There are two gumball machines outside the local grocery store, one large machine and one small machine. Both machines have only yellow and orange gumballs, and each machine contains 50 percent of each color. For each coin, the large gumball machine dispenses 15 gumballs, while the small machine dispenses 5. Tim is a young genius whose interests include probability and sound decision-making. His "probability project of the day" is to get a greater percentage of either of the colors, but not an equal amount of each color. Given this, and presuming Tim has only one coin,
A) he should use his coin in the large machine.
B) he should use his coin in the small machine.
C) it doesn't make a difference which machine he uses.
D) he should wait for other people to use the machines and see what they get.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Using the small machine increases the likelihood of getting a non-equal distribution of colors since fewer gumballs are dispensed, making it easier to deviate from a 50/50 split.

There Are Two Gumball Machines Outside the Local Grocery Store