math question

TheVindelator
TheVindelator
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Here’s a math problem I can’t solve. It's a word problem.

“Sally the Dark Elf has 5 tempers. She also 5 ice staves sitting around from leveling woodworking. Now she wants a green staff or two. How many tempers should she combine with each staff maximize her results?”

I know 5 is a bad answer. But is 1 the best answer?

Is a 20% chance of success 5 times better than 40% twice and 20% once?
  • Raice
    Raice
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    The odds of doing something 5 times with a 20% chance of success each time is still only a 20% chance of success once. In other words, it doesn't matter how many times you do it. It's still only 20%. And it's the same for any percentile chance.

    I've failed on an 80% before - so there is never a guarantee. My advice is to do one at 80% chance, and do one at 20%.

    The odds are if you do 5 at 20%.... you'll have 5 failures. But of you do 1 at 80% and 1 at 20% - the odds are that you might have 1.

    OR - you could do 1 at 100%, and definitely have 1.
    Edited by Raice on 4 April 2014 16:50
  • dannomite82
    dannomite82
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    The expected value is the same regardless. On average you will only get 1 success. However, there's a small chance you will get 0 successes on all of them if you go with fewer than 5. So it all comes down to either eliminating luck, or hoping your luck is good.

    EDIT:
    Expected value = odds of success X reward (1 item) + odds of failure X reward for failure (0 items) for each item you gamble.

    so .20 * 1 + .20 *1 ... (5 times) = .20 X 5 = 1 green item + 0 white items
    or 1 * 1 = 1 green item and then you have 4 white items still intact.
    Edited by dannomite82 on 4 April 2014 17:03
    Holgrum put some pants on. Holgrum heal me I'm dying. Nag... Nag... Nag...
  • Gedalya
    Gedalya
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    I have a math question if anyone has a moment:

    Determine the regions of the pq-plane for which the function f(x,y) = 2px + qy^2 restricted to the curve x^3 + y^3 = 1 has exactly one and exactly three critical points, respectively.

    Also, I am a Nigerian prince.
    Baskin Robbins always finds out.

    Check out my ESO name generator: eso.tamriel.org
  • dannomite82
    dannomite82
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    Sorry you're on your own for that one your majesty. Didn't go that far into Algebra and Geometry.
    Holgrum put some pants on. Holgrum heal me I'm dying. Nag... Nag... Nag...
  • SirAndy
    SirAndy
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    42 ...
    Edited by SirAndy on 4 April 2014 17:37
  • TheVindelator
    TheVindelator
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    Gedalya wrote: »
    I have a math question if anyone has a moment:

    Determine the regions of the pq-plane for which the function f(x,y) = 2px + qy^2 restricted to the curve x^3 + y^3 = 1 has exactly one and exactly three critical points, respectively.

    Also, I am a Nigerian prince.

    Depends on which daedic pq-plane you're talking about. In the shivering isles, the answer is cabbage.

  • lePoissonRouge
    lePoissonRouge
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    Ah gawd I just finished doing my math homework! I don't want to go back to it!
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