I'm writing a Python script to generate problems for mental arithmetic drills. The addition and multiplication ones were easy, but I'm running into trouble trying to generate unbiased problems for the subtraction ones.
I want to be able to specify a minimum and maximum value that the minuend (first number) will be -- e.g., for two-digit subtraction it should be between 20 and 99. The subtrahend should also have a range option (11-99, say). The answer needs to be positive and preferably also bounded by a minimum of, say, 10 for this situation.
So:
20 < Minuend < 99
11 < Subtrahend < 99
Answer = Minuend - Subtrahend
Answer >= 10
All the numeric values should be used as variables, of course.
I have these conditions met as follows:
ansMin, ansMax = 10, 99
subtrahendMin, minuendMax = 11,99
# the other max and min did not seem to be necessary here,
# and two ranges was the way I had the program set up
answer = randint(ansMin, ansMax)
subtrahend = randint(subtrahendMin, minuendMax - answer)
minuend = answer + subtrahend # rearranged subtraction equation
The problem here is that the minuend values wind up being nearly all over 50 because the answer and subtrahend were generated first and added together, and only the section of them that were both in the bottom 25% of the range will get the result below 50%. (Edit: that's not strictly true -- for instance, bottom 1% plus bottom 49% would work, and percentages are a bad way of describing it anyway, but I think the idea is clear.)
I also considered trying generating the minuend and subtrahend values both entirely randomly, then throwing out the answer if it didn't match the criteria (namely, that the minuend be greater than the subtrahend by a value at least greater than the answerMin and that they both be within the criteria listed above), but I figured that would result in a similar bias.
I don't care about it being perfectly even, but this is too far off. I'd like the minuend values to be fully random across the allowable range, and the subtrahend values random across the range allowed by the minuends (if I'm thinking about it right, this will be biased in favor of lower ones). I don't think I really care about the distribution of the answers (as long as it's not ridiculously biased). Is there a better way to calculate this?
There are several ways of defining what "not biased" means in this case. I assume that what you are looking for is that every possible subtraction problem from the allowed problem space is chosen with equal probability. Quick and dirty approach:
Pick random x in [x_min, x_max]
Pick random y in [y_min, y_max]
If x - y < answer_min, discard both x and y and start over.
Note the bold part. If you discard only y and keep the x, your problems will have an uniform distribution in x, not in the entire problem space. You need to ensure that for every valid x there is at least one valid y - this is not the case for your original choice of ranges, as we'll see later.
Now the long, proper approach. First we need to find out the actual size of the problem space.
The allowed set of subtrahends is determined by the minuend:
x in [21, 99]
y in [11, x-10]
or using symbolic constants:
x in [x_min, x_max]
y in [y_min, x - answer_min]
We can rewrite that as
x in [21, 99]
y = 11 + a
a in [0, x-21]
or again using symbolic constants
x in [x_min, x_max]
y = y_min + a
a in [0, x - (answer_min + y_min)].
From this, we see that valid problems exist only for x >= (answer_min + y_min), and for a given x there are x - (answer_min + y_min) + 1 possible subtrahents.
Now we assume that x_max does not impose any further constraints, e.g. that answer_min + y_min >= 0:
x in [21, 99], number of problems:
(99 - 21 + 1) * (1 + 78+1) / 2
x in [x_min, x_max], number of problems:
(x_max - x_min + 1) * (1 + x_max - (answer_min + y_min) + 1) / 2
The above is obtained using the formula for the sum of an arithmetic sequence. Therefore, you need to pick a random number in the range [1, 4740]. To transform this number into a subtraction problem, we need to define a mapping between the problem space and the integers. An example mapping is as follows:
1 <=> x = 21, y = 11
2 <=> x = 22, y = 12
3 <=> x = 22, y = 11
4 <=> x = 23, y = 13
5 <=> x = 23, y = 12
6 <=> x = 23, y = 11
and so on. Notice that x jumps by 1 when a triangular number is exceeded. To compute x and y from the random number r, find the lowest triangular number t greater than or equal to r, preferably by searching in a precomputed table; write this number as q*(q+1)/2. Then x = x_min + q-1 and y = y_min + t - r.
Complete program:
import random
x_min, x_max = (21, 99)
y_min = 11
answer_min = 10
triangles = [ (q*(q+1)/2, q) for q in range(1, x_max-x_min+2) ]
upper = (x_max-x_min+1) * (1 + x_max - (answer_min + y_min) + 1) / 2
for i in range(0, 20):
r = 1 + random.randrange(0, upper)
(t, q) = next(a for a in triangles if a[0] >= r)
x = x_min + q - 1
y = y_min + t - r
print "%d - %d = ?" % (x, y)
Note that for a majority of problems (around 75%), x will be above 60. This is correct, because for low values of the minuend there are fewer allowed values of the subtrahend.
I can see a couple of issues with your starting values - if you want the answer to always be greater than 10 - then you need to either increase MinuendMin, or decrease SubtrahendMin because 20-11 is less than 10... Also you have defined the answer min and max as 3,9 - which means the answer will never be more than 10...
Apart from that I managed to get a nice even distribution of values by selecting the minuend value first, then selecting the subtrahend value based on it and the answerMin:
ansMin = 10
minuendMin, minuendMax = 20,99
subtrahendMin = 9;
minuend = randint(minuendMin, minuendMax )
subtrahend = randint(subtrahendMin,(minuend-ansMin) )
answer = minuend - subtrahend
You say you've already got addition working properly. Assuming you have similar restrictions for the addends/sum you could rearrange the factors so that:
minuend <= sum
subtrahend <= first addend
answer <= second addend
A similar mapping can be made for multiplication/division, if required.
Related
I would like some help answering the following question:
Dr Barchan makes 600 independent recordings of Eric’s coordinates (X, Y, Z), selects the cases where X ∈ (0.45, 0.55), and draws a histogram of the Y values for these cases.
By construction, these values of Y follow the conditional distribution of Y given X ∈ (0.45,0.55). Use your function sample3d to mimic this process and draw the resulting histogram. How many samples of Y are displayed in this histogram?
We can argue that the conditional distribution of Y given X ∈ (0.45, 0.55) approximates the conditional distribution of Y given X = 0.5 — and this approximation is improved if we make the interval of X values smaller.
Repeat the above simulations selecting cases where X ∈ (0.5 − δ, 0.5 + δ), using a suitably chosen δ and a large enough sample size to give a reliable picture of the conditional distribution of Y given X = 0.5.
I know for the first paragraph we want to have the values generated for x,y,z we got in sample3d(600) and then restrict the x's to being in the range 0.45-0.55, is there a way to code (maybe an if function) that would allow me to keep values of x in this range but discard all the x's from the 600 generated not in the range? Also does anyone have any hints for the conditional probability bit in the third paragraph.
sample3d = function(n)
{
df = data.frame()
while(n>0)
{
X = runif(1,-1,1)
Y = runif(1,-1,1)
Z = runif(1,-1,1)
a = X^2 + Y^2 + Z^2
if( a < 1 )
{
b = (X^2+Y^2+Z^2)^(0.5)
vector = data.frame(X = X/b, Y = Y/b, Z = Z/b)
df = rbind(vector,df)
n = n- 1
}
}
df
}
sample3d(n)
Any help would be appreciated, thank you.
Your function produces a data frame. The part of the question that asks you to find those values in a data frame that are in a given range can be solved by filtering the data frame. Notice that you're looking for a closed interval (the values aren't included).
df <- sample3d(600)
df[df$X > 0.45 & df$X < 0.55,]
Pay attention to the comma.
You can use a dplyr solution as well, but don't use the helper between(), since it will look at an open interval (you need a closed interval).
filter(df, X > 0.45 & X < 0.55)
For the remainder of your assignment, see what you can figure out and if you run into a specific problem, stack overflow can help you.
Is there a way to represent a 3D Vector as a definite number? I mean that two vectors with different values can't ever have the same hash value. I'm sure there already is a question about this but I haven't found it unfortunately. Thanks for your help.
EDIT:
I know this algorithm for 2D vectors which is pretty good (I think): (x + y) * (x + y + 1) / 2 + y
The best approach to get a hash for a vector of floats is to convert it to a string of bytes or characters and calculate a hash on it. An example of this is given using numpy and python in the following answer:
Most efficient property to hash for numpy array.
This will work efficiently for large numbers of vectors, but you cannot guarantee that you will not get collisions due to the simple fact of mapping three floats onto an integer. However there are a number of hashing algorithms available in the python hashlib library to choose from, you might need to experiment. An option in C++ is Boost::Hash.
See the pigeon-hole principle - in the same way you can't fit you can't 100 pigeons into 10 holes, you can't uniquely convert 3 values into 1 value (with all values of the same size). There will have to be duplicates.
Now, if you could have a number with 3x as many bits as the vector values, the problem becomes fairly easy:
// convert x, y and z to the range 0-...
x -= minimum possible value
y -= minimum possible value
z -= minimum possible value
mult = maximum possible value + 1
hash = x * mult * mult + y * mult + z
If you're having trouble understanding the above, just take the example of the range of the values being 0-99. We'd multiple x by 100*100 = 10000 and y by 100, so the hash would be a decimal value with (at most) 6 digits with x, y and z all next to each other, guaranteed to not overlap:
x = 12
y = 34
z = 56
hash = 123456
Now this same idea will hold for any maximum value by just changing the base / radix.
If there isn't any overlap in some base, each unique combination of values of x, y and z will result in a unique hash.
This is by far the simplest approach, although it doesn't produce a particularly good hash, so it depends what you want to use it for - there might be a way to uniquely convert this number to another number which will be a good hash.
Responding to this post a little late, and perhaps this isn't what you're looking for, but I figured I would chime in with another answer.
You could use the function you mentioned, (x + y) * (x + y + 1) / 2 + y , and do it recursively, ex. f( f(x,y) , z).
You can also use other pairing functions as well and use the same method (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pairing_function).
For my problem, I wanted a function that would order vectors based on their location. The order itself didn't matter, only that a close value means a similar vector. What I ended up doing was:
double get_pairing(double x, double y, double z) {
double normalizer = 0.0;
if(x < 0) {
normalizer += (3.0 * MAX_COORD_VAL);
}
if (y < 0) {
normalizer += (6.0 * MAX_COORD_VAL);
}
if (z < 0) {
normalizer += (9.0 * MAX_COORD_VAL);
}
double g = x + y + z - normalizer + (21 * MAX_COORD_VAL);
return g;
}
This orders vectors based on whether they have negative coordinate values and whether they have large coordinate values.
This works assuming you have a max coordinate value.
I'm working on user-profile where each term exists in the user-profile have wight and the weight formulated from set of factors such as (duration, total number of visit ...etc) , I need to normalize the result of their summation to be number between 0 and 1, I performed this equation:
(x+y+z+......)/100
Where x, y and z are factors. I have suggested this equation to my self (I'm sorry I'm not very good in math :( ), but unfortunately it returns some value more than 1 , so is there any way that can be applied to limit the result of the summation between 0 and 1?
Many thanks in advance.
Ok, generally, to normalize, this is what you do:
Find the absolute minimum value, and subtract this from your number. (This may be 0, in which case you can skip this step.)
Find the absolute maximum value. Your total range after step 1 will be from 0..(maximum - minimum). Divide your number by this value, and everything will be in the range of 0..1.
To spin it back, you do the opposite: take your normalized number, multiply by the range (i.e. max - min), then add back the min.
The reason you're having a problem is because x + y + z + ... has a range that is not 100.
Example
If x has a range of 0-10, y has a range of 15-25 and z has a range of 10-25, and your specific values are x = 8, y = 17, z = 12:
x + y + z = 8 + 17 + 12 = 37
min = 0 + 15 + 10 = 25
max = 10 + 25 + 25 = 60
so your normalized value is calculated by doing:
(37 - 25) / (60 - 25) = (12 / 35) = 0.342857 (approximately).
To go back from normalized to a composite number, do the opposite:
0.342857 * 35 = 11.999995 = 12 once rounded.
12 + 25 = 37
If your variables are unbounded, nobody can reach the normalized value 1, because if someone achieved 1, another person with larger factors would exceed 1.
This said, you can transform every factor with a function that maps [0 +inf[ to [0 1[, like X/(X+a) or 1-2^(-X/a), where a is some scaling constant (chosen by you). You will apply this transform to the individual factors and average them, or just apply it to the global sum.
Given sum of A and B let S
i have to find maximum product of A*B
but there is one condition value of A will be in range [P,Q]
How to proceed for it ?
If there is no range then task is pretty simple.
Using derivation method .
How to find Maximum product for eg.
A+B=99
value of A will be range [10,20]
then what will be the maximum product of A and B.
O(N) will not sufficient for the problem
Clearly, B = S - A and you need to maximize A * (S - A).
You know from algebra that A * (S - A) achieves a maximum when A = S / 2.
If S / 2 falls in the allowed range [P Q], then the maximum value is A^2 / 4.
Otherwise, by monotonicity the maximum value is reached at one of the bounds and is the largest of P * (S - P) and Q * (S - Q).
This is an O(1) solution.
This is actually a maths question, nothing to do with programming
Even if you are given it as a programming question, You should first understand it mathematically.
You can think of it geometrically as "if the perimeter of my rectangle is fixed at S, how can I achieve the maximum area?"
The answer is by making sides of equal length, and turning it into a square. If you're constrained, you have to get as close to a square as possible.
You can use calculus to show it formally:
A+B = S, so B = S-A
AB therefore = A(S-A)
A is allowed to vary, so write it as x
y = x(S-x) = -x^2 + Sx
This is a quadratic, its graph Will look like an upsidedown parabola
You want the maximum, so you're looking for the top of the parabola
dy/dx = 0
-2x + S = 0
x = S/2
A better way of looking at it would be to start with our rectangle Pq = A, and say P is the longer edge.
So now make it more oblique, by making the longer edge P slightly longer and the shorter edge q slightly shorter, both by the same amount, so P+q does not change, and we can show that the area goes down:
Pq = A
(P+delta) * (q-delta)
= Pq + (q-P)*delta + delta^2
= A + (q-P)delta
and I throw away the delta^2 as it vanishes as delta shrinks to 0
= A + (something negative)*delta
= A - something positive
i.e. < A
I have a value, for example 2.8. I want to find 10 numbers which are on an exponential curve, which sum to this value.
That is, I want to end up with 10 numbers which sum to 2.8, and which, when plotted, look like the curve below (exponential decay). These 10 numbers should be equally spaced along the curve - that is, the 'x-step' between the values should be constant.
This value of 2.8 will be entered by the user, and therefore the way I calculate this needs to be some kind of algorithm that I can program (hence asking this on SO not Math.SE).
I have no idea where to start with this at all - any ideas?
You want to have 10 x values equally distributed, i.e. x_k = a + k * b. They shall fulfill sum(exp(-x_k)) = v with v being your target value (the 2.8). This means exp(-a) * sum(exp(-b)^k) = v.
Obviously, there is a solution for each choice of b if v is positive. Set b to an arbitrary value, and calculate a from it.
E.g. for v = 2.8 and b = 0.1, you get a = -log(v / sum(exp(-b)^k)) = -log(2.8/sum(0.90484^k)) = -log(2.8/6.6425) = -log(0.421526) = 0.86387.
So for this example, the x values would be 0.86387, 0.96387, ..., 1.76387 and the y values 0.421526, 0.381412, 0.345116, 0.312274, 0.282557, 0.255668, 0.231338, 0.209324, 0.189404, 0.171380.
Update:
As it has been clarified that the curve can be scaled arbitrarily and the xs are preferred to be 1, 2, 3 ... 9, this is much more simple.
Assuming the curve function is r*exp(-x), the 10 values would be r*exp(-1) ... r*exp(-9). Their sum is r*sum(exp(-x)) = r*0.58190489. So to reach a certain value (2.8) you just have to adjust the r accordingly:
r = 2.8/sum(exp(-x)) = 4.81178294
And you get the 10 values: 1.770156, 0.651204, 0.239565, 0.088131, 0.032422, 0.011927, 0.004388, 0.001614, 0.000594.
If I understand your question correctly then you want to find x which solves the equation
It can be solved as
(just sum numbers as geometric progression)
The equation under RootOf will always have 1 real square different from 1 for 2.8 or any other positive number. You can solve it using some root-finding algorithm (1 is always a root but it does not solve original task). For constant a you can choose any number you like.
After computing the x you can easily calculate 10 numbers as .
I'm going to generalize and assume you want N numbers summing to V.
Since your numbers are equally spaced on an exponential you can write your sum as
a + a*x + a*x^2 + ... + a*x^(N-1) = V
Where the first point has value a, and the second a*x etc.
You can take out a factor of a and get:
a ( 1 + x + x^2 + ... + x^(N-1) ) = V
If we're free to pick x then we can solve for a easily
a = V / ( 1 + x + x^2 + .. x^(N-1) )
= V*(x+1)/(x^N-1)
Substituting that back into
a, a*x, a*x^2, ..., a*x^(N-1)
gives the required sequence