Buffon's Needle An Analysis and Simulation by George Reese Run the simulation using a Java applet Introduction to the problem. The simplest case The other cases An estimate that is very close Questions References Download a graphical simulation program (Macintosh, binhexed) An interesting extension posed by p. ganguly. Send me an email if you think you have an answer. Introduction Buffon's ...

Buffon's Needle refers to a simple Monte Carlo method for the estimation of the value of pi, 3.14159265... The idea is very simple. Suppose you have a tabletop with a number of parallel lines drawn on it, which are equally spaced (say the spacing is 1 inch, for example). Suppose you also have a pin or needle, which is also an inch long.