The Galton Board

The Galton Board is designed such that when a ball falls on a vertex of one of
the hexagons, it is equally likely to fall to the left or to the right. As the ball continue
sits downward path, it strikes a vertex of a hexagon in the next row, where the
process of falling to the left or to the right is repeated. After the ball passes through
all the rows of hexagons, it falls into one of the bins at the bottom. In most cases the
balls will form a bell shape. Examine the numbers displayed in the hexagons in rows
0 through 3. Each number indicates the number of different routes that a ball can take
from point A to the top of that particular hexagon.

Guide Questions
1. How many routes can a ball take as it travels from A to B, from A to C, from A to D,
from A to E, and from A to F?
a. Understand the problem
A ball dropped from A on striking the vertex of a hexagon has equal probability
of going either left or right. So the ball can have many different routes to reach a
particular hexagon.

b. Devise a plan

From the diagram illustrated to

the left, a pattern can be
observed that, all the outer
hexagons have 1 inside them.
So, Hexagon B and F will have
value 1. Meanwhile, all
hexagons other than the outer
ones have equal value to the
sum of two values of two
 hexagons on the above row sharing boundary with the hexagon under
consideration.
HexagonC :1+3=4
Hexagon D :3+3=6
Hexagon E :1+3=4.

c. Carry out the plan

Using the pattern
discovered, it was
found that, hexagon
C has value4,
hexagon D will have
value6 and hexagon
E will have value4.
Also hexagon B and
F has value1. Hence
the Galton Board can
be filled as shown to
the right.

Therefore, to reach point B from A there is 1 route, to reach C from A

there are 4 routes, to reach D from A there are 6 routes, to reach E from A
there are 4 routes and to reach F from A there is 1 route.

d. Look Back
One can draw out each route and verify that the total number of reported routes is
indeed the correct number.

2. How many routes can a ball take as it travels from A to G, from A to H, from A to I, from
A to J, and from A to K?
a. Understand the problem
A ball dropped from A on striking the vertex of a hexagon has equal probability
of going either left or right. So the ball can have many different routes to reach a
particular rectangular slot.
b. Devise a plan
From the diagram
illustrated to the left, a
pattern can be observed
that, all the outer
hexagons have 1 inside
them. Doing the same
things from guide
question 1, all hexagons
other than the outer ones
have equal value to the
sum of two values of two
hexagons on the above
row. So…
G :1
H : 1+ 7=?
I :7+ 21=?
J :21+35=?
K :35+35=?

c. Carry out the plan

Using the pattern, we discover
that…
 G :1
H :1+ 7=8
I :7+ 21=28
J :21+35=56
K :35+35=70

Therefore, to reach slot G from A there is 1 route, to reach H from A there are
8 routes, to reach I from A there are 28 routes, to reach J from A there are 56
routes, and to reach K from A there are 70 routes.

d. Look Back
One can draw out each route and verify that the total number of reported routes
is indeed the correct number.

3. Explain how you know that the number of routes from A to J is the same as the number
of routes from A to L.
 From the illustration in the previous number, the number from the above row of A
to J is the same as A to L. That is why there are both 56 routes from either A to J or
A to L.

4. Explain why the greatest number of balls tend to fall into the centre bin.
 There is a high probability that the ball will fall into the center of the bin because of
the natural gravitation pull towards the earth’s center. The free fall action of
dropping is caused by the acceleration due to gravity and gravity is just a negative
vertical motion and not diagonal. This effect the result of the game even if has a fair
number of hexagon rows to pass through.
 There is also high probability always on the centre of every row observed in
pascal’s triangle.

5. The probability demonstrator shown to the left has nine rows of hexagons. Determine
how many routes a ball can take as it travels from A to P, from A to Q, from A to R, from
A to S, from A to T, and from A to U.

a. Understand the problem

A ball dropped from A on striking the vertex of a hexagon has equal probability of going
either left or right. So, the ball can have many different routes to reach a slot.

b. Devise a plan
 The left side has the Galton board of 9 rows while the right side is the
pascal’s triangle that resembles the pattern. We can now use the triangle as a guide to
solve the problem.

P :1
Q :1+ 9=?
R :9+36=?
S :36+84=?
T :84 +126=?
U :126+126=?

c. Carry out the plan

The pattern is solved and have the answers to the routes.
P :1
Q :1+ 9=10
R :9+36=45
S :36+84=120
T :84 +126=210
U :126+126=252

After the observation and solving, there is only 1 route from A to P, 10 routes
from A to Q, 45 routes from A to R, 120 routes from A to S, 210 routes from A
to T, and 252 routes from A to U.

d. Look Back
One can try to solve each route and confirm that the sum of routes is certainly
the accurate number.