Question

Define a trial.

 

Answer 1

What is the meaning of trial?

The word trial means a test of performance, qualities, or suitability.

Definition:

Any particular performance of a random experiment is called a trial. That is, when we perform an experiment it is called a trial of the experiment.

By experiment or trial, we mean a random experiment unless otherwise specified. Where you are required to differentiate between a trial and an experiment, consider the experiment to be a larger entity formed by the combination of a number of trials.

To illustrate the definition, let us take examples:

1. In the experiment of tossing 4 coins, we may consider tossing each coin as a trial and therefore say that there are 4 trials in the experiment.

2. In the experiment of rolling a dice 5 times, we may consider each rolls as a trial and therefore say that there are 5 trials in the experiment.

Note that rolling a dice 5 times is same as rolling 5 dices each one time. Similarly, tossing 4 coins is same as tossing one coin 4 times.