Suppose that prior to conducting a coin-flipping experiment, we suspect that the coin is fair. How many times would we have to flip the coin in order to obtain a 99% confidence interval of width of at most .18 for the probability of flipping a head? (note that the z-score was rounded to three decimal places in the calculation)

Respuesta :

Answer:

We have to flip the coin at least 52 times.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a sample with a number n of people surveyed with a probability of a success of [tex]\pi[/tex], and a confidence level of [tex]1-\alpha[/tex], we have the following confidence interval of proportions.

[tex]\pi \pm z\sqrt{\frac{\pi(1-\pi)}{n}}[/tex]

In which

z is the zscore that has a pvalue of [tex]1 - \frac{\alpha}{2}[/tex].

The margin of error is:

[tex]M = z\sqrt{\frac{\pi(1-\pi)}{n}}[/tex]

For this problem, we have that:

The coin is fair, so [tex]\pi = 0.5[/tex]

99% confidence level

So [tex]\alpha = 0.01[/tex], z is the value of Z that has a pvalue of [tex]1 - \frac{0.01}{2} = 0.995[/tex], so [tex]Z = 2.575[/tex].

How many times would we have to flip the coin in order to obtain a 99% confidence interval of width of at most .18 for the probability of flipping a head?

At least n times.

n is found when [tex]M = 0.18[/tex]. So

[tex]M = z\sqrt{\frac{\pi(1-\pi)}{n}}[/tex]

[tex]0.18 = 2.575\sqrt{\frac{0.5*0.5}{n}}[/tex]

[tex]0.18\sqrt{n} = 2.575*0.5[/tex]

[tex]\sqrt{n} = \frac{2.575*0.5}{0.18}[/tex]

[tex](\sqrt{n})^{2} = (\frac{2.575*0.5}{0.18})^{2}[/tex]

[tex]n = 51.16[/tex]

Rounding up

We have to flip the coin at least 52 times.