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Pascal's Triangle: Coins and nCr
This excel file shows how Pascal's triangle can be used to calculate probabilities. Separate sheets show the possible outcomes when different numbers of coins are tossed. With the smaller number of coins these outcomes are listed.
The first five lines of the binomial expansion (H+T)n is shown and this is linked to Pascal's Triangle. On the final interactive sheet the nCr notation is used and clicking on the cells reveals the numbers as in Pascal's Triangle. There are a further five sheets of questions which may be suitable for classroom use.
Note
This program was designed by be viewed on a screen with a resolution of 1024 x 768. Users may have to adjust the resolution of their screen for the pages to display as was originally intended. The program uses macros which need to be enabled on users’ machine.
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