Solving probability problems with MATLAB

9 views (last 30 days)
Gabriel Agbese
Gabriel Agbese on 16 Dec 2020
Commented: Estela on 15 Dec 2022
How can I simulate this question using MATLAB?
Out of 100 apples, 10 are rotten. We randomly choose 5 apples without replacement. What is the probability that there is at least one rotten?

Answers (3)

Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 15 Dec 2022
SampleSize = 100;
NumBad = 10;
NumTrials = 10000;
[~, randomized] = sort(rand(SampleSize, NumTrials), 1);
num_bad_in_first_five = sum(randomized(1:5,:) <= 10, 1);
bar(num_bad_in_first_five); title('number bad per trial')
counts = accumarray(num_bad_in_first_five.' + 1, 1, [6 1]);
bar(0:5, counts ./ NumTrials * 100); title('% of samples with exactly this many bad apples')
percent_with_at_least_one_bad = 100 - 100*(counts(1)/NumTrials)
percent_with_at_least_one_bad = 41.6200

Paul Hoffrichter
Paul Hoffrichter on 16 Dec 2020
You can simulate this problem using a Monte Carlo Simluation.
Here's a probablity MATLAB video:
How to Make Predictions Using Monte Carlo Simulations

Pat Gipper
Pat Gipper on 18 Dec 2020
Here is my take using a for loop. I wouldn't mind seeing how it is done without using a for loop
%% MonteCarloBadApples.m
% Author: Pat Gipper
% Out of 100 apples, 10 are rotten. We randomly choose 5 apples without
% replacement. What is the probability that there is at least one rotten?
n=10000;% Start with 10,000 trials
x=[ones(1,10),zeros(1,90)];% 1st 10 apples are rotten, remaining 90 are OK
p=0;% Accumulator
%
for i=1:n
j=randperm(100);% Generate a random order of the indexes
y=x(j);% Randomly scatter the 10 rotten apples in the group of 100
z=sum(y(1:5))>0;% Is there a rotten apple in a group of 5?
p=p+z;% Increment the Monte-Carlo count for this trial if a bad apple turned up
end
p=p/n;% Calculate the probability from the n trials
  3 Comments
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 15 Dec 2022
%% MonteCarloBadApples.m
% Author: Pat Gipper
% Out of 100 apples, 10 are rotten. We randomly choose 5 apples without
% replacement. What is the probability that there is at least one rotten?
n=10000;% Start with 10,000 trials
x=[ones(1,10),zeros(1,90)];% 1st 10 apples are rotten, remaining 90 are OK
p=0;% Accumulator
%
for i=1:n
j=randperm(100);% Generate a random order of the indexes
y=x(j);% Randomly scatter the 10 rotten apples in the group of 100
z=sum(y(1:5))>0;% Is there a rotten apple in a group of 5?
p=p+z;% Increment the Monte-Carlo count for this trial if a bad apple turned up
end
p=p/n;% Calculate the probability from the n trials
whos p
Name Size Bytes Class Attributes p 1x1 8 double
You can see that the result is a scalar. There is nothing useful to plot about a scalar.
Estela
Estela on 15 Dec 2022
Edited: Estela on 15 Dec 2022
Any idea of a problem using Probability functions such as poisscdf,binocdf, normcdf example that I can plot? I am currentl ytrying to figure one out I would really appreciate the help!

Sign in to comment.

Categories

Find more on Get Started with MATLAB in Help Center and File Exchange

Tags

Products


Release

R2020b

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!