CS-470

Modeling and Simulation

Lab 2

Buffon’s Needle

Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2002

Due: Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Earlier this week we ran the Buffon’s Needle experiment in class, with disappointing results. None of the groups was able to come up with an accurate estimate of pi (even though several simulation texts claim that this should be the result of the experiment!). Obviously, something else is also going on in this system that we haven’t accounted for in our model. Dr. Blessing has hypothesized that the ratio of l (the length of the needle) to d (the distance between plank lines) may be the culprit. Develop a simulation program that will model the system of Buffon’s Needle. Add two parameters to your model so that different values of l and d can be used in your simulation runs. The purpose of the new experiment is to answer the following questions:

Is there an optimum ration of l to d that produces accurate estimates of pi? If so, then what is this ratio? If not, then what other factors could there be that influences our model of the system?

In your lab report, be sure to make a convincing argument for your findings. What descriptive statistics can you present that will convince even the most doubting reader of the validity of your results? This will, no doubt, be a key factor in grading the reports.