A Walk in the Park

By: Axel Knauf
Posted:

A Walk in the Park

Scenario

Ever wondered why you run into so many people when going for a walk in the park? Me, too. What struck me as remarkable was that I would not only encounter a lot of individuals, but the number of 'collisions' with more than one other pedestrians at the same time! So I thought I'll try to simulate a walk in the park and see what the numbers say.

Simulation

Here you go:

(Please don't judge me for the code quality, it has just been hacked together for the fun of it.)

Results

  • Over the course of a 5km walk with ~70 other pedestrians, I would:
    • have around 50 encounters with individuals
    • have around 10 encounters with more than one other person at the same time!