Spinners
A spinner is a piece of equipment usually used in a board game. It consists of a dial and a needle or an arrow that you spin to determine a score or the next move in the game.
In this unit we will design a dial, using compass and protractor. Then using our TI-83/84 calculators, we will simulate spinning the needle numerous times and looking at the (empirical) outcomes. And finally we will look at the theoretical distribution of the outcomes.
Part 1. Designing a dial
Tools needed: A compass and protractor, paper, colored markers, and a calculator (optional)
Draw a large circle and divide it into the following 5 sectors:
1/3 of a circle, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, and 1 - (1/3 + 1/4 + 1/5 + 1/6). Mark the sectors with the numbers 1 (for 1/3), 2 (for 1/4), etc. Color the dial with five different colors, one for each sector.
Can you figure out the number of degrees needed for each sector?
Here is a dial that we made with Geometer's Sketchpad:
We will not use a hand-made spinner to collect data; in Part 2 we will simulate spinning a spinner using our TI-83/84 calculators.
Return