Choose five points randomly and uniformly on a circle. Let these points be the vertices of a pentagon. What is the probability that the center of the circle lies in this pentagon?
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The solution is identical to the one I posted for Contains the Center 1 .
Call the given points P 1 , … , P 5 .
In order for the center of the circle not to lie in the quadrilateral, there must be an arc of more than 1 8 0 ∘ without points. Let P a be the point immediately after this long arc in clockwise direction. The other four points then lie within 1 8 0 ∘ , or half a circle, clockwise from P a . The probability that they do so is 2 1 for each point, or ( 2 1 ) 4 = 1 6 1 combined.
That first point P a may be any of the five chosen points. Therefore the total probability that the center of the circle does not lie in the quadrilateral is 5 × 1 6 1 = 1 6 5 .
The probability that the center of the circle does lie inside the quadrilateral is the complement, 1 − 1 6 1 1 = 1 6 7 ≈ 0 . 6 8 7 5 .