Nickels falling over You may feel it’s obvious that the probability of a head in tossing a coin is about 1/2 because the coin has two faces. Such opinions are not always correct. Stand a nickel on edge on a hard, flat surface. Pound the surface with your hand so that the nickel falls over. Do this 25 times, and record the results.

(a) What’s your estimate for the probability that the coin falls heads up? Why?

(b) Explain how you could get an even better estimate.