The expected length of a random line segment in a rectangle. (Q1417584)

The author investigates the expected length of a random line segment in a rectangle with sides of given length \(a\) and \(b\). This problem arises in telecommunication network design, when customer locations are not known a priori. Depending on a definition of randomness, the problem has different answers. The results are therefore compared with results obtained by a different procedure for defining a random line segment in a rectangle. Relations to the so called Bertrand's paradox are shortly discussed.