Mean distance between two random points on a circle
Question
Choose two points independently and uniformly on the circumference of a circle of radius . The expected length of the segment joining them can be written as with rational. What is ?
Short answer
. By rotation, fix one point; the central angle to the other is uniform on and the chord is . Averaging, .
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- Continuous Random Variables and Probability Density Functions
- Expectation, Mean, and Variance
- Conditional Expectation and Variance Revisited
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