Unit Circle Average Distance

Calculus Level 3

Consider a unit circle centered on the origin in the x y xy plane. What is the average distance from a point on the unit circle to the point ( x , y ) = ( 1 , 0 ) (x,y) = (1,0) ?


The answer is 1.2732.

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1 solution

Aaghaz Mahajan
Jun 18, 2019

Let the point on the unit circle be ( cos θ , sin θ ) \displaystyle \left(\cos\theta,\sin\theta\right)

Now, the average distance from the point ( 1 , 0 ) \displaystyle \left(1,0\right) is

1 2 π 0 2 π 2 2 cos θ d θ \frac{1}{2\pi}\int_0^{2\pi}\sqrt{2-2\cos\theta}d\theta

= 1 π 0 2 π sin ( θ 2 ) d θ =\frac{1}{\pi}\int_0^{2\pi}\left|\sin\left(\frac{\theta}{2}\right)\right|d\theta

= 4 π =\frac{4}{\pi}

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