Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/ia/paper-2/4f/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 2 4F Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
After independent tosses, an even count arises in exactly two disjoint ways: an even count after tosses followed by a tail, or an odd count followed by a head. Independence of the last toss from the preceding ones therefore givesSubtracting the fixed point turns this into the linear recurrenceAs zero is even, , so the probability isFor this is for every ; for it is always one; for it alternates between one and zero according to the parity of .
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