Question

1-59. write “theoretical” or “experimental” to describe the probabilities for each of the following situations. a. the chance of getting tails when flipping a coin is 1/2. b. i flipped a coin eight times and got heads six times, so the probability is 6/8. c. my mom packed my lunch three of the past five days, so the probability of my mom packing my lunch is 3/5.

Explanation:

Step1: Define theoretical probability

Theoretical probability is based on the nature of the event. For a fair - coin flip, there are 2 equally likely outcomes (heads or tails), so the probability of getting tails is $\frac{1}{2}$. This is a theoretical value and not based on actual trials.

Step2: Define experimental probability

Experimental probability is based on the results of actual experiments or trials. In part b, the coin was flipped 8 times and heads occurred 6 times. The probability calculated from these trials ($\frac{6}{8}$) is experimental. In part c, the probability of mom packing lunch is calculated based on the past 5 - day experience, which is also from actual observations, so it's experimental.

Answer:

a. Theoretical
b. Experimental
c. Experimental