80-110: The Nature of Mathematical Reasoning- Spring 1998

Assignment (Due Thursday, Feb. 12)

Problem: Get onto the Web, and visit the following site for Lets Make a Deal:

http://www.stat.sc.edu/~west/javahtml/LetsMakeaDeal.html

Play the game a few times to get the hang of it. Now do the following 2 experiments, record the results in the following table, and turn in this sheet to Andrew Banas.

Your Name ___________________________
Shown 2 Empty
Shown 3 Empty
Overall
Switched
1a) 1b)1c)
Stayed
2a) 2b)2c)

1) Play 20 times. Always choose Door #1 as your first choice. When you are shown an empty door (it has a Donkey), switch for your second choice.

  1. In cell 1a in the table- record how often you won when you were shown door 2 empty, i.e., record two numbers: #wins when shown 2 empty / # times shown 2 empty.
  2. In cell 1b in the table- record how often you won when you were shown door 3 empty, i.e., record 2 numbers: #wins when shown 3 empty / # times shown 3 empty.
  3. record how often you won overall when you switched - the applet does this for you - put the answer in cell 1c.

2) Play 20 times. Always choose Door #1 as your first choice. When you are shown an empty door (it has a Donkey), stay with door 1 as your second choice.

  1. In cell 1a in the table- record how often you won when you were shown door 2 empty, i.e., record 2 numbers: #wins when shown 2 empty / # times shown 2 empty.
  2. In cell 1b in the table- record how often you won when you were shown door 3 empty, i.e., record 2 numbers: #wins when shown 3 empty / # times shown 3 empty.
  3. record how often you won overall when you switched - the applet does this for you - put the answer in cell 1c.