Question
A fair coin is flipped 6 times. What is the probability that the coin lands on tails at least 5 times?

Text Solution:
We need to determine the probability that the coin lands on tails at least 5 times in 6 tosses. What this means is that the coin will land on tails either 5 times out of 6 tosses or 6 times out of 6 tosses.
We can let T = the coin lands on tails on a single toss and H = the coin lands on heads on a single toss. Let’s now express the scenarios below and determine the probability of each one.
Scenario 1:
Out of 6 tosses, the coin lands on tails exactly 5 times.
We need to determine the number of possible outcomes of obtaining TTTTTH, not necessarily in that order.
TTTTTH can be arranged in , so there are six possible outcomes in which the coin lands on heads exactly five times.
Next, we can determine the probability of one possible outcome:
One possible outcome is TTTTTH, which has a probability of .
Finally, to determine the actualprobability of the coin landing on heads exactly five times in six tosses, we calculate as follows:
number of possible outcomes producing the event × probability of just one outcome
Now, let’s consider scenario 2.
Scenario 2:
Out of 6 tosses, the coin lands on tails exactly 6 times.
We need to determine the number of possible outcomes of TTTTTT. Notice that this outcome can occur in only one way. Thus, the probability is the following:
P(Scenario 1) + P(Scenario 2)
Finally, to determine the probability that the coins land on heads at least five times in six tosses, we add the probabilities from scenario one and scenario two: