Probability using combinatorics
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Example: Probability through counting outcomes
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Example: All the ways you can flip a coin
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Getting Exactly Two Heads (Combinatorics)
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Probability and Combinations (part 2)
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Probability using Combinations
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Exactly Three Heads in Five Flips
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Example: Different ways to pick officers
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Example: Combinatorics and probability
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Example: Lottery probability
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Mega Millions Jackpot Probability
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Generalizing with Binomial Coefficients (bit advanced)
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Conditional Probability and Combinations
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Birthday Probability Problem
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Probability with permutations and combinations
Generalizing with Binomial Coefficients (bit advanced) Conceptual understanding of where the formula for binomial coefficients come from
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- In the last video we figured out the probability of
- getting exactly three heads,
- when we have five flips of a fair coin.
- What I want to do in this video is
- think about it in a slightly more general way.
- We will start assuming a fair coin although
- we will surely see we don't have to make that assumption.
- But what I want to do is to figure out the probability
- of getting K heads in N flips of the fair coin.
- So the first thing to think about is just
- how many possibilities there are.
- Well there are going to be n flips.
- So literally, there is the first flip, second flip,third flip,
- all the way to the nth flip.
- And this is a fair coin, so each of these flips
- contain two equally likely possibilities.
- So the total number of possibilities is going to be
- 2 times 2 times 2. . . n times.
- So this is going to be equal to 2 to the nth possibilities.
- Now let's think about how many of those equally likely,
- these are all equally likely possibilities.
- This is a fair coin.
- Let's think about how many of those
- equally likely possibilities involve k heads.
- Well, just like we did for the case
- where we thought about three heads.
- We say "Well look, the first of those k heads,
- how many different buckets could it fall into?"
- Well the first of the k heads could fall into
- n different buckets, right?
- It could be the first flip, second flip,
- all the way to the nth flip.
- Then the second of those k heads,
- we don't know exactly how many k is.
- We will have n minus 1 possibilities.
- And then the third of those k heads will have
- n minus 2 possibilities,
- since two of these buckets are already taken up.
- And we will do this until
- we have essentially counted for all of the k heads.
- So this would go down all the way to,
- we will multiply. The number of things
- we're multiplying is going to be k,
- one for each of the k heads.
- So this is one, two, three,
- and then you are going to all the way to n minus k minus 1.
- And you could try this out in the case of five.
- When n was five and k was three,
- this resulted in five times four times,
- actually we just have to go, times three,
- actually that was this term right over here.
- So I am doing a case that is a little bit longer,
- where k is a slightly larger number
- because this right over here is five minus two
- that is this one over here.
- Just not to confuse you,
- let me write it like this.
- So you'll have n spots for that first head.
- N minus one spots for that second head.
- And then you keep going and you are going to have
- a total of these k things you will multiply
- and that last one is going to have n-(k-1) possibllities.
- And now hopefully it'll map a little better to the one
- where we had five flips and three heads
- because here there were five possibilities for the first head
- four possibilities for the second head, and since n is 5,
- 5-2 is three possibilities for the last head.
- So this actually works.This is the number of spots
- where - or the numbers of ways that we could put,
- that we can stick those heads in those,
- or that we can put three heads into
- five different possible buckets.
- Now just like the last video,
- we don't want to overcount things
- because we don't care about the order.
- We don't want to differentiate one ordering of heads
- - and I am just going to use these letters
- to differentiate the different heads -
- We don't want to differentiate this from this
- from this: Heads A, Heads B, or any of the other orderings of this.
- So what we need to do is we need to divide this.
- We need divide these numbers so that
- we don't count all of these different orderings.
- We need divide these by the different ways
- that you can order k things,
- the different ways that you can order k things.
- So if you have k things, so you know, one thing, two things,
- all the way to k things. How many ways can you order it?
- Well, the first thing can be in k different positions.
- Or maybe I'll do it like this. Maybe I will do it thing 1,
- T for thing,thing 1, thing 2, thing 3, all the way to thing k.
- How mant different ways can you order it?
- Well thing 1 can be in k different positions.
- Then thing 2 would be in k minus 1 positions.
- And then all the way down to the last one
- is only going to have 1 position.
- So this is going to be k times k minus 1, times k minus 2,
- all the way down to 1.
- And in the example where we had three heads in five flips,
- was three times two all the way down to 1 - 3 times 2 times 1.
- And so is there a simpler way that we can write this?
- Well this expression right over here,
- this is the same thing as k factorial
- and if you haven't have heard what a factorial is,
- it's exactly this thing right over here.
- K! (k factorial) literally means k times k minus 1 times k minus 2,
- all the way down to 1.
- So for example, 2! is equal to 2 times 1.
- So, and actually it's a fun thing to play with,
- factorials get large, very very very very fast.
- So anyway, the denominator right over here
- can be rewritten as k factorial.
- And there is any way to rewrite this numerator
- in terms of factorials.
- So if we were to write n!, let me see how we can write this.
- If we are going to write n!,
- let me get some real estate over here.
- So n! would be equal to n times n minus 1, times n minus 2,
- all the way down to 1, that's kind of what we want.
- We just want the first k terms of it.
- So what if we divide this by,
- so let's divide this by (n-k)!
- So let's think about what that is going to do.
- If we have (n-k)! that is the same thing as,
- I have to do a little bit of algebraic manipulation here
- right over here,
- that is the same thing as n minus k,
- all the way down to 1. When you divide this,
- the 1 is going to cancel out,
- and what you may or may not have realized is that
- - and you can work out the math - everything is going to
- cancel out here until you are just left with, up here,
- everything from n times n minus 1 to n - (k - 1).
- Because if you expand this out,
- if you distribute this negative number,
- this is the same thing as n minus k plus 1.
- So n minus k plus 1 is the integer that's one larger
- than this right over here.
- So if you divide out, this would cancel with something up here.
- This would cancel somnething up here.
- This would cancel something up here.
- And we are going to be the left with
- is exactly this thing over here.
- And if you don't believe me, we can actually try it out.
- So let's think about 5! over (5-3)!
- so this is going to be 5 times 4 times 3 times 2 times 1.
- So all of that stuff over there, all the way down to 1,
- over 5 minus 3 is 2, over 2!, 2 times 1. 2 cancels with 2,
- 1 cancels with 1.You don't have to worry about that,
- and you are just left with 5 times 4 times 3,
- exactly what we had up here, 5 times 4 times 3.
- And so, in general, if you wanted to figure out
- the number of ways to stick 2 things in 5 chairs,
- and you don't care about differentiating between those 2 things.
- You are going to have this expression right over here,
- which is the same thing as this right over here.
- So you are going to have n!/(n-k)!
- and then you are going to divide it
- by this expression right over here,
- which we have already said the same thing as k!.
- So you are also going to divide it by k!.
- And then you have a generalized way of
- figuring out the number of ways you can stick 2 things,
- or the number of ways actually I should say
- the number of ways you can stick k things
- in n different buckets,
- k heads in n different flips.
- And so another way of writing,
- this is actually a generalized formula for binomial coefficients.
- So another way to write this is the number of ways
- given that you have n buckets,
- you can put k things in them
- without having to differentiate it.
- Or another way to think about it is
- if you have n buckets or n flips
- and you want to choose k of them to be heads,
- or you want to choose k of them in some way
- but you dom't want to differentiate.
- So all of these are generailized ways
- for binomial coefficient.
- So going back to the original problem:
- what is the probability of getting k heads
- in n flips of the fair coin?
- Well there are 2 to the nth equally likely possibilities.
- So let's wrtite this down.
- So the probablity of 2 to the nth of the equally
- likely possibilities
- and how many of those possibilities resulte
- in exactly k heads?
- Well we just figure that out in during this video.
- That's the number of possibilities.
- Now probability of a OK idea to memorize this.
- But I'll just tell you frankly, you know,
- the only reason why I still know how to do this
- 20 years after first seeing this or whenever I first saw it
- is that I actually just like just to reason it through
- every time, I like just to figure it out.
- OK, I have got five flips, three of them need to be heads.
- The first of those heads can be in five different buckets
- that next in the four different buckets
- and next was in three different buckets
- and then of course I don't want to differentiate
- between all of the different ways
- that I can rearrange 3 different things.
- So I have to make sure that I divided by 3!
- by 3 times 2 times 1.
- I want to make sure that I divided by
- all of the different ways
- that I can arrange three different things.
Be specific, and indicate a time in the video:
At 5:31, how is the moon large enough to block the sun? Isn't the sun way larger?
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