FST 10C
16 March 2016
Bikini Bottom Spinner
Tired of your duck, ball-tossing, and dart throwing games? The Bikini Bottom
Spinner is the answer to all that has been sought out. This game takes a refreshing take
on spinners. Winning candy, having fun, and creating memories with the cast from
SpongeBob Squarepants is what the Bikini Bottom Spinner is all about! Not to mention,
you can improve your bottom line.
Description
Step right up and test your luck on the Bikini Bottom Spinner for just $1! The
game consists of one spinner with four wedges on it, and three large boxes. The
spinner was inspired by characters from Bikini Bottom, Mr. Krabs, Patrick, SpongeBob,
and Squidward. The spinner is divided up as follows: 15% to Squidward, 40% to Mr.
Krabs, 30% to Patrick, and 15% to SpongeBob. Each box is based off of one of those
characters, except for Squidward; he does not get a box due to his attitude. Inside of the
boxes, there are clothespins with numbers written on them. Mr. Krabs box has four
clothespins; three clothespins have a one written on it, and one has a two written on it.
Patricks box has six clothespins; two of them have a one, two have a two, and one of
them has a three on it. SpongeBobs box has five clothespins; two have a two on them,
two have a three, and one of them has a four. These numbers represent the prize sizes.
A one is a small of two small candies, worth $0.25. A two is a medium small prize,
worth $0.90, consisting of a candy bar. A three is a medium large prize, worth $1,
consisting of a candy bar and a piece of gum. A four represents the grand prize, worth
$2, consisting of two candy bars, and two pieces of gum.
Directions
Theoretical Probability I
P(Squid) = 0.15
Theoretical Probability II
MS
ML
GP
-1.00
-0.75
-0.10
+1
P($)
0.15
0.4
0.31
0.11
0.03
Table 1, above, gives each of the amounts of money the player could win or lose
overall based on the worth of the prizes, with the original $1 they payed taken into
account. Recall that the small prize is worth 25, the medium small 90, the medium
large $1, and the grand prize $2. For the player to make money, which can only be done
through the grand prize, P(GP) = 0.03, which means there is only a 3% chance that they
could make money. To find out how much money the player is expected to make (or
lose) if playing this game for an extended amount of time, the expected value was
calculated, and is shown below.
Prize
Mr. Krabs
Patrick SpongeBob
Total
Lose
Small
17
18
Medium Small
21
Medium Large
Grand Prize
23
12
50
Total
Table 2, above, shows how many times each character was spun in the total row
across the bottom, and the amount of times each prize was won at the total column at
the right. Each other cell gives the number of prize types won for each specific
character.
Table 3
Probability of Prize Occurrences Given Each Character For Experimentation
Squidward
Prize
Mr. Krabs
Patrick
SpongeBob
Lose
Small
0.7391
0.1111
Medium Small
0.2609
0.7778
0.6667
Medium Large
0.1111
0.25
Grand Prize
0.0833
Prize
Squidward
Mr. Krabs
Patrick
SpongeBob
Total
Lose
0.12
0.12
Small
0.34
0.02
0.36
Medium Small
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.42
Medium Large
0.02
0.06
0.08
Grand Prize
0.02
0.02
0.12
0.46
0.18
0.24
Total
Table 4, above, gives the overall probability for each prize from the total amount
of trials. Each main cell took the total number of times that prize was won for that
character, divided by the total number of trials. The total on the right shows the
probability that a certain prize was won, while the the total row across the bottom shows
the probability that each character was chosen.
Table 5
Probabilities of Total Money Exchange Values
MS
ML
GP
-1.00
-0.75
-0.10
+1
P($)
0.12
0.36
0.42
0.08
0.02
Table 5, above, gives the chance of making or losing each amount of money for
the player. Just like the expected value was found theoretically with Table 1 and Figure
4, the experimental expected value can be found for the 50 trials of the real game, as
shown below.
Table 6
Calculator Simulated Number of Prize and Character Occurrences
Squidward
Prize
Lose
78
Mr. Krabs
0
Patrick
0
SpongeBob
0
Total
78
161
46
207
Medium Small
48
76
28
152
Medium Large
19
31
50
Grand Prize
13
13
78
209
141
72
500
Total
Table 6, above, shows the amount of times that each prize is selected per
character. The total on the right side shows the number of times each prize was
selected. The total across the bottom shows the total amount of times each character
was selected.
Table 7
Calculator Simulated Chance of Prize Occurrences Given Each Character
Squidward
Prize
Mr. Krabs
Patrick
SpongeBob
Lose
Small
0.7703
0.3262
Medium Small
0.2297
0.539
0.3889
Medium Large
0.1348
0.4306
Grand Prize
0.1806
Table 7, above, shows the probabilities for getting each prize, given that a certain
character was already spun. When Patrick was already spun, the chance of getting a
small prize was P(S | Pat) = 0.3626. When Mr. Krabs was spun, the chance of getting a
small prize was P(S | M.K) = 0.7703.
Table 8
Probability of Each Overall Outcome
Prize
Mr. Krabs
Patrick
SpongeBob
Total
Lose
0.156
0.156
Small
0.322
0.092
0.414
Medium Small
0.096
0.152
0.056
0.304
Medium Large
0.038
0.062
0.1
Grand Prize
0.026
0.026
0.156
0.418
0.282
0.144
Total
Table 8, above, gives the total chance of getting a specific prize value overall.
The total column at the right gives the total chance of getting a certain prize size, the
bottom total row gives the the total chance of spinning each character, and the other
cells in the table give the intersection probability of getting a specific prize size through
each characters box (but not the chance given the character was already spun). For
example, P(S) = 0.414, so there is a 0.414 chance that the small prize will be won
overall. There is a P(S | Pat) = 0.092 chance that it will be from a clothespin in Patricks
box, and a P(S | Pat) = 0.322 chance that it will be from a clothespin in Mr. Krabs box.
Table 9
Probabilities of Total Money Exchange Values
Squid
MS
-1.00
-0.75
-0.10
P($)
0.156
0.414
0.304
ML
0
GP
+1
0.1 0.026
Table 9, above, gives the probabilities of the player getting each possible
amount of money from the calculator simulation of playing the game. Just like for the
Prize
Squidward
Mr. Krabs
Patrick
SpongeBob
Lose
749
749
Small
1498
502
2000
Medium Small
457
763
285
1505
Medium Large
271
336
607
Grand Prize
139
139
749
1955
1536
760
5000
Total
Total
Table 10, above, shows how many times each character was chosen, plus how
many of each prize was won through that character respectively. The total on the right is
how many times overall each prize occurred, and the total across the bottom is how
many times the character was spun.
Table 11
Simulated Chance of Prize Occurrences Given Each Character
Squidward
Prize
Mr. Krabs
Patrick
SpongeBob
Lose
Small
0.7662
0.3268
Medium Small
0.2338
0.4967
0.375
Medium Large
0.1765
0.4421
Grand Prize
0.1829
Table 11, above, shows the probabilities for getting each prize, given that a
certain character was already spun. For the small prize, given that a clothespin would
Prize
Mr. Krabs
Patrick
SpongeBob
Total
Lose
0.1498
Small
0.2996
0.1004
0.4
Medium Small
0.0914
0.1526
0.057
0.301
Medium Large
0.0542
Grand Prize
0.0278
.0278
0.1498
0.391
0.3072
0.152
Total
0 0.1498
0.0672 0.1214
The most important values of Table 12, above, give the total probabilities of
getting each specific prize value overall; the total column at the right gives the total
chance of getting each prize size. The bottom total row gives the the total chance of
spinning each character. The other cells in the table give the intersection probability of
getting a specific prize size from each characters box. For example, P(S) = 0.4, so
there is a 0.4 chance that the small prize will be won overall.
Table 13
Probabilities of Total Money Exchange Values
Squid
$
-1.00
S
-0.75
MS
-0.10
ML
GP
0
+1
0.1498
0.4
0.301
0.1214 0.0278
Table 13, above, gives the probabilities of the player winning or losing each
amount of money based on the JAVA simulation. The expected value for the simulation
took the amounts of money the player could win or lose overall, and multiplied each
value individually by the respective probability and added each value together.
. The theoretical expected value states that as time goes on, the
player will lose $0.45 overall. Therefore, as time goes on, the owner of the carnival will
make a profit of $0.45 over time. While this may seem to be a small profit, having most
players feel like they won will keep bringing them back. They keep losing, and the
owner keeps winning.
Bikini Bottom Spinner was not created by just one mind; it is the product of three
brilliant individuals. The creators approached the project with vigor and enthusiasm. The
different tasks were divided amongst the three of them. Owen Pierce took on the role of
the mathematician. He was the brain behind deciding the probabilities for each event
occurring and the money value for each prize. He calculated the experimental
Appendix A
Works Cited
Spongebob. Digital image. Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 7 July 2015. Web. 7
Mar.2016. <http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-07-14-1436902565- 6235018SpongeBob_5.png>.
Patrick. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7e/Patrick_Star.png>.