Probability question

I'm confused a bit about this problem.

I have a revolver with 6 compartments that's got bullets in two adjacent compartments. I spin and fire, and get a blank. If one's pointing the gun at oneself (for some odd reason), is there a better chance of survival to pull the trigger again with or without spinning the chamber?

If I hit a blank the first time, then the chances of a blank the second time are (without spinning) 3/5 or 0.6 vs (with spinning) 4/6 or 0.667. So it would seem that spinning is the optimal strategy.

However, things get confusing because the compartments are adjacent. Because the bullets are adjacent it's not possible to get shot by the second bullet, so the probability of hitting an empty compartment is actually 3/4 or 0.75, so it would be better to just pull the trigger rather than re-spin.

Is that correct?
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Probability question
    ... I have a revolver with 6 compartments that's got bullets in two adjacent compartments. ... Because the bullets are adjacent it's not possible to get shot by the second bullet, so the probability of hitting an empty compartment is actually 3/4 or 0.75, so it would be better to just pull the trigger rather than re-spin. ...
    (sci.stat.math)
  • Re: Probability question
    ... I have a revolver with 6 compartments that's got bullets in two adjacent ... second bullet, so the probability of hitting an empty compartment is ...
    (sci.stat.math)
  • Re: Probability question
    ... I have a revolver with 6 compartments that's got bullets in two adjacent compartments. ... Because the bullets are adjacent it's not possible to get shot by the second bullet, so the probability of hitting an empty compartment is actually 3/4 or 0.75, so it would be better to just pull the trigger rather than re-spin. ... Given that the first shot was a blank, what's the probability that the second will be? ...
    (sci.stat.math)
Loading