A simulation of the Galton board. Press Z to reset.
At each step, each bean will randomly move left or right. The distribution of the beans when they reach the floor is given by the binomial distribution, which is an approximation of the normal distribution for large values of n (central limit theorem).
Years ago, back on the T.R.S. 80, there was a program listed in the learner's book called, "Drunk." In it, you started a "drunk" at position 50.
The program would take the drunk's position, and according to the manual, stagger randomly, left or right.
He would stagger off the pier if he went <1 or >100. And at the time, it was pretty interesting to watch that number flip around.
Now look where we are today. Hundreds of lemmings falling pell-mell from the sky forming, well, because of the probability of randomness, a fairly uniform mountain. Altogether quite interesting to watch - and a gentle reminder of the limitations of early computers and what they were and were not capable of.
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