Math 181C

Fall 2009

Handout: The Broken Stick Problem

The Broken Stick Problem

Consider a stick of length x. Two points are chosen randomly and uniformly on the stick and then the stick is broken into three pieces, at those cut points. What is the probability that the three pieces can be used to construct a triangle?

This problem is more difficult then it may originally seem because the sum of the two smaller sides of the triangle must be greater than the third side. For example, if the stick has length 15 and is broken into pieces of 2 inches, 3 inches, and 10 inches it will be impossible to construct a triangle. Given an equilateral triangle with altitude x, it is possible to use geometry to solve the problem. Any point within the triangle can represent how the stick is broken into three pieces. For instance, if point P is selected, that represents that the stick is being broken into pieces with length a, b, and c. By the altitude theorem, it is known that a + b + c = x. In this example it would not be possible to make a triangle, because a + b < c. a

x P b c

To find the probability that the two smaller sides will sum to be larger than the third side it is helpful to divide the equilateral triangle into four smaller equilateral triangles, by connecting the midpoints of the sides.

As long as the point P is selected in the middle (shaded) triangle, it will be possible to create a triangle from the three pieces. The probability that randomly selected P is in the middle triangle is 1/4 (as each of the smaller triangles created is equally likely). Hence, the probability that a triangle can be created from breaking a stick into three pieces is 1/4.

Handout: The Broken Stick Problem

Prepared by Will Garner

We can also solve this problem without appealing to theorems from geometry. To simplify things, we shall consider the case where x = 1. Notice that the choice of the cut points, call them X and Y can be considered as choosing a single point (X, Y) in the unit square of the plane. Since the cut points are chosen independently and uniformly, if 0 a < b 1 and 0 c < d 1, then

(X, Y)

Pr(a < X < b and c < Y < d) = Pr(a < X < b)Pr(c < Y < d) = (b a)(d c), which simply says that the probability of (X, Y) lying in a rectangle within the unit square is the area of the rectangle. (In general, the probability that (X, Y) lies in any region of the unit square is just the area of this region.) The next thing to do is to try and find conditions on X and Y which imply that the three segments formed can be made into a triangle. Case (i): 0 < X < Y < 1. Then the segments formed have lengths X, Y X, and 1 Y. The criterion for the existence of a triangle is that the sum of the lengths of any two segments must be larger than the third. Taking the three lengths and imposing these conditions, we have: X + (Y X) > 1 Y, (Y X) + (1 Y) > X, (1 Y) + X > Y X, which simplifies to X < 1/2, Y > 1/2, and Y X < 1/2. Plotting these inequalities, we have the shaded region to the right. In particular, we see that the area of the shaded region is equal to 1/8. So, the probability that X and Y which give rise to a triangle is equal to 1/8 in this case. Case (ii): 0 < Y < X < 1. By symmetry, this case must yield the same answer of 1/8. Case (iii): 0 < X = Y < 1 This may be omitted, as the probability that X and Y are equal is 0, since both X and Y are continuous random variables. Thus, the answer to the problem is the sum of the probabilities, which is 1/8 + 1/8 = 1/4. 1