Program 1: Liberty Bell Slot Machine Simulation

Logistics

• Due Date: Friday, September 15th no later than 11:59 p.m.
• Partner Information: You may complete this assignment individually or with exactly one partner. If you work with a partner, you must both be enrolled in the same lab section to receive credit.
• Submission Instructions (working alone): Upload your solution, entitled YourFirstName-YourLastName-Program1.py to the BrightSpace Program 1 Dropbox.
• Submission Instructions (working with one lab mate who is in your same lab section): Upload your solution, entitled YourFirstName-YourLastName-PartnerFirstName-PartnerLastName-Program1.py to the BrightSpace Program 1 Dropbox. Note: If you work with a partner, only one person needs to submit a solution. If you both submit a solution, the submission that will be graded is the one from the partner whose last name comes alphabetically first.
• Deadline Reminder: Once the submission deadline passes, BrightSpace will no longer accept your Python submission and you will no longer be able to earn credit. Thus, if you are not able to fully complete the assignment, submit whatever you have before the deadline so that partial credit can be earned.
• Collaboration Policy Reminder. As a reminder, the policy is at the bottom of this page. For this course, it is important that each person (team) does their own work so that everyone learns the fundamental concept of how to solve a problem with a programming language. To pass the course, an average of 50% or higher is needed on the practicums.

Learning Outcomes

• To solve this problem, you need to understand the following Python concepts: data types, functions, selection statements and iteration.

Background Information

• Charles Fey constructed the first slot machine in 1895. The original machine consisted of three spinning reels containing a total of five symbols: horseshoes, diamonds, spades, hearts and a bell (the Liberty Bell), from which this machine took its name. It cost 5 cents to play and the payouts worked as follows:
  • three Liberty Bells: 50 cents
  • three hearts: 40 cents
  • three diamonds: 30 cents
  • three spades: 20 cents
  • three horseshoes: 10 cents
  • two horseshoes and any other one symbol: 5 cents
  • all other combinations: nothing
• To learn more about a subsequent, six-symbol Liberty Bell slot machine, check out this wikipedia article.

Assignment

• Download program1.py, rename it according to the instructions above, and make sure you fully understand it.
• Write the missing spin_payout function such that it returns the correct payout for any spin.
• Write the missing simulate function such that it simulates the handle of the slot machine being pulled the specified number of times. The simulation may assume that for each reel, the probability of generating any of the five symbols is the same. Once the simulation is finished, the function should print a message stating how much money can be expected to be won for each $1 spent.
• Here is a sample transcript of the program running. Your solution should match the output format exactly. However, because of randomness, the expected winnings per dollar spent might vary each time the program is run.

Grading - 100 points

• 50 points - Each of the ten test spins is calculated correctly in a general fashion. (5 points each - all or nothing.)
• 20 points - The spin_payout function conforms to its comment (5 points), uses meaningful user chosen names (5 points), uses if constructs effectively (5 points) and is as simple as possible (5 points).
• 15 points - The simulate function conforms to its comment (5 points), uses meaningful user chosen names (5 points), and is as simple as possible (5 points).
• 5 points - With the exception of the expected winnings, the output format matches the output format of the transcript exactly. All or nothing.
• 5 points - The expected winning is displayed with two digits to the right of the decimal. All or nothing.
• 5 points - The submitted file is named correctly. All or nothing.

Honor's Lab

• The points you earn from the grading scale above will be multiplied by .9 for a maximum of 90 points.
• The other 10 points can be earned by enhancing the assignment in a creative, non-trivial manner.
• In the BrightSpace Dropbox comment box, describe your enhancement clearly. (You must include this comment to earn the additional points.)