[Math] Finding distribution of distance from origin

normal distributionprobabilityprobability distributionsstatistics

A shot is fired at a circular target. The vertical and horizontal coordinates of the point of impact
(taking the centre of the target as origin) are independent random variables, each distributed normally
N(0, 1)
I want to find the distribution of the distance from the origin to the point of impact. I've tried finding the distributions of $X^2$ and $Y^2$, which I think is
$1/(2pix)exp(-x/2)$
I don't then know how to find the distribution of the square root of that.
I suspect there's an easier way though.
Thanks

Best Answer

What you're looking for is the Rayleigh distribution (distribution of the norm of two centered and independent gaussian RVs) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_distribution

You might also want to look up the $\chi^2$ distribution (distribution of the squared norm) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi-squared_distribution

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