The fascination of Maths thread

[BrilloPad]

Which of these is the odd one out :-

5, 13, 28, 29, 84, 116

??

[NotAllThere]

The green one.

[daviejones]

Which of these is the odd one out :-

5, 13, 28, 29, 84, 116

??

116...the others are all under 100...

[BrilloPad]

Which of these is the odd one out :-

5, 13, 28, 29, 84, 116

??

84 - all the others are rice dishes <groan>

[DimPrawn]

my mind is far too fragile to be blown

I'll blow yours if you'll blow mine darlin carlin.

[NotAllThere]

There are no uninteresting numbers:

Proof.

Suppose all the numbers up to 37 are considered interesting, but 38 is not. That very property (38 being the first dull number) could well be considered an interesting fact, and hence 38 is not dull after all. The same reasoning can be applied to 39 and so on.

Therefore, all numbers are interesting.

[BrilloPad]

There are no uninteresting numbers:

Proof.

Suppose all the numbers up to 37 are considered interesting, but 38 is not. That very property (38 being the first dull number) could well be considered an interesting fact, and hence 38 is not dull after all. The same reasoning can be applied to 39 and so on.

Therefore, all numbers are interesting.

suppose that 37 and 38 are dull?

[Cliphead]

Please follow the following arguments.
5/3=1.66
5/2=2.5
5/1=5
5/0.5=10
.....
....
5/0=infinity
and then 5/(-1)= -5
What you see? As the denominator is decreased the right hand side answer increases. The denominator becomes 3 then 2,then 1, then 0,then -1 ; and the answer increases, therefore -5 must be grater than infinity.
Where's the flaw. Please illustrate.

[BrilloPad]

Please follow the following arguments.
5/3=1.66
5/2=2.5
5/1=5
5/0.5=10
.....
....
5/0=infinity
and then 5/(-1)= -5
What you see? As the denominator is decreased the right hand side answer increases. The denominator becomes 3 then 2,then 1, then 0,then -1 ; and the answer increases, therefore -5 must be grater than infinity.
Where's the flaw. Please illustrate.

Doesn't this prove there is no such thing as infinity?

[bored]

Please follow the following arguments.
5/3=1.66
5/2=2.5
5/1=5
5/0.5=10
.....
....
5/0=infinity
and then 5/(-1)= -5
What you see? As the denominator is decreased the right hand side answer increases. The denominator becomes 3 then 2,then 1, then 0,then -1 ; and the answer increases, therefore -5 must be grater than infinity.
Where's the flaw. Please illustrate.

It's an illustration of a projective space (in the 1-dimensional case it is essentially a circle). As the denominator decreases, the answer "wraps around" infinity and becomes negative.