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Making Observations

You need to be able to record many random walks. Playing the script for each observation would
be very cumbersome. Sketchpad includes two expert commands that make it possible to rerandomize the points on objects.

On a Macintosh, hold down the Option key and press the Backslash "\" key. This initiates a mode in which you can type in commands. Type "Random " (there's a space at the end.) Notice that Sketchpad anticipates which command you are choosing. As shown below, the full name of the command is "Random [cycle]."

When using GSP Windows, you can access this mode by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the Backslash "\" key. The command to type is "Random Cycle".



Press return. The random walk should repeatedly randomize itself. Press and hold the mouse button to stop the rerandomization.

To actually observe the endpoints of the walk, trace the last point.

After you have turned on tracing, it will be helpful to set the tracing to discrete by double-clicking on the point with the Object Information tool. In the resulting dialog box, you can specify discrete tracing.