The fascination of Maths thread

[techno]

I remember in our A level maths class the teacher took two different formulas (for calculating the sum of a range of numbers I think), so

formula 1 = formula 2

and then with a bit of fancy maths calculus (sp?) s*** ended up with

n = n + 1

so all numbers are equal

felt like giving up after that !!!

[threaded]

Well, this involes a laser scanner, a roulette wheel, and I imagine some very fascinating calculations to judge relative speeds and likely rebounds based on angles, deceleration etc.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4069629.stm

It certainly improves your chances. Both of winning and going to jail.

Actually quite easy, there is a book you can buy that tells you how to do it.

The device used is a fancy PDA that just happens to have a built in laser scanner (meant to be used as a bar code reader). Guess who worked on the design of the PDA they used...

threaded in "wish I'd thought of doing that with it" mode

[sasguru]

Actually quite easy, there is a book you can buy that tells you how to do it.

The device used is a fancy PDA that just happens to have a built in laser scanner (meant to be used as a bar code reader). Guess who worked on the design of the PDA they used...
threaded in "wish I'd thought of doing that with it" mode

Nah, it surely wasn't you, Threaded. Cor luv a duck

[oracleslave]

Guess who worked on the design of the PDA they used...

Bob Shawadiwadi?

[BrilloPad]

I remember in our A level maths class the teacher took two different formulas (for calculating the sum of a range of numbers I think), so

formula 1 = formula 2

and then with a bit of fancy maths calculus (sp?) s*** ended up with

n = n + 1

so all numbers are equal

felt like giving up after that !!!

dividing by zero always does odd things. also remember that a square root od anything has too answers...

therefore proving that -1=+1 is quite easy.

[Denny]

I was pretty good in Maths back in skool.

HTH

'skool'

But carp at English.

[AtW]

'skool'

But carp at English.

Sadly I was pretty carp in English - my school had advanced courses that started at like 10-11 years of age, but I was ill at start and when I got back into class people were pretty far away, I had no clue about letters etc

And then there was one English teacher I really hated

[Gonzo]

therefore proving that -1=+1 is quite easy.

Once I was taught that the square root of -1 does not exist, but pretend that it does and we will call it "i", that was the point that I gave up on maths.

[AtW]

Once I was taught that the square root of -1 does not exist, but pretend that it does and we will call it "i", that was the point that I gave up on maths.

Pity you did not hang on until you start doing limits (stuff like 1/0) etc.

[sasguru]

Once I was taught that the square root of -1 does not exist, but pretend that it does and we will call it "i", that was the point that I gave up on maths.

Ah from 20 year old memory that's complex numbers, Argand diagrams and the like. You're missing the beauty of it - an imaginary number can make perfect logical sense in the bigger scheme of things. The universe/god/some higher intelligence trying to tell you that not everything is black and white.