----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 12:41
AM
Subject: Re: [math-fun] Thought up while
drawing polygons ...
I found a math discussion site on the web where someone
calling themself Poliwrath
posed and solved the question of what is the
probability that if A,B,C,D are random points in a square, then AB and CD
intersect?
Poliwrath's clever reasoning is as follows: If X,Y,Z
are any three random points in the unit square, let T be the expected area of
the triangle XYZ. (This just happens to be 11/144.) Hence the
probability of (A lying in BCD) = T, and same for B lying in ACD, C lying in
ABD and D lying in ABD. Since these 4 events are disjoint (!), the
probability that one of them occurs is 4*T, and so the probability that none
of them occurs, i.e. the probability that the convex hull of A,B,C,D is a
quadrilateral, is 1-4T.
Among the 24 equally likely ways that A,B,C,D can
be assigned to the corners of any given quadrilateral, just 1/3 of them
involve AB interesecting CD (since wherever A is, B can be adjacent with prob.
= 2/3, or opposite, with prob. = 1/3). This shows that P = [the
probability AB and CD intersect] is (1-4T)/3. Assuming T = 11/144, this
gives P = 25/108. (I don't know the calculation giving T = 11/144, but
both this figure and the 25/108 are well approximated by my computer
simulations, so I believe them.)
--Dan
If this reasoning is true (see
my other post, sent about 1 minute ago), it's interesting that it
seems
to be powerless in the 3-D case of determining
the chance that 6 ordered connected segments form
a knot. Does anyone have any ideas on that?