Fair Game

Open Response Question

Mr. Sanchez’s 8^th grade math class wanted to investigate the fairness of a number game, so pair of students played the game and recorded their scores.  After they collectively played 32 games, they found that player A had won 8 times and player B had won 24 times.  Use this data to find the experimental probability and evaluate the fairness of the game.

 Directions:

a)      Find the experimental probability of player A winning the game and write it as a fraction.  Experimental P(A winning) =

b)      Convert the fraction you found in part a (above) to a decimal and to a percentage.

c)      Draw one area model to compare the probability of player A winning and the probability of player B winning.

d)     Evaluate the results and explain whether or not this is a fair game.  Use the numbers to justify your answer.  If you think the game is not fair, give an explanation of a fair game. Can you know for sure whether or not the game is fair, based on the experiment?