Dynamical Bias in the Coin Toss
Abstract
We analyze the natural process of flipping a coin which is caught in the hand. We show that vigorously flipped coins tend to come up the same way they started. The limiting chance of coming up this way depends on a single parameter, the angle between the normal to the coin and the angular momentum vector. Measurements of this parameter based on high‐speed photography are reported. For natural flips, the chance of coming up as started is about .51.
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SIAM Review
Pages: 211 - 235
ISSN (online): 1095-7200
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
History
Submitted: 29 October 2004
Accepted: 25 September 2006
Published online: 1 May 2007
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