This web application simulates two-dimensional random walks. In each walk, the walker takes a step, of fixed length, l, turns in a random direction and repeats this process for n steps. To see a random walk, simply click on the walk button. Use the sliders to adjust the number of steps in each walk, the lengths of the individual steps and the number of random walks to be calculated. Then, click on the Walk button to begin the simulation. the path of the walk is drawn on the coordinate axes, with a red circle at the starting point, and an arrow head at the end of the last step. The final x- and y-coordinates are also displayed. Depending on the parameters used, the walk may extend off of the drawing area, but the end-point coordinates will be correctly calculated.
The checkbox labeled "Show all paths" determines whether or not the last random walk is cleared from the screen before the next one is drawn. If the box is unchecked, only the path of the last walk is displayed. If the box is checked, the random walks will be drawn on top of one another. The accumulated walks are erased from the screen when the Clear button is clicked, or one of the parameter sliders is moved.
To save the results of a simulation (as the final coordinates of each walk), click on the Save button. A comma-separated-values (csv) text file will be automatically created and saved to the default download folder for your browser. The name of the file will indicate the values of n and l used for the simulation, and the number of walks simulated. This file can be directly opened in most spreadsheet programs and other data analysis programs. Clicking the Clear button or moving any of the parameter sliders will erase the stored end-points coordinates.
This application requires a browser with javascript enabled. It has not been extensively tested, and problems may arise with some browsers. Please let me know if you run into difficulties by sending an e-mail message to:
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