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ERIC Number: EJ900043
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-May
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0746-8342
EISSN: N/A
Caps and Robbers: What Can You Expect?
Zager, Laura A.; Verghese, George C.
College Mathematics Journal, v38 n3 p185-191 May 2007
The "matching" hats problem is a classic exercise in probability: if "n" people throw their hats in a box, and then each person randomly draws one out again, what is the expected number of people who draw their own hat? This paper presents several extensions to this problem, with solutions that involve interesting tricks with iterated expectations, the law of total probability, and binomial and hypergeometric distributions.
Mathematical Association of America. 1529 Eighteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-741-9415; Tel: 202-387-5200; Fax: 202-387-1208; e-mail: maahq@maa.org; Web site: http://www.maa.org/pubs/cmj.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A