Question

A coin is flipped to decide which team starts the game. What is the probability that your team will not start?

Answer 1

Hint : Probability is the branch of mathematics which tells about how likely the event is to occur. To get the answer first we will calculate the total number of possible outcomes and then we will look for which outcome is the favorable one. After that use the formula of probability and we will get the required answer.
If P is the probability of a event happening then P’ is the probability of the event not occurring such that $P + P’ = 1$

Complete step-by-step answer :
The probability fоrmulа is defined аs the роssibility оf аn event tо hаррen is equаl tо the rаtiо оf the number of fаvоurаble outcomes and the tоtаl number of outcomes. Mathematically, we can represent the formula of probability as,
$\text{Probability}= \dfrac{\text{Total number of favourable outcomes }}{\text{Total number of outcomes }}$
As we know, the coin has only two faces. One is known as the tail and the other one is known as the head. So it is clear that if we flip the coin then we will get either a head or else we will get a tail. In this question assume that the coin to be flipped is an unbiased coin that means there is no unfair means. And the probability of both head and tail both are the same.
Now let us calculate the total number of favorable outcomes and the total number of outcomes.
If a coin is tossed and it is asked what is the probability that our team first starts the game. For this situation we can say that the total number of outcomes is four ($4$).
The first outcome will be our team won the toss and decided we will start the game.
The second outcome will be that our team won the toss and the second team will start the game.
The third outcome will be that the second team won the toss and decided that they will start the game.
And the last possible outcome will be the second team won the toss and decided that our team will start the game.
And from the possible outcomes only two are our favorable outcomes in which our team is starting the game.
$\Rightarrow \text{Probability}=\dfrac{2}{4}$
$\Rightarrow \text{Probability (P)} =\dfrac{1}{2}$
Hence we can conclude that the probability that your team will start
$P$ = $\dfrac{1}{2}$.
Therefore the probability that your team will not start is
$P’ = 1-P$
$\Rightarrow 1-\dfrac{1}{2}$ = $\dfrac{1}{2}$

Note : The probability of any event to occur is always equal to or less than one. When the probability is equal to one it means that the given event is a certain event and when the probability of any event is zero then that event is known as the impossible event or uncertain event.