View Single Post
  #1  
Old 08-12-2005, 11:28 AM
LetYouDown LetYouDown is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Sharing a smoke w/negativity
Posts: 524
Default Binomial Distribution

Friend asked me this last night...just want to verify, as I haven't really done it in a while so I'm a bit fuzzy. Assume you want the probability of rolling a fair die 5 times and getting a specific number exactly 3 times.

I just used a rather hazy non-cumulative Binomial Distribution as:

P = C(5,3) * 1/6^3 * (5/6)^2 = 3.215%

If I recall correctly, using the cumulative Binomial Distribution would give me the odds that a specific number is rolled <= 3 times?

These functions can both be done in Excel as:

=BINOMDIST(3,5,1/6,FALSE) and
=BINOMDIST(3,5,1/6,FALSE) respectively?

Sorry for the stupid question, I just want to verify/get my math brain back in gear.
Reply With Quote