Friday, August 19, 2011

Monty Hall Problem

Monty Hall’s problem is based on a game show, Let's make a deal, hosted by Monty Hall. In the show, the contestant has to choose a door out of three doors. Out of the three doors, there is one door containing a car and two containing goats. The contestant first chooses a door. The host, who knows what the door contains, will reveal another door with the goat. The contestant is then given a choice whether he wants to change or stay with the door he chose.

Since there are three doors to choose from, the initial choice is 1/3. After the contestant chooses one door, the chance of getting the car is still 1/3. After the host opens a door that contains a goat, the chances of getting the right door when you switch will become 2/3.

In all 3 Scenarios, the contestant chooses the first door.
Scenario 1: The first door has the car. The host reveals the door with a goat. If the contestant were to switch, he/she will get the goat instead of the car.

Scenario 2: The second door has the car. The host reveals the third door. If the contestant switches, he/she will get the car.

Scenario 3: The third door has the car. The host reveals the second door. If the contestant switches, he/she will get the car.

Hence, the chances are 2/3.

There are many misconceptions of the problem, for example, many people think that the choice is 1/3 and changed to 1/2 because there are only two doors left to choose from. However, as explained above, this is not the case.

Maths for Fun

Title: Fantastic Math Tricks
Resources Type: Website
Link: http://www.angelfire.com/me/marmalade/mathtips.html
Reason for recommendation: This is another website that teaches us how to calculate faster mentally. It is very useful for tests and competitions where calculators are allowed.

Maths for Fun

Title: Prime Factorisation Tool
Resource type: tool
URL: http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/prime-factorization-tool.html
Reasons for recommendation: This is also a very useful tool that we can use as some numbers can be hard to prime factorise, especially if they are big. So, you can use this tool to help you. Prime factorisation is useful in many situations such as when you need to find the LCM and HCF of certain numbers. Hence, I feel that everyone should know about this.

Maths for Fun

Title: Learn how to calculate faster than the speeding calculator
Resource Type: Website
Link: http://www.glad2teach.co.uk/fast_maths_calculation_tricks.htm
Reasons for recommendation: This website teach us everything about mental calculation and if one were to memorise all the formulas in here, he/she will be very fast at mental calculation because this website has a lot of formulas and tricks for us to learn. This website is a must try for everybody.

Math for Fun

Title: Circle Music Video by Peter Weatherall
Resource type: Video
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbUPyUi5YtM&feature=channel_video_title
Reason for recommendation: This is quite an interesting song and I feel that you can learn basic things about circles from this video. It is formed in such a way that even a 9 year old will be able to understand it without having any prior knowledge of it. Hence, I want to share it.

Math for Fun

Title: Fast Maths Trick of Calculation
Resource type: Video
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLdKsKep1og
Reason for recommendation: Even though this only works with multiples of number less than 20, it is very useful because we are too reliant on calculators many times. With this, calculation in Maths Olympiads will be much easier too and they can have fun conquering the "difficulties" of maths.

Math for fun

Title: Fun Math Trick! Squaring Numbers Near 100
Resource: Video
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKWpI2EuIDA
Reasons for recommendation: This video definitely speeds things up for squaring numbers near 100, especially when we don't have a calculator. This can be useful in times of Maths Olympiads where calculators are not allowed. Even though it may seem difficult, it is actually very easy with this method. Hence, more people should know about this.