This is an R Markdown document that you can easily export to HTML, PDF, and MS Word formats. For more information on R Markdown, see <http://rmarkdown.rstudio.com>.
Asking the maths library
When you click on the button **Knit**, the document will be compiled in order to re-execute the R code and to include the results into the final document. As we have shown in the video, R code is inserted as follows:
My computer tells me that π is approximatively
```{r cars}
summary(cars)
```
{r}
pi
It is also straightforward to include figures. For example:
Buffon's needle
```{r pressure, echo=FALSE}
plot(pressure)
```
Applying the method of Buffon's needle, we get the approximation
Note the parameter `echo = FALSE` that indicates that the code will not appear in the final version of the document. We recommend not to use this parameter in the context of this MOOC, because we want your data analyses to be perfectly transparent and reproducible.
{r}
set.seed(42)
N = 100000
x = runif(N)
theta = pi/2*runif(N)
2/(mean(x+sin(theta)>1))
Since the results are not stored in Rmd files, you should generate an HTML or PDF version of your exercises and commit them. Otherwise reading and checking your analysis will be difficult for anyone else but you.
Using a surface fraction argument
A method that is easier to understand and does not make use of the sin function is based on the fact that if X∼U(0,1) and Y∼U(0,1), then P[X2+Y2≤1]=π/4 (see "Monte Carlo method" on Wikipedia). The following code uses this approach:
