Click on the green flag. The purpose of this project is to provide a simple demonstration of the mathematical technique for solving difficult problems for which exact solutions are not known. The technique is called the Monte Carlo method. The ratio of the area of a circle inscribed in a square to the area of the square is area of circle : area of square = π : 4. This relationship is the basis for approximating the value of Pi by multiplying by 4 the ratio of the number of hits in the circle to the number of hits in the square (assuming all darts land in the square).
The method is named after the city of Monte Carlo, in the European principality of Monaco. Monte Carlo is famous for its casinos. Polish mathematician Stanislaw M. Ulam was playing solitaire while convalescing from a serious illness when he first thought up the "Monte Carlo" method by applying probability techniques to the card game. Working with another great mathematician and friend, John von Neumann, Ulam developed the procedure into an extremely useful calculating tool that enabled mathematicians to solve complicated problems by making approximations.
