Does the experimental probability of an event equal its theoretical probability?

Question

jim_thompson5910 · Answer

In rare cases, it is possible for the experimental probability to equal the theoretical probability. However, in general the two are not equal. They are usually close if you have a lot of trials.

Theoretical probability is the probability of some event occurring based on some theory (eg: each event has an equal chance of happening). Experimental probability is the probability you would encounter in the real world.

For example, the theoretical probability of landing on heads of a coin is 1/2 since each side is likely to be landed on (so we think). If you flip a coin 1000 times, then you may get 445 heads and 555 tails. The experimental probability is 445/1000 = 0.445 which is somewhat close to 1/2 = 0.500. The more flips you do, the closer the experimental probability should get to the theoretical probability.

anonymous · Answer

@jim_thompson5910 thank you for explaining it to me!

jim_thompson5910 · Answer

yw