The Mathemetics Thread

[Lily Adler]

 

[Dr.]

By my reckoning, the answer is 42.5. But the problem seems to contains a typo — since the answer, in the real world, should work out to a whole number of dogs. Alternatively, a more plausible subject should have been used. E.g., fractions of candy bars make sense; whereas, fractions of dogs do not.

These types of puzzles (sneakily) rely on the reader misinterpreting the question. A related one is this old classic:

A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

Most assume the ball must cost 10¢. Which is incorrect.

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Dr.]

Louisiana students Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson wowed their teachers in 2022 when they discovered a new way to prove the 2000-year-old Pythagorean theorem... Now Jackson and Johnson, who started college last year, have notched another achievement: authoring an academic paper detailing their original proof — plus nine more. Their work [was] published Monday in the scientific journal American Mathematical Monthly.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/29/science/teens-pythagorean-theorem-study/index.html

 

[Dr.]

Math humor.

 

[:eek:]

Infamous 'sofa problem' that boggled mathematicians for decades may finally have a solution

A math problem delineating the largest-size sofa that can fit around a corner has finally been solved, though it may not help you move.

www.livescience.com

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[Dr.]

Lot’s of math teachers on Youtube — some better than others. And I’d highly recommend “Math Queen.” Many of her videos tackle a particular puzzle and then walk you through the solution via exceptionally good step-by-step instruction. One example (among many on her channel):



(In this case, some familiarity with “systems of equations” is assumed.)

Math Queen is Susanne Scherer. And although her English language math videos are relatively new, she’s been doing the German version for longer. Also… she’s a singer — a member of the band MoonSun — with a fairly impressive voice.

 

[:eek:]

Mathematicians discover a completely new way to find prime numbers

Using a notion called integer partitions, mathematicians have discovered a new way to detect prime numbers while also connecting two areas of math in an unexpected way

www.livescience.com