[Math] The probability of getting more heads than tails in a coin toss

probability

A fair coin is to be tossed $8$ times. What is the probability that more of the tosses will result in heads than will result in tails?

$\textbf{Guess:}$ I'm guessing that by symmetry, we can write down the probability $x$ of getting exactly $4$ heads and $4$ tails and then calculate
$\dfrac{1}{2}(1-x)$.

So how does one calculate for $x$? I know that it should be a rational number (that is, $\dfrac{?}{2^8}$), but I am not sure how to get the numerator.

Best Answer

Use the binomial distribution to get the probability of getting $k$ heads from $n$ flips:

$$p(n,k) = \binom{n}{k} \left ( \frac12 \right )^k \left ( \frac12 \right )^{n-k} = \binom{n}{k} \left ( \frac12 \right )^n$$

The probability you seek is $p(8,5)+p(8,6)+p(8,7)+p(8,8)$, or

$$\frac{\binom{8}{5}+\binom{8}{6}+\binom{8}{7}+\binom{8}{8}}{2^8} = \frac{56+28+8+1}{2^8} = \frac{93}{256}$$