How Do I Run This Applet?

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Object of the activity

This activity allows the user to run a simulation of dropping a needle on a lined sheet of paper and determining the probability of the needle crossing one of the lines.

Controls and Output

• The black line is a needle. Pi is determined based on the number of times it lands across one of the green lines when "dropped" randomly by the computer.

• The estimate of Pi determined by this process is printed in red near the bottom of the display.

• Clicking Get New Needle causes one needle to be dropped at a time. The results from each drop are accumulated to produce the Pi estimate that is displayed.

• To drop the needle many times, type the number of times you want to drop it in the box next to the word Trials =. Then click the Run button.