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Coin flipping
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Coin flipping
Coin flipping, coin tossing, or heads or tails is using the thumb to make a coin go up while spinning in the air and checking which side is showing when it is down onto a surface, in order to randomly choose between two alternatives. It is a form of sortition which inherently has two possible outcomes.
Coin flipping was known to the Romans as navia aut caput ("ship or head"), as some coins had a ship on one side and the head of the emperor on the other. In England, this was referred to as cross and pile.
During a coin toss, the coin is thrown into the air such that it rotates edge-over-edge an unpredictable number of times. Either beforehand or when the coin is in the air, an interested party declares "heads" or "tails", indicating which side of the coin that party is choosing. The other party is assigned the opposite side. Depending on custom, the coin may be caught; caught and inverted; or allowed to land on the ground. When the coin comes to rest, the toss is complete and the party who called correctly or was assigned the upper side is declared the winner.
It is possible for a coin to land on its side, usually by landing up against an object (such as a shoe) or by getting stuck in the ground. However, even on a flat surface it is possible for a coin to land on its edge. A computational model suggests that the chance of a coin landing on its edge and staying there is about 1 in 6,000 for an American nickel.
The coin may be any type as long as it has two distinct sides. Larger coins tend to be more popular than smaller ones. Some high-profile coin tosses, such as those in the Cricket World Cup and the Super Bowl, use custom-made ceremonial medallions.
Three-way coin flips are also possible, by a different process—this can be done either to choose one or two out of three. To choose two out of three, three coins are flipped, and if two coins come up the same and one different, the different one loses (is out), leaving two players. To choose one out of three, the previous is either reversed (the odd coin out is the winner) or a regular two-way coin flip between the two remaining players can decide. The three-way flip is 75% likely to work each time it is tried (if all coins are heads or all are tails, each of which occur 1/8 of the time due to the chances being 0.5 by 0.5 by 0.5, the flip is repeated until the results differ), and does not require that "heads" or "tails" be called. A well-known example of such a three-way coin flip (choose two out of three) is dramatized in Friday Night Lights (originally a book, subsequently film and TV series), wherein three Texas high school football teams use a three-way coin flip. A legacy of that particular 1988 coin flip was to reduce the use of coin flips to break ties in Texas sports, instead using point systems to reduce the frequency of ties.
"Heads and Tails" or "Heads or Tails" is an informal game of chance using repeated coin tosses, suitable for a roomful of seated people, typically a social or children's event. Initially all players stand. Before each coin toss, all still standing put their hands on either their head to indicate "heads" or their hips or buttocks to indicate "tails"; once the toss result is announced, those who guessed incorrectly sit down. The process repeats until the last player standing wins; often the last few players remaining are called to the announcer's table for the climax. A variant with faster elimination is played with two coins and players placing each hand separately.
Coin tossing is a simple and unbiased way of settling a dispute or deciding between two or more arbitrary options. In a game theoretic analysis it provides even odds to both sides involved, requiring little effort and preventing the dispute from escalating into a struggle. It is used widely in sports and other games to decide arbitrary factors such as which side of the field a team will play from, or which side will attack or defend initially; these decisions may tend to favor one side, or may be neutral. Factors such as wind direction, the position of the sun, and other conditions may affect the decision.[citation needed] In team sports it is often the captain who makes the call, while the umpire or referee usually oversees such proceedings. A competitive method may be used instead of a toss in some situations, for example in basketball the jump ball is employed, while the face-off plays a similar role in ice hockey.
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Coin flipping
Coin flipping, coin tossing, or heads or tails is using the thumb to make a coin go up while spinning in the air and checking which side is showing when it is down onto a surface, in order to randomly choose between two alternatives. It is a form of sortition which inherently has two possible outcomes.
Coin flipping was known to the Romans as navia aut caput ("ship or head"), as some coins had a ship on one side and the head of the emperor on the other. In England, this was referred to as cross and pile.
During a coin toss, the coin is thrown into the air such that it rotates edge-over-edge an unpredictable number of times. Either beforehand or when the coin is in the air, an interested party declares "heads" or "tails", indicating which side of the coin that party is choosing. The other party is assigned the opposite side. Depending on custom, the coin may be caught; caught and inverted; or allowed to land on the ground. When the coin comes to rest, the toss is complete and the party who called correctly or was assigned the upper side is declared the winner.
It is possible for a coin to land on its side, usually by landing up against an object (such as a shoe) or by getting stuck in the ground. However, even on a flat surface it is possible for a coin to land on its edge. A computational model suggests that the chance of a coin landing on its edge and staying there is about 1 in 6,000 for an American nickel.
The coin may be any type as long as it has two distinct sides. Larger coins tend to be more popular than smaller ones. Some high-profile coin tosses, such as those in the Cricket World Cup and the Super Bowl, use custom-made ceremonial medallions.
Three-way coin flips are also possible, by a different process—this can be done either to choose one or two out of three. To choose two out of three, three coins are flipped, and if two coins come up the same and one different, the different one loses (is out), leaving two players. To choose one out of three, the previous is either reversed (the odd coin out is the winner) or a regular two-way coin flip between the two remaining players can decide. The three-way flip is 75% likely to work each time it is tried (if all coins are heads or all are tails, each of which occur 1/8 of the time due to the chances being 0.5 by 0.5 by 0.5, the flip is repeated until the results differ), and does not require that "heads" or "tails" be called. A well-known example of such a three-way coin flip (choose two out of three) is dramatized in Friday Night Lights (originally a book, subsequently film and TV series), wherein three Texas high school football teams use a three-way coin flip. A legacy of that particular 1988 coin flip was to reduce the use of coin flips to break ties in Texas sports, instead using point systems to reduce the frequency of ties.
"Heads and Tails" or "Heads or Tails" is an informal game of chance using repeated coin tosses, suitable for a roomful of seated people, typically a social or children's event. Initially all players stand. Before each coin toss, all still standing put their hands on either their head to indicate "heads" or their hips or buttocks to indicate "tails"; once the toss result is announced, those who guessed incorrectly sit down. The process repeats until the last player standing wins; often the last few players remaining are called to the announcer's table for the climax. A variant with faster elimination is played with two coins and players placing each hand separately.
Coin tossing is a simple and unbiased way of settling a dispute or deciding between two or more arbitrary options. In a game theoretic analysis it provides even odds to both sides involved, requiring little effort and preventing the dispute from escalating into a struggle. It is used widely in sports and other games to decide arbitrary factors such as which side of the field a team will play from, or which side will attack or defend initially; these decisions may tend to favor one side, or may be neutral. Factors such as wind direction, the position of the sun, and other conditions may affect the decision.[citation needed] In team sports it is often the captain who makes the call, while the umpire or referee usually oversees such proceedings. A competitive method may be used instead of a toss in some situations, for example in basketball the jump ball is employed, while the face-off plays a similar role in ice hockey.
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