Syntax
BINOM.DIST(successes, trials, prob, cumulative)
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| successes | Parameter of the BINOM.DIST function. |
| trials | Parameter of the BINOM.DIST function. |
| prob | Parameter of the BINOM.DIST function. |
| cumulative | Parameter of the BINOM.DIST function. |
Examples
Exactly 7 heads in 10 coin flips
Formula
=BINOM.DIST(7, 10, 0.5, FALSE)
Returns ~0.1172. There is about an 11.7% chance of getting exactly 7 heads in 10 fair coin flips.
At most 2 defective items in batch of 20
Formula
=BINOM.DIST(2, 20, 0.05, TRUE)
Returns ~0.9245. If 5% of items are defective, there is a 92.5% chance of finding 2 or fewer defective items in a sample of 20.
Probability of passing a quiz by guessing
Formula
=BINOM.DIST(6, 10, 0.25, TRUE)
Returns ~0.9965. On a 10-question quiz with 4 choices each, the probability of guessing 6 or fewer correctly is about 99.7% — passing by luck alone is very unlikely.
Common Errors
#NUM!
Number_s must be between 0 and trials, trials must be non-negative, and probability_s must be between 0 and 1.
#VALUE!
Occurs if any argument is non-numeric text.
Tips
FALSE for exact, TRUE for cumulative
Use cumulative=FALSE for 'exactly k successes' and TRUE for 'k or fewer successes'. For 'more than k', use =1 - BINOM.DIST(k, n, p, TRUE).
Assumes independent trials
Each trial must be independent with the same probability. If you are sampling without replacement from a small population, use HYPGEOM.DIST instead.
Expected value shortcut
The expected number of successes is simply n * p. For 100 trials with p=0.3, expect about 30 successes on average.
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