I toss a fair coin until I get two head in a row. What is the probability that I toss the coin 5 times in total?

In order to satisfy the condition, must have the 4th toss and 5th toss both being heads. Note that the 3rd toss must be tails as otherwise we would terminate the coin tosses prematurely. This leaves the first two tosses being anything it likes apart from two heads. In total, since probability of the nth toss is independent of other tosses, must have the answer to be 3/4 x (1/2)^3 = 3/16.

JX
Answered by James X. Maths tutor

2755 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Simplify the fraction 54x^(6)y^(13)/6x^(3)y^(9).


Solve 5x^2 - 4x - 3 =0. Give answers to 3 significant figures


Solve 5x – 3 > 3x + 11


There are 14 boys in a class and 16 girls. The Mean height of the class is 1.6m, the mean of the girls is 1.5m what is the mean height of the boys?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning