10 Fun Facts About Coin Flipping

flip a coin facts

As it turns out, coin flipping is not only a simple heads or tails game. There is a history behind the coin toss, and it seems that many important life decisions were made thanks to coin flipping, for example, naming the city in the United States of America. Do you already know which city it is?

Here are the top 10 flip a coin facts to better understand what is behind this famous coin flip game:

1. Who invented coin flips?
2. When is the national Flip a Coin Day?
3. What city was named by a coin toss?
4. What was the coin flip for Super Bowl 2022?
5. Making decisions using a coin flip makes you happy
6. Why did Skyler flip a coin in Breaking Bad?
7. Probability of flipping a coin 10 times and getting 5 heads
8. If you flip a coin 3 times what is the probability of getting 1 heads?
9. if you flip a coin 3 times what is the probability of getting 3 heads
10. is flipping a coin really 50/50

1. Who invented coin flips?

The history of coin flipping started in Roman times when Julius Ceasar ruled the most significant part of the world. At that time, the coin flip game was called “ship or head”, also known as navia aut caput.

In 1903, the Wright brothers, who were US aviation pioneers, did a coin toss to decide who would fly first to Kill Devil Hills, and the winner was Wilbur. This shows us that you can use a coin toss even for determining who will do the first flight.

2. When is the national Flip a Coin Day?

National flip a coin day occurs every year on the 1st of June in the United States. In 2022 1st of June will be on Wednesday. Americans made this day count because of the history when important decisions were made thanks to a coin toss, for example, the time when Portland got its name thanks to a coin flip game.

flip a coin day

3. What city was named by a coin toss?

The city named by a coin toss is Portland. In 1845 Portland’s founders, Francis Pettygrove, Maine and Asa Lovejoy couldn’t decide how to call Oregon’s largest city, so they flipped a coin three times. Out of these three coin tosses, the Pettygrove won two of them, and this is how Portland got its name.

4. What was the coin flip for Super Bowl 2022?

Coin flipping in Super Bowl has happened since 1967. In 2022 coin flip for Super Bowl LVI on the 13th of February was done by Billie Jean King, and the coin toss was Heads. The Rams lost a toss, and the Bengals celebrated the win.

flip a coin for super bowl

5. Making decisions using a coin flip makes you happy

Making decisions based on a coin flip makes people happier. According to the latest study, results showed that people were happier within three to six months if important life decisions were made with a coin flip regardless of the outcome. It showed that people who made decisions with a coin flip tended to be happier in life than people who didn’t. (Source: The Ladders)

6. Why did Skyler flip a coin in Breaking Bad?

The TV show Breaking Bad was originally released in 2008. In season 4, episode 16 the plot took place at the Four Corners Monument in New Mexico. This monument is quite an important place for new Mexicans since almost all of them visit this place at some point in their lives

Skyler White flipped a coin at the Four Corners to decide which state she and her daughter should escape when she chose to leave Walt. Skyler did a coin toss twice, and both times she flipped Colorado.

Flip a coin Breaking Bad

7. Probability of flipping a coin 10 times and getting 5 heads

When you decide to flip a coin, do many flips, meaning that your number should cover the chances of having 50% heads and 50% tails. The probability of flipping a coin 10 times and getting exactly 5 heads is 0.246. 

In order to calculate this, you need to understand that there will be 2 possible outcomes each time the coin is flipped. The total number of all possible results when flipping a coin 10 times is 1024 (2^10).

Now we need to understand the number of ways when you can get 5 heads and 5 tails. To calculate this, you need to use this formula 10! / (5! x 5!) = 252.

Finally, to get the probability of getting 5 heads, you need to take the number of ways of getting 5 heads (252) and divide it by the total number of all possible results (1024).

8. If you flip a coin 3 times what is the probability of getting 1 heads?

Flipping a coin 3 times, the probability of getting 1 head is 0.375.

In order to calculate this, you need to know the number of total outcomes, which in this case is 8. For example, by flipping a coin 3 times, you can get 8 possible results: all 3 times, all heads or tails, etc.

To get the result, you need to know the outcomes when the chances of getting 1 head (in this case, it’s 3 times) and divide this number by all possible outcomes.

So ⅜ is  0.375.

9. If you flip a coin 3 times what is the probability of getting 3 heads?

Flipping a coin 3 times, the probability of getting 3 heads is 0.125. In order to calculate this, you need to know the number of total outcomes, which in this case is 8. T = tails, H = heads.

  1. H H H
  2. T T H
  3. T H H
  4. H T H
  5. H H T
  6. T H T
  7. H T T
  8. T T T

To get the result, you need to know the number of outcomes when the chances of getting 3 heads (in this case, there is only one chance) and divide this number by all possible outcomes.

So ⅛ is 0.125.

10. Is flipping a coin really 50/50?

The truth is that flipping a coin isn’t really 50/50. According to several statisticians and mathematicians, if the real coin is flipped then the coin toss is more like 51/49.

But what about coinflipgame.com? Is it 50/50? The answer is yes. If you decide to flip a coin with our game, you will get  50/50 chance of getting heads or tails. Just flip a coin!