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Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

LynahFan said:
Excellent - good luck!
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Thank you! :)

We've had it running nearly two weeks now. the water temperature 4' below the surface started at 64[SUP]o[/SUP] F and in two days was up to 68[SUP]o[/SUP]. Then we had a really heavy rain and it went down to 65[SUP]o[/SUP]. Then it went up to 71[SUP]o[/SUP] and now we have rain again and I haven't yet measured the temperature since it is still raining.

Based on experience, anything below 70[SUP]o[/SUP] or so is unpleasantly cold.
 
Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

When you go shopping, you pay cash. At every store you visit, even if it is three or four different ones all in a row, you only use bills for your purchases. You accumulate all your change in a big jar.

Every now and then, you empty the jar and sort it and put the coins into rolls and take them to the bank.

Assuming all your coins are pennies, nickels, dimes, or quarters, which do you have the least of, and why? which do you have the most of, and why? Are you able to give a probabilistic distribution of the relative numbers of each kind of coin?
 
Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

FreshFish said:
When you go shopping, you pay cash. At every store you visit, even if it is three or four different ones all in a row, you only use bills for your purchases. You accumulate all your change in a big jar.

Every now and then, you empty the jar and sort it and put the coins into rolls and take them to the bank.

Assuming all your coins are pennies, nickels, dimes, or quarters, which do you have the least of, and why? which do you have the most of, and why? Are you able to give a probabilistic distribution of the relative numbers of each kind of coin?
Click to expand...

Assuming you have an answer, I'm going with pennies as the #1. Dimes being the least in number. I don't even have a wild-arse guess on distribution between the four.
 
Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

Brenthoven said:
Assuming you have an answer, I'm going with pennies as the #1. Dimes being the least in number. I don't even have a wild-arse guess on distribution between the four.
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pennies most (up to four every transaction)
followed by quarters (up to 3 per transaction)
then dimes (up to 2 per transaction)
then nickels (max of one per transaction).

That's assuming you always get the most efficient change back.

Pennies you will average 2 back per transaction, quarters you'll average 1.5 back. The probability math is less simple for nickels and dimes since they are replaced by bigger denominations at certain points. (.30 doesn't equal a three dimes, it equals a quarter and a nickel). Out of the 25 possibilities per "quarter" (treat 0-24 the same as 25-49, 50-74, and 75-99), there are 10 with no dimes (0-9), 10 with one dime (10-19), and 5 with two dimes (20-24), an average of .8 dimes per transaction. For nickels, there are 15 with no nickels (0-4, 10-14, 20-24) and 10 with one nickel (5-9, 15-19), so you average .4 nickels per transaction.
 
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Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

unofan said:
pennies most (up to four every transaction)
followed by quarters (up to 3 per transaction)
then dimes (up to 2 per transaction)
then nickels (max of one per transaction).

That's assuming you always get the most efficient change back.
Click to expand...

Well, there you go. I was not math-ing right. ;) Also, trying to think on how many prices end in "99" and "95" for the cents part.
 
Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

Brenthoven said:
Well, there you go. I was not math-ing right. ;) Also, trying to think on how many prices end in "99" and "95" for the cents part.
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Most places do that because it's a psychological play. When people talk about a product, most of us will see a price of $5.99 and then think to ourselves that it's $5, dropping the 99 cents. Marketers aren't as dumb as you smart they are.
 
Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

St. Clown said:
Most places do that because it's a psychological play. When people talk about a product, most of us will see a price of $5.99 and then think to ourselves that it's $5, dropping the 99 cents. Marketers aren't as dumb as you smart they are.
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Oh, I know all about the pricing schemes. Just like gas stations that don't have the electronic/LED displays still list gas at (for example): $3.499.
 
Brenthoven said:
Oh, I know all about the pricing schemes. Just like gas stations that don't have the electronic/LED displays still list gas at (for example): $3.499.
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Technically the 9/10ths is still there, just the LED boards conveniently don't show it.

The 9/10 of a cent is an archaic holdover from the early days of the gasoline industry.
 
Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

Brenthoven said:
Well, there you go. I was not math-ing right. ;) Also, trying to think on how many prices end in "99" and "95" for the cents part.
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But you'd also need to know the average number of items per transaction - even if everything is 99 cents with 6% sales tax ($1.05 per item), you might think you would get lots of quarters. But if the typical order is 36 items, that's $37.78 and those orders would get no quarters at all.

It also depends how many customers are engineers and would hand over $40.03 for that $37.78 transaction to get $2.25 in return. :D
 
Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

aparch said:
Technically the 9/10ths is still there, just the LED boards conveniently don't show it.

The 9/10 of a cent is an archaic holdover from the early days of the gasoline industry.
Click to expand...
My grandfather owned a gas station with a repair shop until selling it all when he went into retirement in the mid seventies. He always told his children that when it came to selling gas, that 9/10 of a cent was his entire profit margin. Thankfully, he was also a good mechanic, so he was able to make some decent money at the shop.
 
Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

aparch said:
Technically the 9/10ths is still there, just the LED boards conveniently don't show it.

The 9/10 of a cent is an archaic holdover from the early days of the gasoline industry.
Click to expand...
If the LED signs don't show I'm surprised people don't call them on it. In Maine the LEDs on the signs and on the pumps show it and you can be sure you are being charged that .9 cents when you buy fuel
 
Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

Most places still show the extra .009, it's just much smaller than the main part of the price, so it's not noticed as much.

As a former cashier supervisor at a major retailer (who also ordered coins for them), pennies and quarters are by far given back the most.
 
Re: Monty Hall, we have a PROBLEM

LynahFan said:
But you'd also need to know the average number of items per transaction - even if everything is 99 cents with 6% sales tax ($1.05 per item), you might think you would get lots of quarters. But if the typical order is 36 items, that's $37.78 and those orders would get no quarters at all.

It also depends how many customers are engineers and would hand over $40.03 for that $37.78 transaction to get $2.25 in return. :D
Click to expand...

I love playing the "change game." It confuses so many people who can't do math.

And many LED signs/etc DON'T show that extra .009 cents. I'm 99% sure Holiday Gas Stations don't show it. I don't recall on the pumps, though.
 
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