaugh

Stats
February 8, 2023

Can You Snap Your Fingers?

Our topic is that there is a staff of 16 teachers, and we are trying to find the probability
that exactly 12 can snap their fingers. A survey said that only 67% of people can snap their
fingers. Using that information, we need to find the probability of 12 teachers. A random
variable is stated as x. A quantitative variable x is a random variable if the value that x takes on
in a given experiment or observation is a chance or random outcome. A variable will be discrete
if it takes on only a specific number of values or a countable number of values. A continuous
variable can take on any of the countless number of values in a line intercal. An example of
discrete would be our topic. You cannot have half of a teacher be able to snap their fingers. If our
topic was about temperature for example, it would be continuous since it can include decimals.
Probability distributions are assignments of probabilities to distinct values of a discrete
random variable, or to each interval of values of a continuous random variable. A key component
to know is that the sum of all the assigned probabilities must equal 1. To find the average (mean)
of a binomial distribution is to multiply the number of events and the probability of success.
With finding standard deviation, we have to multiply the number of trials, probability of success
and the probability of failure. Whatever the answer is needs to be square rooted, which will give
you the standard deviation. Methods to solving this is to use the equations µ=np for mean and σ=
𝑛𝑝𝑞 for standard deviation.
The expected value is the possible outcomes multiplied by the likelihood each outcome
occurs, an example would be, the outcomes (16) and the likelihood (.67) so the expected value
would be 10.72. The Binomial experiment and key components are found by having identical
trials. It has 2 outcomes: success and failure. The probability of success is p a percent, n is the of
independent trials, p is the probability of success, q is the probability of failure in the trial, and r
is the random variable.
The methods for computing binomial probabilities are a binomial table, calculator and
using hand written calculations. It is calculated by multiplying the probability of success raised
to the power of the number of successes, and the probability of failure raised to the power of the
difference between the number of successes and the number of trials. Mean and standard
deviation for binomial distribution is found by multiplying the n and p and standard deviation is
found by n times p (1-p) . With that information, the probability that 12 teachers can snap their
fingers is around 15.5%.
 Complete ONLY your assigned problem from below:

a. First explain how your scenario meets the criteria of a binomial experiment. - Our
scenario is a binomial experiment because there is a fixed number of trials and
our trials are independent. There are 2 outcomes, whether you can snap your
fingers or not.
b. Show/explain all work and calculations. - We had to use the binomial table to
solve this problem. Our number of trials is 16. Our number of successes is 12
and our probability of success is .67 or 67%. With using our table we got .155,
which is the probability that less than half teachers can snap their fingers.

c. Explain why you chose the methods you did (calculator, binomial probability
table, etc.) We chose the methods we did because the binomial table has a direct
answer to our problem and it's easiest to find the answer to it on the table.
d. Explain what your answers mean in the context of your scenario - With getting
.155, it states that the probability that less than half of the teachers can snap their
fingers is around 15.5%.
e. What are the mean and standard deviations for your scenario? What does the
mean tell you about your scenario? By using this formula we can find the mean
that is 10.72 ,and the standard deviation comes out to 12.51. The mean tells us
the average.

Project Question: According to surveys, only 67% of people can snap their fingers. In a staff of
16 teachers, what is the probability that exactly 12 can snap their fingers? What is the
probability that less than half can snap their fingers?