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Random circle lying fully inside a square

Question

Take a square with side 2020. Pick a point uniformly at random inside it to be the centre of a circle, and independently choose the radius RR uniformly from (0,10)(0,10). What is the probability that the circle does not touch or cross the boundary of the square?

Short answer

13\tfrac13. For radius rr, the centre must lie at least rr from every side, i.e. in a concentric square of side 20−2r20-2r, with probability (20−2r20)2=(1−r10)2\left(\tfrac{20-2r}{20}\right)^2=(1-\tfrac r{10})^2. Averaging over rr uniform on (0,10)(0,10) gives ∫01(1−u)2 du=13\int_0^1(1-u)^2\,du=\tfrac13.

Adapted from QuantQuestions.io; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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