Math Is Fun Forum

MathsIsFun

Administrator

Registered: 2005-01-21

Posts: 7,713

Quincunx

I have made a Quincunx !

Also check out Quincunx Explained to see if I have made any errors, omissions or plain old mispellings

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"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

Jai Ganesh

Administrator

Registered: 2005-06-28

Posts: 48,423

Re: Quincunx

The Quincunx is very well designed! When I looked into the explanation, I didn't find any mathematical error (I was in a hurry when I did). But to say it is 100% correct, I'd require a little more time!
Once again, very well done, MathsIsFun !:)

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It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics, one should study the masters and not the pupils. - Niels Henrik Abel.

Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge - Stephen William Hawking.

justlookingforthemoment

Moderator

Registered: 2005-05-26

Posts: 2,161

Re: Quincunx

It's hypnotic to watch! I can stare at it for hours!

Photo: my test run. The units column of numbers got chopped off!

mathsyperson

Moderator

Registered: 2005-06-22

Posts: 4,900

Re: Quincunx

Woah. That is amazing, even by your standards. It's really fun to look at.

The only slight flaw I could say is that if you wanted to use it for actual simulation purposes, rather than just something extremely cool to look at, it would take a while for the numbers to get high enough to be good results. Maybe you could include another bar that varies the force of gravity or something, to make the balls fall at varying speeds. That way, people could also slow it down and watch the path of each individual ball if they wanted to.

Alternatively, you could possibly make a similar page but with no animations, just fields for people to enter the amount of rows, the left probability and the number of trials and then they can get the results instantly without waiting.

I couldn't find any flaws with the explanation either, so if me and ganesh both can't find anything, it's quite likely that it's mistake-free!

Once again, excellent page. I'm going off to watch it some more now...

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Why did the vector cross the road?
It wanted to be normal.

MathsIsFun

Administrator

Registered: 2005-01-21

Posts: 7,713

Re: Quincunx

Photo: my test run. The units column of numbers got chopped off!

You must have left it running all day or night! Sorry about the chopping off, if I make the text small enough to fit, it looks pretty poor.

It is pretty cool to watch - needs a good backing track! Try listening to it with some cool music going

Yeah, maybe I could have a "go crazy fast" version!

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"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

justlookingforthemoment

Moderator

Registered: 2005-05-26

Posts: 2,161

Re: Quincunx

It is pretty cool to watch - needs a good backing track!

I know - the Hex Drums!

MathsIsFun

Administrator

Registered: 2005-01-21

Posts: 7,713

Re: Quincunx

LOL!!

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"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

ryos

Member

Registered: 2005-08-04

Posts: 394

Re: Quincunx

I used to have a few of these as a little kid. They were just toys; I didn't know they were a mathematical thingy! By the way, I haven't seen one in years. I wonder if they still make them?

Oh yeah, very well done.

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El que pega primero pega dos veces.

MathsIsFun

Administrator

Registered: 2005-01-21

Posts: 7,713

Re: Quincunx

Toys for young mathematicians: "Mummy, my Quincunx is Skewed by 10 Percent!"

Anyway, I have slightly updated this virtual one - it now has a Fast Forward button (for the impatient few)

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"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

Ninja 101

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 936

Re: Quincunx

LOL!!

what does that mean!

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Chaos is found in greatest abundance wherever order is being saught. It always defeats order, because it is better organized.

justlookingforthemoment

Moderator

Registered: 2005-05-26

Posts: 2,161

Re: Quincunx

LOL?

Laugh(ing) out loud.

John E. Franklin

Member

Registered: 2005-08-29

Posts: 3,588

Re: Quincunx

I did .801 left for 10 high rows, 100 balls, and got:
9,23,34,19,9,5,1,0,0,0,0
Pretty neat, but I couldn't choose .8 left, only .801 was the closest.
I read the explanation and thought it was very nice, though I would
have to do my own permutation study before I believe every formula.
I am not talking about probability vs. reality being different, as they
always are not the same, I just mean that I would have to work on
permutations for a few days before I discovered the "4 choose 3"
formulas for myself.

Last edited by John E. Franklin (2006-05-27 04:06:50)

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igloo myrtilles fourmis

numen

Member

Registered: 2006-05-03

Posts: 115

Re: Quincunx

You can enter the left probability yourself if you click it.

It's pretty neat, yeah.

It would also be nice if you could enter how many balls to go through so you don't have to wait for the exact moment to stop it. Like if I wanted to run with 500 balls and do something else while it was running. The gravity idea is also good

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Bang postponed. Not big enough. Reboot.

MathsIsFun

Administrator

Registered: 2005-01-21

Posts: 7,713

Re: Quincunx

You are supposed to sit there mesmerized, watching the balls bounce, until something in the back of your head says "Wake Up - It's 500 Now!"

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"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

Devantè

Real Member

Registered: 2006-07-14

Posts: 6,400

Re: Quincunx

That looks amazing...I could sit and watch that through the holidays...