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Buffon's Needle

Buffon's Needle image Estimate Pi by calculating the geometrical probability of a needle landing on a line.
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Author: Evan Ramos
Date Created: 7/11/1996
Last Modified: 5/28/2014

Detailed Description:

Needles are dropped on a lined sheet of paper and the probability of a needle hitting a line is calculated by dividing the number of hits by the number of misses. The surprising result is that this probability can give a good estimate of Pi when the distance between the lines is the same as the length of the needles.

Resource Type:
Interactive (Lessons that include an interactive component, generally Java, JavaScript, Flash, or a TI program.)
Related Resources:
None specified yet
Other Information:
Original Java Applet by George Reese (1996)
Modified by Pavel Safronov (2003-2005)
JavaScript+HTML5 Remake by Evan Ramos (2014)
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