In the Battle in the Bassen Rift the USS Enterprise-E fought the Reman warbird S
ID: 3228351 • Letter: I
Question
In the Battle in the Bassen Rift the USS Enterprise-E fought the Reman warbird Scimitar. It was known at the time that if the Enterprise fired a single p torpedo at the Scimitar there was a 1/3 chance of destroying the Scimitar, a 1/2 chance of causing significant damage to the scimitar and a 1/6 chance of either missing or causing only minor damage. If two torpedoes cause significant damage each then the Scimitar would be mortally wounded. In the battle there is a critical moment where Picard must issue an order to fire a cluster of photon torpedoes at the scimitar as it executes a sharp turn. Since the cost of the photon torpedoes is deducted from Picard's paycheck if they are used uselessly, how many photon torpedoes should he order be fired to assure a 99% chance of destroying the Scimitar?Explanation / Answer
Number of photon torpedoes = [Z critical / margin error]2 * PQ
= [2.576 * 6]2 0.5*0.5
= 59.72
Approximately 60 photon torpedoes required to detroy the scimitar