Probability with Coin Tosses and the Normal Distribution
Context
Onsite data scientist screening question assessing basic probability and distribution knowledge.
Questions
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A fair coin is tossed N times, with independent tosses. What is the probability of observing exactly k heads?
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How does your answer change if the coin is biased, with probability p of heads on each toss?
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Let X ~ N(μ, σ²). Derive P(a < X < b) and explain how to standardize a normal variable.
Hint
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Use the binomial probability mass function (pmf) for parts (1) and (2).
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Use the Z-score transformation to standardize a normal variable.