A coin is tossed until a head appears or it has been tossed thrice. Given that head doesn't appear on…

A coin is tossed until a head appears or it has been tossed thrice. Given that head doesn't appear on the first toss, the probability that coin tossed thrice is
  1. 12
  2. 13
  3. 34
  4. 14

Solution

A coin is tossed until a head appears or it has been tossed thrice.

Given that head doesn't appear on the first toss.

Total possible cases or sample space =H,TH,TTH,TTT

Probability of head =PH=12

Probability of first tail and second head=PTH=12×12=14

Probability of first two tails and third head =PTTH=12×12×12=18

Probability of three tails =PTTT=18

Let, A=Head doesn't appear on the first toss

P(A)=P(T)=12

B=Coin tossed thrice

P(AB)=P(TTH)+P(TTT)=14

Probability of coin tossed three times, when first toss got not head  P(BA)=P(AB)P(A)

=1412=12

Asked in: AP EAMCET 2021 (20 Aug Shift 2)

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