Two-dice horse race
In this article we analyse the “two-dice horse race” task often used in lower secondary school, in which two ordinary dice are thrown repeatedly and each time the sum of the scores determines which horse (numbered 1 to 12) moves forwards one space. The process is repeated until one horse crosses the...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Wiley
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32998/ |
| _version_ | 1848794536529100800 |
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| author | Foster, Colin Martin, David |
| author_facet | Foster, Colin Martin, David |
| author_sort | Foster, Colin |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | In this article we analyse the “two-dice horse race” task often used in lower secondary school, in which two ordinary dice are thrown repeatedly and each time the sum of the scores determines which horse (numbered 1 to 12) moves forwards one space. The process is repeated until one horse crosses the finishing line a fixed number of spaces away. We examine the difficulties involved in calculating the probability of any particular horse winning the race and carry out a simulation to estimate these probabilities. We conclude that while this task might be a helpful way to introduce sample space diagrams, great care is needed in interpreting the outcome of the race. The greater probability of obtaining a total score of 7 on a single throw of two dice is only partly responsible for horse 7’s greater chance of winining, since the length of the track is also important. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:17:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-32998 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:17:45Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-329982020-05-04T18:07:52Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32998/ Two-dice horse race Foster, Colin Martin, David In this article we analyse the “two-dice horse race” task often used in lower secondary school, in which two ordinary dice are thrown repeatedly and each time the sum of the scores determines which horse (numbered 1 to 12) moves forwards one space. The process is repeated until one horse crosses the finishing line a fixed number of spaces away. We examine the difficulties involved in calculating the probability of any particular horse winning the race and carry out a simulation to estimate these probabilities. We conclude that while this task might be a helpful way to introduce sample space diagrams, great care is needed in interpreting the outcome of the race. The greater probability of obtaining a total score of 7 on a single throw of two dice is only partly responsible for horse 7’s greater chance of winining, since the length of the track is also important. Wiley 2016-08-03 Article PeerReviewed Foster, Colin and Martin, David (2016) Two-dice horse race. Teaching Statistics, 38 (3). pp. 98-101. ISSN 1467-9639 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/test.12108/abstract doi:10.1111/test.12108 doi:10.1111/test.12108 |
| spellingShingle | Foster, Colin Martin, David Two-dice horse race |
| title | Two-dice horse race |
| title_full | Two-dice horse race |
| title_fullStr | Two-dice horse race |
| title_full_unstemmed | Two-dice horse race |
| title_short | Two-dice horse race |
| title_sort | two-dice horse race |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32998/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32998/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32998/ |