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Trivial Pursuits => History => Topic started by: AlohaDawg on October 06, 2004, 09:53:01 pm

Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: AlohaDawg on October 06, 2004, 09:53:01 pm
Onstad is ahead of his time

Wow. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1320558,00.html)
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: V-Adore on October 06, 2004, 11:07:50 pm
Perhaps I should be saddened that I actually have an opinion about this.

"Greatest equation ever? It had better be e^(i*pi) + 1 = 0, bitch."
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: AlohaDawg on October 06, 2004, 11:51:21 pm
I've always been partial to PV=nrT as well.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: V-Adore on October 07, 2004, 12:55:59 am
mmmm, universal gas laws.

F=ma is also an undeniable classic, although high-school chemistry may have soured me on it forever.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: AlohaDawg on October 07, 2004, 01:39:38 am
although not an equation, 6.02 x 10^23 has always been very intriguing to me also.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: Carlos del Vaca on October 07, 2004, 02:59:30 am
I'd like to vote for the Quadratic Equation, please.

Now, if I could just remember it.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: jay-ell on October 07, 2004, 03:04:00 am
Insofar as math goes, we've never been on good terms -- my brother is a high school math teacher, which generally soured me on the whole thing -- I'd have to go with a^2 + b^2 = c^2, just because it *sounds* like it would work.  I don't know how, or why, it actually works, but it seems to make sense in some sort of fundamental way.  

I remember being taught this in school, and thinking, "Well, of course!  Because if all the angles add up to 180, then...no wait...squaring everything would...but then you'd...erg...ugh...igg... :boom: "
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: Gimpson on October 07, 2004, 11:54:24 am
Quote from: "V-Adore"
Perhaps I should be saddened that I actually have an opinion about this.

"Greatest equation ever? It had better be e^(i*pi) + 1 = 0, bitch."


I second this.  When I was undergoing a period of weight loss, I told myself I would get a tattoo if I lost 50 pounds and stayed under the goal for three months.  I made the goal, but didn't stay, so no tattoo.

If I had gotten the tattoo, it was going to be this equation.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: Va on October 07, 2004, 03:18:16 pm
Quote from: "V-Adore"
"Greatest equation ever? It had better be e^(i*pi) + 1 = 0, bitch."


Oh, ya beat me to it!
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: Va on October 07, 2004, 03:22:03 pm
Quote from: "AlohaDawg"
although not an equation, 6.02 x 10^23 has always been very intriguing to me also.


I believe that's Avagadro's number, yes?  The number of molecules in a mole of whatever?

Quote from: "jldunston"
I remember being taught this in school, and thinking, "Well, of course! Because if all the angles add up to 180, then...no wait...squaring everything would...but then you'd...erg...ugh...igg..."


That equation relates the sides of a right triangle, not the angles of an arbitrary triangle.  Perhaps that is the source of your confusion.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: jay-ell on October 07, 2004, 04:43:57 pm
Quote from: "Va"
Quote from: "jldunston"
I remember being taught this in school, and thinking, "Well, of course! Because if all the angles add up to 180, then...no wait...squaring everything would...but then you'd...erg...ugh...igg..."


That equation relates the sides of a right triangle, not the angles of an arbitrary triangle.  Perhaps that is the source of your confusion.


This, I know.  But squaring everything and then unsqaring the answer just seems so strange to me, that even though the equation itself sounds like common sense, when you take a closer look, you realize that whoever figured this out (probably somebody famous, I don't remember) was seriously hardcore.  And probably experimenting with drugs.  

Deceptively complex.  That's the phrase I was looking for yesterday.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: AugustWest on October 07, 2004, 04:47:37 pm
Quote from: "jldunston"
whoever figured this out (probably somebody famous, I don't remember) was seriously hardcore.  And probably experimenting with drugs.  


That would be Pythagoras.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: jay-ell on October 07, 2004, 04:49:33 pm
Quote from: "AugustWest"
Quote from: "jldunston"
whoever figured this out (probably somebody famous, I don't remember) was seriously hardcore.  And probably experimenting with drugs.  


That would be Pythagoras.


The smacking sound you're hearing is my open palm connecting with my forehead.  

 :dunce:

Thanks, August.  

I told you math wasn't my thing!
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: jough on October 07, 2004, 06:09:04 pm
Yeah, the Pythagorean Theorem is hard fuck*ng core.

It's not my favourite equation, though.

That would be:

Xn + yn = zn has no non-zero integer solutions for x, y and z when n > 2.

ROCK ON, FERMAT.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: jough on October 07, 2004, 06:13:21 pm
Please also note that I have added the "sup" element to the list of acceptable HTML due to this thread.

So go crazy with your super-script.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: AugustWest on October 07, 2004, 06:40:01 pm
Thanks Jough!
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: AlohaDawg on October 07, 2004, 07:25:14 pm
Quote from: "jough"
Yeah, the Pythagorean Theorem is hard fuck*ng core.

It's not my favourite equation, though.

That would be:

Xn + yn = zn has no non-zero integer solutions for x, y and z when n > 2.

ROCK ON, FERMAT.


You can see how Fermat's last theorem is directly related to Pythagoras' theorem.

Read more about Andrew Wiles' <Proof> of Jough's nomination for Equation of the Era Here (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/proof/) and see how this equation eluded mathematicians for a really, really long time.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: CortJstr on October 07, 2004, 07:35:13 pm
Quote from: "jough"
So go crazy with your super-script.

Aha! Now here I thought I had just been fuck*ng up the html in the past.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: jough on October 07, 2004, 08:58:47 pm
Yeah, most HTML is re-written with the HTML entities for < and > rather than the actual tags.

But I can allow some pass-through for tags that don't allow the script attribute.
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: Va on October 08, 2004, 02:35:54 pm
Can you make a pi available as well?  Maybe as an emoticon?

EDITED
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: AugustWest on October 08, 2004, 02:46:31 pm
Quote from: "Va"
Can you make a pi available as well?  Maybe as a :)?


Are you trying to say (Please forgive me, I couldn't help myself) "When come back, bring pi?"
Title: The world's greatest Equation
Post by: jough on October 08, 2004, 05:50:18 pm
Π