Simulations
Go to the website: http://illuminations.nctm.org/adjustablespinner/
Spinner Simulation 1: 3 colour spinner
Change the spinner so it has 3 colours (sectors).
a) What is the theoretical probability of each colour? (fill the first 2 columns in)
Colour
Theoretical
Probability
Experimental
Probability
after 21 spins
Experimental
Probability
after 50 spins
Experimental
Probability
after 100 spins
b) Hypothesis: How many times in 21 spins would you expect the spinner to land on
each colour?
c) Have the simulator spin the spinner 21 times. As the spinner spins, does the
theoretical probability change (circle one)?
YES/NO
Why or why not?
d) As the spinner spins, does the experimental probability change (circle one)?
YES/NO
Why or why not?
e) After the simulator is finished, fill in the experimental probability (column 3).
f) Reset. Have the simulator spin the spinner 21 times. You can skip to the end. Fill
in the experimental probability for 50 spins (column 4).
g) Reset. Have the simulator spin the spinner 100 times. You can skip to the end.
Fill in the experimental probability for 100 spins (column 5).
h) The experimental probability gets closer to the theoretical probability the
(more/less) you spin the spinner. Circle one.
i)
If you spun the spinner 1000 times, what do you expect the theoretical
probabilities of each colour to be?
Spinner Simulation 2: 5 colour spinner
Change the spinner so it has 5 colours (sectors).
a) What is the theoretical probability of each colour? (fill the first 2 columns in)
Colour
Theoretical
Probability
Experimental
Probability
after 50 spins
Experimental
Probability
after 250 spins
Experimental
Probability
after 1000
spins
b) Hypothesis: How many times in 50 spins would you expect the spinner to land on
each colour?
c) After the simulator is finished, fill in the experimental probability (column 3).
d) Reset. Have the simulator spin the spinner 250 times. You can skip to the end.
Fill in the experimental probability for 250 spins (column 4).
e) Reset. Have the simulator spin the spinner 1000 times. You can skip to the end.
Fill in the experimental probability for 1000 spins (column 5).
f) The experimental probability get closer to the theoretical probability the
(more/less) you spin the spinner. Circle one.
g) If you spun the spinner 500 times, how many times do you think the spinner will land
on each colour?
Spinner Simulation 3: 4 colour spinner
Change the spinner so it has 4 colours (sectors).
This time change the size of each spinner so they are no longer equal.
a) What is the theoretical probability of each colour? (fill the first 2 columns in)
Colour
Theoretical
Probability
Experimental
Probability
after 20 spins
Experimental
Probability
after 1000
spins
Experimental
Probability
after 500 000
spins
b) Why are the theoretical probabilities for each colour no longer equal?
c) Hypothesis: How many times will it land on blue if you spin the spinner 20 times?
d) After the simulator is finished, fill in the experimental probability (column 3).
e) Reset. Have the simulator spin the spinner 1000 times. You can skip to the end.
Fill in the experimental probability for 1000 spins (column 4).
f) Reset. Have the simulator spin the spinner 500 000 times. You can skip to the
end. Fill in the experimental probability for 500 000 spins (column 5).
g) Was this spinner harder to predict the experimental outcome? Why or why not?
Plinko Simulation
Plinko is a game of chance (probability) played on The Price is Right. Here is a clip of
how it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7DKxe_m1AM
Go to the following website:
http://www.xpmath.com/forums/arcade.php?do=play&gameid=98
Click on the Click Here to Start (in the middle of the Plinko board). Then answer the
question in the box to the right side of the Plinko board. This will give you some Plinko
chips so you can “win” money.
**You must answer in % form so you have to find the fraction first and then change it
into a percentage by doing:
Top ÷ Bottom x 100 =
Have fun!
Conclusions:
Overall, would you prefer to do simulations of 25 spins (or dice rolls, etc) online or using
real spinners? Why?
Overall, would you prefer to do simulations of 1000 spins (or dice rolls, etc) online or
using real spinners? Why?