Random module, coin flipping - Printable Version

Random module, coin flipping - Printable Version

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Random module, coin flipping - gus17 - Jan-05-2020

Hey guys,

this exercise is confusing me: The idea here is to create a program, which simulates coin flips by randomly selecting 0 (Tails) or 1 (Heads) and printing out the result. When working correctly, the program prints out something like this:

Obviously, as the program applies random activities, it may give any combination of five heads or tails. For example, running the program a second time resulted in this:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

this is my code:

import random
 
numbers = []
#picks 5 random numbers from 0 to 1
while True:
    if len(numbers) == 5:
        break
    pick = random.randint(0,1)
    numbers.append(pick)

#0 == Tails; 1 == Heads
for i in numbers:
	if pick == 0:
		print("Tails!")
	else:
		print("Heads!")

and this is the error I'm getting:

It seems to me that the first automatic input is supposed to generate only one flip, and then for the second time, it generates 5, but I don't know how to do that. Perhaps it's actually supposed to always generate 5 and I'm doing something wrong in my code.

Thanks in advance! Cool

RE: Random module, coin flipping - ichabod801 - Jan-05-2020

This is not really a problem with your code. Your code works, it just doesn't seem to satisfy the requirements of the exercise. Without seeing the exercise as written by the professor, I can't really tell you what to do.

I would suggest trying to make the program work with only one loop. Generate the random number and print heads or tails all in the same loop.

RE: Random module, coin flipping - sandeep_ganga - Jan-06-2020

I guess you should be using "i" instead of "pick" in if block condition,

import random
  
numbers = []
#picks 5 random numbers from 0 to 1
while True:
    if len(numbers) == 5:
        break
    pick = random.randint(0,1)
    #print(pick)
    numbers.append(pick)

print(numbers)
#0 == Tails; 1 == Heads
for i in numbers:
    if i == 0:
        print("Tails!")
    else:
        print("Heads!")

Output:python test.py
[0, 0, 1, 0, 1]
Tails!
Tails!
Heads!
Tails!
Heads!

Best Regards,
Sandeep

GANGA SANDEEP KUMAR

RE: Random module, coin flipping - perfringo - Jan-06-2020

This is homework and following may not apply.

To simulate coin flipping one can just:

>>> random.choices(['heads', 'tails'], k=5)
['tails', 'tails', 'heads', 'tails', 'tails']

To verify that it its evenly distributed:

>>> random.choices(['heads', 'tails'], k=1000).count('heads')        
501

One can add weights or cumulative weights ('biased coin'):

>>> random.choices(['heads', 'tails'], cum_weights=[0.70, 1.00], k=1000).count('heads')                                               
703

Result can be printed out using unpacking and sep:

>>> print(*random.choices(['heads', 'tails'], k=5), sep='\n') 
tails
heads
heads
tails
heads