What is the probability of getting three puppies of one gender and one puppy of the other gender, in a litter of four puppies?
If there is a 20% chance of rain tomorrow, and a 20% chance of rain the day after that, what are the odds of rain in the next two days? The next five? The next six?
The Pentagon claims to have successfully engaged over 80% of SCUD missiles Iraq launched at Saudi Arabia in the 1992 Gulf War; videotapes of a random subset of all events show 14 engagements, with 13 misses and one hit. How likely is this?
An infrared camera can operate with either of two CCDs, which reach a critical noise threshold either 1/2 or 2/3 of the time. You have a data set comprised of 300 frames, of which 175 reached the critical noise level. Which camera was most probably in the dewar during your observing run?
You need to determine what fraction of astronomers don't take morning flats (or apply numerical simulations in physical regimes below the resolution element), through individual encounters rather than anonymous surveys. How can you get at the truth to such embarrassing questions?
You have one six-shooter, one bullet, and two offended fools, determined to duel out their differences. How important is it to go first? How long will the duel last?
: How can we use random numbers to estimate
?
How can we use random numbers to estimate e?
You are testing telescope optics before shipping them. The probability of an accurate test result is 95%, and 0.5% of the lenses are flawed. How good is your test?
You build IFU fibres, and your process line has a flaw rate of 1%. What are the odds of getting two or more bad fibres, in a batch of 200?
How likely is it that two members of the astronomy department have the same birthday (the same day of the year, leaving aside the year of birth)?