Is it really impossible to calculate in advance the result of throwing dice? After all, the physics of dice throwing is in the world of classical mechanics, rather than quantum mechanics.
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asked Jun 6, 2014 at 17:21
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3$\begingroup$ Assuming the universe is governed by classical physics, then in theory we can calculate the result of throwing dice if we exactly know all the input variables (i.e. all the forces acting on the dice, the masses of the dice, etc.). However, from a pragmatic point of view this is (nearly) impossible. (Also, at the best of our knowledge, our universe is not classical.) $\endgroup$– HunterCommented Jun 6, 2014 at 17:48
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3$\begingroup$ @ Hunter - It is so modest to post this as a comment. The first sentence deserves to be an answer IMO. Succinct answer. $\endgroup$– 299792458Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 17:52
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2$\begingroup$ Note that the reason casinos insist that dice must bounce off the back wall is precisely to ensure that there is enough chaos in the system to defeat attempts to influence the result. $\endgroup$– keshlamCommented Jun 7, 2014 at 5:49
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2 Answers
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This question was studied fairly recently by a team at Edinburgh University. Their paper is available here, though I'm not sure if you can get it without having to hand over some cash.
The bottom line is that in principle the trajectory of a die can be calculated, but it is a chaotic system and that means tiny inaccuracies in the measured initial conditions lead to large changes in the final state. In practice it would be impossible to measure the initial translational and rotational velocities accurately enough to make useful predictions.
answered Jun 6, 2014 at 17:37
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1$\begingroup$ What if you took a snapshot while in the air, and knew exactly the position, orientation, speed and inertial properties. Is it deterministic then, or is the contact with friction chaotic too? $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 18, 2014 at 12:38
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$\begingroup$ People who cheat at dice make useful enough use of predicting dice outcomes that casinos watch for people palming dice and intervene. $\endgroup$– DronzCommented Oct 7, 2018 at 5:10
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Classical physics is developed based on this idea that understanding of a phenomenon will help in predicting the future and the past of a system. It actually works on the prejudice that quantities which are measurable can be measured with utmost accuracy by developing better methodology for experiments.
So, the based on classical physics i.e.ignoring the question "whether physical quantities can be measured accurately?." All the parameters have been measured accurately. Then, we can surely predict the result of throwing dice.
