Understanding "randomness"

user_463065 0
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I can't get my head around this, which is more random?

rand()

OR:

rand() * rand()

I´m finding it a real brain teaser, could you help me out?

EDIT:

Intuitively I know that the mathematical answer will be that they are equally random, but I can't help but think that if you "run the random number algorithm" twice when you multiply the two together you'll create something more random than just doing it once.

math language-agnostic random
28 Answers

Assuming that rand() returns a number between [0, 1) it is obvious that rand() * rand() will be biased toward 0. This is because multiplying x by a number between [0, 1) will result in a number smaller than x. Here is the distribution of 10000 more random numbers:

google.charts.load("current", { packages: ["corechart"] });
google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawChart);

function drawChart() {
  var i;
  var randomNumbers = [];
  for (i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
    randomNumbers.push(Math.random() * Math.random());
  }
  var chart = new google.visualization.Histogram(document.getElementById("chart-1"));
  var data = new google.visualization.DataTable();
  data.addColumn("number", "Value");
  randomNumbers.forEach(function(randomNumber) {
    data.addRow([randomNumber]);
  });
  chart.draw(data, {
    title: randomNumbers.length + " rand() * rand() values between [0, 1)",
    legend: { position: "none" }
  });
}
<script src="https://www.gstatic.com/charts/loader.js"></script>

<div id="chart-1" style="height: 500px">Generating chart...</div>

If rand() returns an integer between [x, y] then you have the following distribution. Notice the number of odd vs even values:

google.charts.load("current", { packages: ["corechart"] });
google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawChart);
document.querySelector("#draw-chart").addEventListener("click", drawChart);

function randomInt(min, max) {
  return Math.floor(Math.random() * (max - min + 1)) + min;
}

function drawChart() {
  var min = Number(document.querySelector("#rand-min").value);
  var max = Number(document.querySelector("#rand-max").value);
  if (min >= max) {
    return;
  }
  var i;
  var randomNumbers = [];
  for (i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
    randomNumbers.push(randomInt(min, max) * randomInt(min, max));
  }
  var chart = new google.visualization.Histogram(document.getElementById("chart-1"));
  var data = new google.visualization.DataTable();
  data.addColumn("number", "Value");
  randomNumbers.forEach(function(randomNumber) {
    data.addRow([randomNumber]);
  });
  chart.draw(data, {
    title: randomNumbers.length + " rand() * rand() values between [" + min + ", " + max + "]",
    legend: { position: "none" },
    histogram: { bucketSize: 1 }
  });
}
<script src="https://www.gstatic.com/charts/loader.js"></script>

<input type="number" id="rand-min" value="0" min="0" max="10">
<input type="number" id="rand-max" value="9" min="0" max="10">
<input type="button" id="draw-chart" value="Apply">

<div id="chart-1" style="height: 500px">Generating chart...</div>

user_870150
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