Exactly one overlap between two random circle arcs
Question
On the unit circle, draw a red arc that starts at the point and runs counterclockwise through an angle . Independently pick and draw a blue arc that starts at angle (measured counterclockwise from ) and runs counterclockwise through an angle , wrapping past if necessary. Wherever the arcs overlap the colour is purple. Assuming some purple appears, how likely is it that the purple part forms a single connected piece?
Short answer
. Rescale angles to . The arcs miss each other with probability , and they overlap in two separate pieces exactly when the blue arc starts inside the red one and wraps past , i.e. and , which has probability . So .
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Open the worked solutionLessons behind this question
- Continuous Random Variables and Probability Density Functions
- Conditional Probability, Total Probability, and Bayes' Rule
- Worked Examples — Probability Trees, Monty Hall, and Bayesian Updating
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