- #1
ENgez
- 75
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Hello,
I am trying to solve the following problem from Sethna's book on statistical mechanics (not homework).
On a Highway, the probability of a car passing in some interval dt is [itex]\frac{dt}{\tau}[/itex]; [itex]\tau=5min[/itex].
what is the probability distribution of time intervals [itex]\Delta[/itex] between two consecutive cars. and what is the mean of this distribution?
My attempt:
In a previous question, I derived the probability distribution for n cars to pass in an interval T
[itex]\rho_{car}(n)=\frac{1}{n!}(\frac{T}{\tau})^ne^{-\frac{T}{\tau}}[/itex]
which I believe is correct, as the hint in the question said that I should get a Poisson distribution.
now if I input n=1 i get:
[itex]\rho_{car}(1)=\frac{T}{5}e^{-\frac{T}{5}}[/itex]
this is the probability distribution for a single car to pass in a time interval T (at some time t<T).
according to my calculations the mean of this distributions is 50 minutes^2 which really doesn't make sense.
How do you solve this problem?
I am trying to solve the following problem from Sethna's book on statistical mechanics (not homework).
On a Highway, the probability of a car passing in some interval dt is [itex]\frac{dt}{\tau}[/itex]; [itex]\tau=5min[/itex].
what is the probability distribution of time intervals [itex]\Delta[/itex] between two consecutive cars. and what is the mean of this distribution?
My attempt:
In a previous question, I derived the probability distribution for n cars to pass in an interval T
[itex]\rho_{car}(n)=\frac{1}{n!}(\frac{T}{\tau})^ne^{-\frac{T}{\tau}}[/itex]
which I believe is correct, as the hint in the question said that I should get a Poisson distribution.
now if I input n=1 i get:
[itex]\rho_{car}(1)=\frac{T}{5}e^{-\frac{T}{5}}[/itex]
this is the probability distribution for a single car to pass in a time interval T (at some time t<T).
according to my calculations the mean of this distributions is 50 minutes^2 which really doesn't make sense.
How do you solve this problem?