Darts: The
Probability of Getting the Best Score
Area of a Circular Ring
A = π * ((outer radius)^2 – (inner radius)^2)
Simplified Darts
Board
= (π * (R3^2 – R2^2 + R5^2 – R6^2)/(π * R^2)
= (R3^2 – R2^2 + R5^2 – R6^2)/R^2
= (R6^2 – R5^2)/R^2
= (R4^2 – R3^2)/R^2
= (π * R2^2)/(π * R^2)
= R2^2/R^2
Scoring 60
In Darts, players throw darts at circular board. The closer you are to the center of the
circle, the more points you score.
Hitting the center of the circle (or close to it) scores you the bulls-eye.
Today we will develop formulas that determine the chance
of landing a dart in a specific scoring zone.
For this, we will assume that all the darts thrown will land in a
specific area. The dart that hits the cat
who are unfortunate to be in its path don’t count.
Area of a Circular Ring
We will be using the area of a circular ring heavily in
this blog. The general formula for it
is:
This board has a circular area on a square board. The square board has side length x. There are three circular scoring areas:
(I)
Bulls-eye circle with radius R1. Obviously, this area has the most points.
(II)
Green scoring area, a circular ring with outer
radius R2 and inner radius R1. This area is second best in points to the
bulls-eye.
(III)
Yellow scoring area, a circular ring with outer
radius R3 and inner radius R2.
A dart that lands outside any of the scoring areas scores no
points.
Assuming all but a negligible of parts hits the square
board, the chance that a dart hits the bulls-eye is:
P1 = (area of the bulls eye)/(area of the board) = π*R1^2/x^2
The probability that a dart hits the green scoring area:
P2 = (area of the green scoring area)/(area of the board) = π*(R2^2
– R1^2)/x^2
The probability that a dart hits the yellow scoring area:
P3 = (area of the yellow scoring area)/(area of the board) =
π*(R3^2 – R2^2)/x^2
Finally, the probability of scoring anything at all on this
board is:
P_any = P1 + P2 + P3 = π*P3^2/x^2
This assumes that the dart board is flat and each point of
the dart board has an equal random chance.
Note that these probability formulas do not take into account the skill
of the dart thrower.
Standard Darts Board
The standard darts board is a circular board with radius R. Going
from the inside out, we have:
(I)
Inner Bulls-eye.
In the standard game, the inner bulls-eye is 50 points. It is a circular area, with radius R1.
(II)
Outer Bulls-eye – worth 25 points. It is a circular ring, with outer radius R2
and inner radius R1.
(III)
Inner Single Ring. From here on out, the board is divided into
20 zones, with each zone assigned a different amount of points from 1 to 20
(not shown on the diagram). Here I am
only concerned with the circular ring in general. This ring has the outer radius of R3 and
inner radius of R2.
(IV)
Triple Ring.
Each of the zones in the triple ring are worth triple the points of
designated zone. Let’s assign the outer radius of the triple
ring R4 and inner radius, R3.
(V)
Outer Single Ring. With outer radius R5, and inner radius R6.
(VI)
Double Ring.
Each of the zones in the double ring are worth double the points. This ring has the outer radius R6 and inner
radius R5.
Here, I am concerned about hitting the general scoring
areas.
Probability of hitting a single scoring area:
P1 = (area of inner single ring + area of outer single
ring)/(area of the board)
= (π * (R3^2 – R2^2) + π * (R5^2 – R6^2))/(π *R^2)= (π * (R3^2 – R2^2 + R5^2 – R6^2)/(π * R^2)
= (R3^2 – R2^2 + R5^2 – R6^2)/R^2
Probability of hitting a double ring:
P2 = (area of the double ring)/(area of the board)
= (π * (R6^2 – R5^2))/(π * R^2)= (R6^2 – R5^2)/R^2
Probability of hitting a triple ring:
P3 = (area of the triple ring)/(area of the board)
= (π * (R4^2 – R3^2))/(π * R^2)= (R4^2 – R3^2)/R^2
Probability of hitting the bulls-eye:
PB = (area of the inner bulls-eye + outer bulls-eye)/(area
of the board)
= (π * R1^2 + π * (R2^2 – R1^2))/(π * R^2)= (π * R2^2)/(π * R^2)
= R2^2/R^2
Scoring 60
The highest a single dart can score is 60,
hitting the 20 zone in the triple ring.
Note the triple ring is divided into 20 zones of equal area. The required probability of scoring 60 points
is:
P60 = (R4^2 – R3^2)/20 * 1/R^2 = (R4^2 – R3^2)/(20*R^2)
Knowing the area of the circular ring is key to calculating probabilities
of hitting areas of the dart board.
Eddie
This entry is property of Edward Shore. 2014.
