SimuLab 4: One-Dimensional Random Walk

Now do the same activity using the computer. Please see the Java Applet Page.




Q3.15: Are there any similarities among the bar graphs in the three runs?





Q3.16: Does a larger number of trials make it easier to describe the shape of the resulting bar graph?





Q3.17: If you were shown only the bar graph, could you tell whether it came from the Random Walk part of the program or the Coin Flipping part of the program?





Q3.18: Why are there spaces between the bars in the bar graph for Random Walks, when there were no spaces between the bars for Coin Flip?




Why is the random walker important? One reason the random walker is important is because it mimics the way a molecule moves. We want to study not only the motion of a single molecule, but also the motion of many molecules that combine to form the chemical and physical processes we observe every day. To do this, we need to watch many walkers at the same time.



Q3.19: Can you think of scientific or natural processes whose underlying physical or chemical dynamics could be described by a random walk?



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