Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Given an infinite set of random numbers, is there in infinite chance that a certain number is repeated?

There can't be a probability of infinity. The largest value is 1.0 or 100%


















































.Given an infinite set of random numbers, is there in infinite chance that a certain number is repeated?
No. Look at from a limit theory POV





In a 2 set of random numbers, the odds of the number ';1'; being repeated in a set of 2 is 1/4=0.25


In a 3 set of random numbers, the odds of the number ';1'; being repeated in a set of 3 is 6/27=0.22


In a 4 set of random numbers, the odds of the number ';1'; being repeated in a set of 4 is 31/256=0.12


In a 5 set of random numbers, the odds of the number ';1'; being repeated in a set of 5 is 313/3125=0.10





It becomes obvious that the numerator function is a polynomial to the power of n-2, and the denominator function is to the power of n. Therefore the limit of 1/n^2 as n goes to infinity is zero.





Therefore, the odds in an infinite set is essentially zero (but not equal to zero because it could happen).Given an infinite set of random numbers, is there in infinite chance that a certain number is repeated?
This reminds me of the old question: If you flip a penny a certain number of times (lets say 300..) what are the chances of it landing on heads? 50% everytime. So logically, I want to say that with an infinate set of random numbers, the chance that a certain number is repeated is just as equal as any other number..Wow that sounds like a word problem or a trick question. I'm not a math wiz and I'm not going to give you a math answer. Sorry.
with an infinite number of numbers- there is a 100% chance of a number repeated. you cant have an infinite probability because there is no such thing.





you can, however, have an infinate IMprobability
Guess what, two consecutive numbers might be the same. Try it in excel, and type in A1 - RAND()*10 and see what comes up, when you drag it down.


Peace.

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