6 thoughts on “Geeky Friday Fun: Chocolate Chips Are Distributed Poisson”

  1. Joseph Somsel

    HA! I knew this would come in handy some day.

    People who measure low level radiation often use Poisson statistics when counting those rare beta rays, neutrons, alpha particles etc. Radiocarbon dating needs this math too.

    Essentially, below 21 events, Poisson better describes the behavior – about 21, use Gaussian.

    Anyone want to know how to calculate the depth of water needed in your bathtub to prevent the vortex at the drain from sucking air? I just learned that this summer.

  2. John Thacker

    Yes, or at least I assumed so. Then again, I am a probabilist.

    Discrete event + happens at a constant rate independent of time and space = Poisson over a given area, roughly.

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