eli5 If an unbiased coin has a 50% chance of getting heads and 50% of getting tails. If you roll 10 times why is it unlikely for you to get 5 heads and 5 tails. From a probability standpoint, shouldn’t you guarantee that?

Question

eli5 If an unbiased coin has a 50% chance of getting heads and 50% of getting tails. If you roll 10 times why is it unlikely for you to get 5 heads and 5 tails. From a probability standpoint, shouldn’t you guarantee that?

In: Mathematics

Answer 1

You’re not guaranteed to get 5 heads and 5 tails, although that is the most likely option.

Similarly, of you toss the coin a million times, you are not guaranteed to get 500,000 heads, although that is again the most likely combination.

Of course, there are still 499,999 other outcomes you might get.