[Math] The distribution of the x-coordinate on unit circle

probabilityprobability distributionsstatisticsuniform distribution

I'm trying to determine the distribution of the x-coordinate (uniformly distributed) on the unit circle (density function).

I've seen some threads on this, such as this, where they use the method of the marginal density. I'm wondering why one can't simply use the formula for the density function for a uniformly distributed function
$$\frac{1}{b-a}$$ for $x \in \mathrm{[a,b]}$, which would give the result $\frac{1}{1-(-1)} = \frac{1}{2}?$

Best Answer

If you generate the points uniformly on the unit circle, you will get the same distribution as if you generate them uniformly on the upper half circle. The fraction of points in the interval $[a,b]$ will be the fraction of the arc length between $x=a$ and $x=b$. The angle at $x=a$ is $\arccos a$ and at $x=b$ is $\arccos b$, so the fraction in $[a,b]$ is $\frac 1{\pi}|\arccos a - \arccos b|$