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Three random legs on a round table all 90 degrees apart

Question

Three legs are attached to a round tabletop at three points chosen independently and uniformly around its edge. The table counts as acceptable only if every pair of legs is separated by an angle of at least 90∘90^\circ. What is the probability that the table is acceptable?

Short answer

116\tfrac1{16}. The condition says all three arcs between consecutive legs exceed a quarter of the circle. For nn uniform points on a circle, all gaps exceed a fraction aa with probability (1−na)n−1(1-na)^{n-1}; with n=3n=3, a=14a=\tfrac14 this is (14)2=116(\tfrac14)^2=\tfrac1{16}. Integrating over the second leg's position gives the same answer.

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

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