Python Archives

The Birthday Problem: Python Simulation

Posted on August 17, 2020 Written by The Cthaeh 6 Comments

UEFA Nations League semi-final between Netherlands and England (prematch, 06/06/2019), with Python code related to the birthday problem in the background

In my last post, I introduced you to the so-called birthday problem. Namely, the probability of having at least one birthday coincidence in a random group of people. I showed you how to approach the question analytically by deriving a simple formula for calculating this probability.

In this post, I want to show you an alternative way of getting the same probability using a computer simulation with the programming language Python!

This post is part of my series Probability Questions from the Real World.

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Probability Questions from the Real World (With Simulations)

Posted on August 2, 2020 Written by The Cthaeh Leave a Comment

A cartoon comically illustrating probability questions, taken from Henk Tijms' book "Understanding Probability: Chance Rules in Everyday Life"

Welcome to my introductory post to a large series that I’m starting today. The main purpose of this post is to get you in the mood for the posts to follow. Namely, exploring and solving interesting probability questions from the real world.

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Coin Bias Calculation Using Bayes’ Theorem

Posted on March 21, 2016 Written by The Cthaeh 22 Comments

Why do people flip coins to resolve disputes? It usually happens when neither of two sides wants to compromise with the other about a particular decision. They choose the coin to be the unbiased agent that decides whose way things are going to go. The coin is an unbiased agent because the two possible outcomes of the flip (heads and tails) are equally likely to occur.

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