Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site decwrl.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!prls!amdimage!amdcad!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-pbsvax!cooper From: cooper@pbsvax.DEC (Topher Cooper HLO2-3/M08 DTN225-5819) Newsgroups: net.physics Subject: Extreme tail probability. Message-ID: <3419@decwrl.UUCP> Date: Fri, 2-Aug-85 20:48:39 EDT Article-I.D.: decwrl.3419 Posted: Fri Aug 2 20:48:39 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 4-Aug-85 06:20:55 EDT Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Lines: 19 >From: king@Kestrel (Dick King) > >Using the bionomial distribution, we see that the mean number of >molecules in each half is 500000, and the standard deviation is 1000, >so the portion of the distribution curve (of the possible numbers of >molecules in my half) that leads to my survival spans the center 200 >standard deviations, allowing me to survive >99.999999999999999999999999999999999999...% of the time. (my tables >don't go that far.) For what it's worth (not much) the probability is approximately: 1.0 - (2.688*10^-2174) Topher Cooper USENET: ...{allegra,decvax,ihnp4,ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-pbsvax!cooper ARPA/CSNET: cooper%pbsvax.DEC@decwrl