Characteristics of the sum:
Lab Report on Dice Probability
Abstract:
The objective of throwing a pair of dice and documenting the sum allows one to come up with the probability. This experiment is performed by rolling a pair of dice 100 times and adding up the count of each trail and look for the common digits. By analyzing the data one can prove that certain numerics are common and the rest are less likely to occur. For the experiment, I used two plastic dice, which are identical. So that I can get as accurate results as possible. Because the difference in dice will affect one’s result. After collecting the data manually, I inputted the statistics into Microsoft Excel to generate a graph and an equation. Basically, to know what added number is the most probable out of that 100 trials. According to my experiment, six happened to occur fourteen times, making it the most probable. After collecting all the sums from the raw data, I calculated the probability of all the sums in percent. According to my results, six is the most probable sum to occur. Nonetheless, one can never tell what is the most probable sum. So, one should never rely on this data.
Introduction:
“Rolling dice and tossing coins often form part of the staple diet of basic statistics and probability lessons.” Peter K. Dunn. Probability, by definition, is the prediction and the possibility of something to occur. In math, rolling a dice is one the famous probability experiment. In simpler term, a probability is how likely is a certain result to occur. This experiment is all about how likely is a certain sum to appear after rolling a pair of dice. A dice having six sides, which means there will be six different outcomes to be observed for every trial in this experiment.
Materials:
- I used two identical plastic dice and
- Microsoft Excel.
Methodology:
I manually started to roll the dice keeping in mind that I have to roll the dice on the same surface, as varying the surface can change the outcomes. On top of that, I tried to roll with the same force and hand movement for maximum accuracy. Along with noting the results down for the sum onto a notebook. After getting all the raw data that I needed for the graph and the equation, I plugged in all the notes into the Excel software in two separate columns and also created one extra column for percentile. Following in order I extracted the graph and from the graph, I got the equation for this whole experiment.
Results:
Analysis:
The ulterior motive of this whole operation was to find out the most probable sum after rolling a pair 100 times. Gathering the data form 100 trials made it easier for getting a sensible percentage. Form my experiment the most probable numbers are five, six, seven and nine. Where nice and seven has the same percentage for occurrence being 14.77% and six being the most probable with 15.91%. Even though seven should have been the most probable, as according to the source “The Spruce Crafts”, where I can see the percentage for having seven is higher at 16.67. “As you can see, 7 is the most common roll with two six-sided dice. You are six times more likely to roll a 7 than a 2 or a 12, which is a huge difference. You are twice as likely to roll a 7 as you are to roll a 4 or a 10.”- Erik Arneson. Erik Arneson who is a former vice-president and president of the Strategy Gaming Society, international board game organization. Stated in his article that there are six different ways to roll a seven but only five ways to roll a six, making seven the most probable. Although, in my conducted experiment six was the most seeming. Which partially defends my idea of throwing the dice as precisely as possible. These are the factors that can affect the results.
Conclusion:
Regardless of seven being the most probable theoretically. Form the experiment we can conclude that six is the most probable in this case. A probability is something that we can never predict, which is why every dice experiment will differ in percentage also depending on the factors affecting the procedure. As I used two identical dice, that gave me the chance to perform the task not caring about one of the of not having exact dice. The lesson to be learned is that one can never trust a probability experiment as the results will keep changing.
Work Cite
Arneson, E. (2019, February 11). 6-Sided Dice: The Most Common Rolls. Retrieved March 15,
2019, from
Dunn, P. K. (n.d.). We Can Still Learn About Probability by Rolling Dice and Tossing Coins.
Retrieved March 14, 2019
