In: Statistics and Probability
A fair coin is tossed until a head appears. Given that the first head appeared on an even-numbered toss, find the probability that it occurred on the second or the fourth toss.
Let A be the probability of flipping heads first after an odd number of flips, and B = (1 - A) the probability that heads is first after an even number of flips.
Then,
Substituting B = 1 - A, we get,
Thus, Probability that heads first appears after an even number of flips, B = 1 - A
Now, Probability that first head appears on the second toss =
and, Probability that first head appears on the fourth toss =
Thus,
Probability that first head appears on the second or fourth toss =
Thus, to calculate the Probability that first head appears on the second or fourth toss, given that heads first appears after an even number of flips, we need to use Bayes' Theorem.
So, = Required Probability, and,
= Probability that heads first appears after an even number of flips, given that the first head appears on the second or fourth toss
Thus,
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