A fair coin is tossed three times. Find the probability of getting two heads and one tail.
Answer Details
When a fair coin is tossed, there are two possible outcomes, heads (H) or tails (T), each with a probability of 1/2. Since the coin is tossed three times, the total number of possible outcomes is 2 × 2 × 2 = 8.
We need to find the probability of getting two heads and one tail, which can happen in three different ways: HHT, HTH, or THH. Each of these outcomes has a probability of (1/2) × (1/2) × (1/2) = 1/8.
Therefore, the probability of getting two heads and one tail is the sum of the probabilities of the three possible outcomes:
P(HHT) + P(HTH) + P(THH) = 1/8 + 1/8 + 1/8 = 3/8.
Hence, the answer is 3/8.