Coin Flip

About the Coin Flip

Flips a fair virtual coin (or several at once) and tallies the heads and tails, a quick, unbiased way to make a decision.

How to use

Enter how many coins to flip, then click Flip.

Worked example

Flipping 10 coins might give 6 heads and 4 tails.

How to use this calculator

1. Choose how many coins you want to flip.
2. Click the flip button to generate the results.
3. Read the outcome for each coin, such as heads or tails.
4. If needed, repeat the flip with a new number of coins.

The formula explained

• \(n\) = the number of coins flipped

Step by step method

1. Enter the number of coins you want to test.
2. Press the control to flip the coins.
3. Count the results shown for heads and tails.
4. Use the output to compare different flips or try again.

Worked example

For example, if you flip 3 virtual coins, you can see one result for each coin and how many outcomes are possible.

1. Set the tool to flip 3 coins.
2. The number of possible outcome combinations is \(2^3 = 8\).
3. A sample result could be heads, tails, heads.
4. That means 2 coins showed heads and 1 coin showed tails.

Tips and common mistakes

• Each coin has two possible results, heads or tails.
• More coins create more possible combinations very quickly.
• A single flip is random, so repeated flips can look uneven.
• If you are checking probabilities, make sure you distinguish one flip from many repeated flips.

Frequently asked questions