![galton board video galton board video](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RsJMFUgDBWE/maxresdefault.jpg)
I can hear you say, “Alright, thanks for the info, but how does the Raspberry Pi come into this?” Don’t worry – I’m getting to that. Physicists can observe the behaviour of particles to learn about laws of physics, and create statistical models simulating the laws of physics to predict the behaviour of particles. Similarly, how particles behave is determined by the laws of physics – think of the particles as balls, and laws of physics as nails.
![galton board video galton board video](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aGiKdJ2npc4/maxresdefault.jpg)
And you’ll be able to do all this using … statistics!!! Statistical models This means that, if you don’t know where the nails are, you can look at the distribution of balls to figure out where they are most likely to be located. The distribution of the balls is determined by the locations of the nails in the board. Now, if you drop 100 balls down the board and collect them at the bottom, the result might look something like this: If you’re having trouble picturing this, you can try out an online Galton board. How the nails are spread out determines where a ball is most likely to land at the bottom of the board. Drop a ball in at the top, and it will randomly bounce off the nails on its way down. This is an upright board, shaped like an upside-down funnel, with nails hammered into it. They’ve built a Pi-powered Galton board, also called a bean machine (much less intimidating, I think). If this doesn’t sound straightforward to you, never fear – this group of scientists has set out to show exactly how statistical models are useful. Their models help scientists to design better experiments and to improve sensor calibrations. In their work, they create computer models of subatomic particles to make predictions about real-world particles. Ramona, Matthew, and their colleagues are particle physicists keen to bring their science to those of us whose heads start to hurt as soon as we hear the word ‘subatomic’. Physics! Particles! Statistical modelling! Quantum theory! How can non-scientists understand any of it? Well, students from Durham University are here to help you wrap your head around it all – and to our delight, they’re using the power of the Raspberry Pi to do it!Īt the Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition, taking place in London from 4-9 July, the students are presenting a Pi-based experiment demonstrating the importance of statistics in their field of research.