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jmc

algebra senior

Problem

Alice and Bob are playing a game. Alice starts first. On Alice's turn, she flips a coin. If she gets a heads, she wins. If not, it becomes Bob's turn. On Bob's turn, he flips a coin. If he gets a tails, he wins. If not, it becomes Alice's turn. What is the probability that Alice wins the game?
Solution
Alice has a chance of winning the game on her first turn. If she doesn't, then the probability that she wins the game on her second turn is since she must not win on her first flip ( chance), Bob must not win on his first flip ( chance), and then Alice must win on her second flip ( chance). The probability that she wins the game on her third turn is and in general, the probability that she wins the game on her turn is Thus, the probability that Alice wins is an infinite geometric series with first term and common ratio So, the probability that Alice wins the game is OR

Note that the only difference between the odds of Alice or Bob winning is who goes first. Because Bob goes second, the odds of him winning on his flip is half of the odds that Alice wins on her flip, since Alice must first get a tails before Bob gets a chance to win. Thus, if is Alice's chance of winning, and is Bob's chance of winning, then Also, since someone must win, It follows that and so Alice has a chance of winning the game.
Final answer
\frac{2}{3}