Square - Expected R^2

Calculus Level 3

Consider a square of side length 1, centered on the origin in the x y xy plane. Suppose we think of the square as a collection of points in polar coordinates, with each point having a radius R R with respect to the origin, as well as an angle θ \theta .

If points are chosen randomly and uniformly over the square's perimeter, what is the expected value of R 2 R^2 ?


The answer is 0.333333.

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1 solution

Brian Moehring
Aug 27, 2018

Since R R is invariant under rotations about the origin, we may assume the sides of the square are parallel to the axes. Also, since the given square has 9 0 90^\circ symmetry about the origin, we may simply find the expected value of R 2 R^2 about one of the sides.

Now note that one of the sides is parametrized by ( x , y ) = ( X , 1 2 ) , (x,y) = \left(X, \frac{1}{2}\right), that the assumption that the point is chosen uniformly over the perimeter means X X is uniformly distributed on [ 1 2 , 1 2 ] , \left[-\frac{1}{2}, \frac{1}{2}\right], and that R 2 = X 2 + ( 1 2 ) 2 . R^2 = X^2 + \left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^2.

Together, this means the expected value of R 2 R^2 is just E [ R 2 ] = E [ X 2 ] + 1 4 = 1 / 2 1 / 2 x 2 d x + 1 4 = 1 3 0.33333 \mathbb{E}[R^2] = \mathbb{E}[X^2] + \frac{1}{4} = \int_{-1/2}^{1/2} x^2\,dx + \frac{1}{4} = \frac{1}{3} \approx \boxed{0.33333}

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