Supposing I have an unfair coin (not 50/50), but don't know the probability of it landing on heads or tails, is there a standard formula/method for how many flips I should make before assuming that the distribution is about right? | AskScience Blog

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Sunday, July 22, 2018

Supposing I have an unfair coin (not 50/50), but don't know the probability of it landing on heads or tails, is there a standard formula/method for how many flips I should make before assuming that the distribution is about right?

Supposing I have an unfair coin (not 50/50), but don't know the probability of it landing on heads or tails, is there a standard formula/method for how many flips I should make before assuming that the distribution is about right?


Supposing I have an unfair coin (not 50/50), but don't know the probability of it landing on heads or tails, is there a standard formula/method for how many flips I should make before assuming that the distribution is about right?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 01:22 PM PDT

Why do our ears pop when a train we’re riding enters a tunnel? Shouldn’t the pressure inside be equal to the pressure outside side since it’s open to the air?

Posted: 22 Jul 2018 06:19 AM PDT

Are there other studies on the efficacy of TDAP vaccines given to mothers during pregnancy for the protection of a newborn or is this the only one?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 12:13 PM PDT

As the title states, I have found one study showing the efficacy of the TDAP vaccine given to mother's. (http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2018/june/unc-study-tdap-vaccine-given-during-pregnancy-reduces-occurrence-of-infant-pertussis-reinforces-cdc-recommendations-of-immunization-for-all-mothers). However, this appears pretty recent so I don't know if it has gone through peer review and/or the results have been reproduced. I am aware of the fallacy of relying upon just one study only to find out it was an erroneous result. However, I'm not super proficient in doing scientific research and haven't found other studies.

My question is twofold: 1) At what stage of the scientific vetting process is this result/Has anyone reproduced it? 2). I know that before efficacy studies are done, there are usually safety studies completed. Can you help me find those so I can take a look at them (I'm having trouble finding studies)?

submitted by /u/annarox21
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What is the role of reactive power in transmission networks?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 08:47 AM PDT

I've studied electrical engineering for some years, but honestly I'm still struggling with understanding complex AC concepts, especially reactive power. What's its role in transmission networks since reactive power can't do real work? Why is it important for large alternators on the grid?

submitted by /u/mrfredzzz
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Does the refractive index of a gas change with level of ionization?

Posted: 22 Jul 2018 07:46 AM PDT

I was doing some reading on refractive index of gasses and how that leads to ionospheric propagation of radio waves, but none of the resources I found explain the correlation between increased upper atmosphere ionization levels and increased angle of refraction.

I know that the precise refractive index of a gas is highly dependent on frequency, but I haven't been able to find even a vague outline of whether the refractive index of a gas goes up or down with increasing ionization, and it seems that either direction could explain the increased angle of refraction at a given frequency, depending on where in the ionosphere the "virtual reflector" is located. What papers I've found are all regarding self focusing and scattering of lasers in plasmas and such, and while the information I want might be there, it's so abstract that I can't find it.

The most logical explanation seems to be that ionized gas has a higher refractive index, which creates a tighter gradient between the index of the atmosphere (which is >1) and space (which is ~1), which leads to total internal refraction at a higher incident angle.

The other way of looking at it seems almost as logical though; that only the upper most layers of the atmosphere become ionized, dropping the refractive index of that layer closer to the ~1 of space, which still results in a tighter gradient between space and atmosphere, but at a lower altitude.

submitted by /u/hamsterdave
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What causes volcanoes to erupt?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 08:33 AM PDT

If one makes abstraction of what they are orbiting and simply consider their composition and structure, is the distinction between large moons and rocky planets really all that significant?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 08:58 PM PDT

Why aren't MSR reactors utilized more?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 02:20 PM PDT

So, my understanding of MSRs (Molten Salt Reactors) is that we could use the waste from our water reactors to melt salt, use the excess heat to boil water, get a whole bunch more energy out of it than from water reactors, and wind up with waste that is only dangerous for centuries rather than hundreds of millennia.

Am I wrong? Why aren't we doing this?

submitted by /u/Cwardw
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How do they calculate the very exact hour and minute when to launch rockets?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 06:45 PM PDT

Can someone explain Copenhagen interpretation, Many Worlds interpretation and De Broglie Bohm Pilot Wave theory?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 04:59 PM PDT

How do you donate your liver? Dont you need it to survive?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 11:19 AM PDT

So i was seeing a video in which a woman met the person that donated his liver to her, but how does that work? Can you survive without a liver?

submitted by /u/M33RHARIS
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How does Analgesic Gels relieve muscle pain when applied to our skin?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 09:57 AM PDT

What makes D-Wave quantum computers considered controversial?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 04:52 PM PDT

I see people sometimes call the computers that D-Wave makes controversial and not a "real" quantum computer. So what makes one a "real" quantum computer? Is it just people throwing shade at D-Wave, or are their computers more like pseudo quantum computers?

submitted by /u/UsernamePlusPassword
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Why is bread permanently turned into toast when we heat it, why can't we change it back?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 03:08 PM PDT

I understand that heat can change how molecules are structured like with baking, and thats a part of it, but why does it toast, and why can't we turn it back into bread?

submitted by /u/ticktockFUCK
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Why do we hear several seconds of thunder noise after seeing a lightning?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 12:17 PM PDT

After seeing a lightning, usually there is a 4-10 seconds of noise, despite the lightning takes only a fragment of second. What causes that long noise?

submitted by /u/NiceInformation
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What happens when an object hits another object at a velocity faster than that of a mechanical wave in either object?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 09:32 PM PDT

I am assuming that the object would have no ability to rebound and would simply begin to plasticly deform.

submitted by /u/LianelJoseph
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Have we found decoder for the workings of inner ear?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 08:41 AM PDT

As I understand, our inner ear encodes mechanical movement into electric signal, which is exactly what microphones also do.

I'd imagine the problem is, we don't quite know how the information is encoded, or what information aside sound itself gets translated.

Or do we? Has someone measured nerve impulses while playing specific sound and figured out how output to nerve impulse relates to input? Which would make it possible to build artificial ears or even direct audio-to-brain connection, skipping ears whatsoever?

submitted by /u/Bang_Bus
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What exactly does "non-deterministic universe" mean?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 07:12 PM PDT

By the uncertainty principle and limitations on our computational abilities, we humans can never model the universe's evolution. Is that what non-determinism refers to? (i.e. specifically with respect to humanity's point of view)

Suppose a higher, external being was able to observe the exact state of the universe at any point in time. Can it be said that it sees the universe as deterministic?

submitted by /u/tbqh123
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Why is HIV found in semen?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 08:26 AM PDT

HIV being a virus of the immune system, it makes sense to me that it is found in the bloodstream but not in other bodily fluids like saliva/nasal mucus/etc. So why then is it present in semen and vaginal mucus when neither of these fluids have any connection (that I know of) to immune function?

submitted by /u/willeyerasmus
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To how many digits of precision do we know the half life of Uranium 238?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 08:25 AM PDT

Charging an electrostatic double-layer capacitor(i.e Supercapacitor) using an exterior magnetic field?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 04:28 PM PDT

Studying about the nature of supercapacitors lead me to consider this idea:

At the discharged state of a supercapacitor, with ions spread uniformly within the electrolyte, and not connected to a power supply, only forming a circuit with a resistor. Wouldn't it be possible to separate the charges using an exterior magnetic field?

Accelerating a 2000F capacitor, in a strong magnetic field(1T+) would give rise to a Lorentz force(F = q(E + v) x B) that would separate the positive/negative ions wouldn't it?

I also think, that if the capacitor was intially charged then connected to a circuit and moved rapidly in that strong magnetic field, the discharge would be affected due to the Lorentz force acting on the (+&-)ions?

submitted by /u/9tothe9
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With two objects experiencing time dilation, is one second relative to each object itself exist the same "amount"?

Posted: 21 Jul 2018 12:19 PM PDT

From my understanding, one object will experience slower time than the other. So if there was a clock with each object, and one experienced time twice as fast, would one second be equivalent to two seconds for the other object even though they both experience "one second" the same? From an outside perspective (4D?) of the two objects, how does this work?

EDIT: Sorry the grammar in the question is awkward. I mean "does one second relative to each object itself exist as the "same amount"?" If that helps..

submitted by /u/Cynoname
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