Physics 110 Probability Lab Data Sheet

Today we will find the probability pattern for tossing two dice. Record the number of
twos, threes, and so on, in 100 tosses. Use a tally mark (/) for each “hit” (or occurrence)
of a particular value. When you’re done with all 100 tosses, sum the hits for each
number and write that in the “Total Hits” column.

DATA:
Table 1
Total Hits Total Hits
Dots
2 111 3

3 1111511 7

4 1111511 7

5 11115111151 11

6 111151111511115 15

7 111151111511115111 18

8 11115111 8

9 1111511115111151 16

10 11115 5

11 11115 5

12 11115 5
Now calculate the percentage probability of obtaining each case. Do this by dividing the
“Total Hits” column by 100 (the total number of tosses):

Table 2
Total Percentage
Dots Probability
2 0.03
3 0.07
4 0.07
5 0.11
6 0.15
7 0.18
8 0.08
9 0.16
10 0.05
11 0.05
12 0.05

Now analyze the dice to figure out how many combinations are possible to create
each case.
Example: you can roll a “4” in three ways: 1+3, 3+1, and 2+2. So I’d enter “3” for the total
# of combinations that could result in a “4”.

Table 3
Total # of
Dots combinations
2 1
3 2
4 3
5 4
6 5
7 6
8 5
9 4
10 3
11 2
12 1
The theoretical results state that each possible combination has a probability of one
thirty-sixth. Therefore, for each case, multiplying the number of combinations (from
Table 3 above) by one thirty-sixth should give us the probability for that case. Let’s do
this and check those numbers against our experimental results in Table 2.

Formula: theoretical percentage probability = (# of combinations) x (1/36) x 100

Table 4
Total Theoretical
Dots Percentage
Probability
2 2.77
3 5.55
4 8.33
5 11.11
6 13.88
7 16.66
8 13.88
9 11.11
10 8.33
11 5.55
12 2.77