Get a random number focused on center

Question

Is it possible to get a random number between 1-100 and keep the results mainly within the 40-60 range? I mean, it will go out of that range rarely, but I want it to be main

Answer 1

I'd recommend using the beta distribution to generate a number between 0-1, then scale it up. It's quite flexible and can create many different shapes of distributions.

Here's a quick and dirty sampler:

rbeta = function(alpha, beta) {
 var a = 0   
 for(var i = 0; i < alpha; i++)   
    a -= Math.log(Math.random())

 var b = 0   
 for(var i = 0; i < beta; i++)   
    b -= Math.log(Math.random())

  return Math.ceil(100 * a / (a+b))
}