Bascule is reading a book. What is the probability that the first digit of the page he is on is 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5?

a) obtain an expression
b) approximate a numerical value

(In reply to numerical solution by Cory Taylor)

for all books <=9 pages, there is .858686 probibility
for all books <=99 pages, there is .794654 probibility
for all books <=999 pages, there is .783899 probibility
for all books <=9999 pages, there is .782622 probibility

method (using spreadsheet)

column 1 = numbers from 1 -> limit
column 2 = 1 if true, else 0
column 3 = running sum of column 2
column 4 = column 3 / column 1
column 5 = column 4 + column 1
column 6 = column 5 / column 1

This (if correct) shows an approximate value (based on the assumptions) of 78%

Posted by Cory Taylor on 2003-02-12 10:24:26