The circle hidden inside Pascal’s triangle
SMRTR summary
Pascal's triangle reveals an intriguing property when large rows are visualized: the logarithms of binomial coefficients form an ellipse-like shape. For row 1000, the best-fitting ellipse has parameters a = 554.2, b = 47.12, and y0 = -19.87. Although a parabolic fit is theoretically justified, the elliptical fit provides a better approximation, particularly in the tails. This phenomenon underscores the complexities of applying the central limit theorem in practice.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to John D. Cook.
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