- #1
curiouschris
- 147
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Hi
I have a question about probabilities.
Given 5 people each having a birthday on a different date in the year.
I have the task of working out which day in the year each ones birthday is. There are no clues as to the dates except that if I manage to get one right the persons who's day I got right will admit to it.
In other words there is no way of me knowing before hand which days the birthdays fall on.
The only clue I have is that the birthdays are normally spread out evenly across the year. It is highly unlikely that they are all in January (but possible) and the same goes for December.
I could start off at day 1 and progress to day 365 guaranteeing to get it right in a maximum of 365 guesses.
But what if I was to randomly guess dates?
Is their a way of determining the average number of guesses I would need to have before getting it right?
At the low end it would be at least 5 at the high end it would be 365, but is there a way to work out the average?
I know this sounds like a home work question but its actually not its for a software program. a way to reduce the *average* time it takes to reach the solution.
Much Appreciated
CC
I have a question about probabilities.
Given 5 people each having a birthday on a different date in the year.
I have the task of working out which day in the year each ones birthday is. There are no clues as to the dates except that if I manage to get one right the persons who's day I got right will admit to it.
In other words there is no way of me knowing before hand which days the birthdays fall on.
The only clue I have is that the birthdays are normally spread out evenly across the year. It is highly unlikely that they are all in January (but possible) and the same goes for December.
I could start off at day 1 and progress to day 365 guaranteeing to get it right in a maximum of 365 guesses.
But what if I was to randomly guess dates?
Is their a way of determining the average number of guesses I would need to have before getting it right?
At the low end it would be at least 5 at the high end it would be 365, but is there a way to work out the average?
I know this sounds like a home work question but its actually not its for a software program. a way to reduce the *average* time it takes to reach the solution.
Much Appreciated
CC