In probability theory and statistics, a sequence of independent Bernoulli trials with probability 1/2 of success on each trial is metaphorically called a fair coin. One for which the probability is not 1/2 is called a biased or unfair coin. In theoretical studies, the assumption that a coin is fair is often made by referring to an ideal coin.
Some coins have been alleged to be unfair when spun on a table, but the results have not been substantiated or are not significant. There are statistical procedures for checking whether a coin is fair.
Read more about Fair Coin: Role in Statistical Teaching and Theory, Fair Results From A Biased Coin
Famous quotes containing the words fair and/or coin:
“Fine knacks for ladies, cheap, choice, brave and new,
Good pennyworths,—but money cannot move:
I keep a fair but for the Fair to view,—
A beggar may be liberal of love.
Though all my wares be trash, the heart is true,”
—Unknown. Fine Knacks for Ladies (l. 7–8)
“Any language is necessarily a finite system applied with different degrees of creativity to an infinite variety of situations, and most of the words and phrases we use are “prefabricated” in the sense that we don’t coin new ones every time we speak.”
—David Lodge (b. 1935)