Imagine: the town drunk's been at it again! He's in the city square at a light post and is trying to get home. He's so inebriated however, he can only stagger in random directions from the light post. (Each step is a uniform unit distance). The question is:
How far is he likely to get from the light post after n steps?
This is a classic question in diffusion theory and this simple simulation is an attempt to model phenomena that occur in many places in the natural world. Read more about this interesting problem!
A walk defaults to 250 unit steps, taken in random directions within 360°.
- 'Walk' Button: start or pause the movement
- 'Reset' Button: when paused, restart app
- 'Speed' slider: may be adjusted at any time
- 'Goal' distance for a given step goal: the white circle
- The summary table shows the walk summary and updates
- Canvas dimensions are shown below the summary table
To customize a walk and/or restart a walk: Click 'Customize the Walk,' then:
- Select a random direction modality
- Select how many steps (Larger step values are shown unconnected and with a reduced transparency to show how the path overlaps)
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Select a target goal:
- Stop when steps are achieved
- Stop when the goal distance is achieved
Remember, any new customization will reset the app!
Example Walks
Goal 15.8 met
Canvas: [-30, 30], inc = 2
Goal 22.4 met
Canvas: [-38, 38], inc = 2
Goal 10 met
Canvas: [-24, 24], inc = 1
Goal 31.6 met
Canvas: [-65, 65], inc = 5
Forced Goal 70.7 met
Canvas: [-100, 100], inc = 10
Goal 158.1 met
Canvas: [-200, 200], inc = 25
Goal 15.8 unmet
Canvas: [-30, 30], inc = 2
Goal 22.4 met
Canvas: [-38, 38], inc = 2
Goal 158.1 met
Canvas: [-200, 200], inc = 25