Compute expected arc length on a circle

Quick Overview

This question evaluates understanding of geometric probability, order statistics on a circle, and expectation computation for continuous random variables.

Compute expected arc length on a circle

Company: DRW

Role: Data Scientist

Category: Statistics & Math

Difficulty: easy

Interview Round: Take-home Project

On the unit circle (radius \(1\), centered at the origin), pick **three** points independently and uniformly at random on the circumference. These three points partition the circle into three circular arcs. Let \(L\) be the **length of the arc (along the circumference)** that contains the fixed point \((1,0)\) (angle 0). Compute \(\mathbb{E}[L]\).

Quick Answer: This question evaluates understanding of geometric probability, order statistics on a circle, and expectation computation for continuous random variables.

|Home/Statistics & Math/DRW
DRW logo
DRW
Nov 22, 2025, 12:00 AM
easyData ScientistTake-home ProjectStatistics & Math
6
0

On the unit circle (radius 11, centered at the origin), pick three points independently and uniformly at random on the circumference. These three points partition the circle into three circular arcs.

Let LL be the length of the arc (along the circumference) that contains the fixed point (1,0)(1,0) (angle 0).

Compute E[L]\mathbb{E}[L].

Loading comments...