How Do I Use This Activity?

This activity allows the user to explore experimental and theoretical probabilities by adding and removing sections of a circle.

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Controls and Output

• In this version of Spinner, the sizes of the sectors are fixed and evenly divided:
  

• To increase the number of sectors by 1, click on the +1 button next to the Number of sectors [___]: display; to decrease the number of sectors by 1, click on the -1 button. Observe the current number of sectors in the Number of sectors [___] space. Here the number of sections is 4:
  

• To simulate spinning the spinner, click on the Spin button:
  

• You can change the number of spins simulated each time you click Spin by typing the desired number in the How many spins? [___] space. Here the number of spins is 1:
  

• The program tells you which section the pointer is on (The pointer is on Blue/Magenta/etc.) and the number of times the spinner has been spun (Spins So Far:).

• The chart at the bottom of the program tells you the Experimental Probability, Theoretical Probability, and Count (the number of times the pointer has landed on that section) for each section.
  

• By clicking on the Show Results Frame button the user can view an external window that displays the experimental results in the form of a pie chart.
  

• You can clear out all of the experimental data and start fresh with zero spins by clicking on New Experiment.
  

• To change the color of a section, simply click on it. A dialog will pop up that will allow you to choose a color from a list. Click Ok to complete the change