Historic maths problem 'cracked'

BBC ^ | Nov. 27, 2003 | Dr. David Whitehouse

[nwrep]

What does she look like?

[Lorenb420]

[jla]

fyi

[WackyKat]

I solved Hilbert 16 years ago
If I had known it was such a big deal, I would have said something about it.
Oh well. Back to work on the free energy machine.

[Texas Eagle]

Is this one of the math problems?

Three women decide to buy a gift for a friend that costs 30 dollars. Each woman chips in 10 dollars.

After the cashier rings up the sale, she informs the women that the item was on sale for 25 dollars so she gives one of the women five one-dollar bills with which to divide up between the women.

Each woman gets one dollar back meaning they have now each paid 9 dollars.

9 dollars times 3 women equals 27 dollars.

There is only 2 dollars left to divy up.

27 plus 2 equal 29. What happened to the 30th dollar?

[Michael121]

Free energy?

I made a perpetual machine..... it started and I ain't never been able to stop it..... is that worth something?

And these "rare earth batteries" just seem to last forever.... I really don't see any use for them other than a conversation piece....

[HamiltonJay]

and plans to write a popular book about her work.

Honey, sweetie, while you may have broken ground with this, you are a mathematician... and no book you ever write on this matter will ever be considered "popular" by any standard.

[jocon307]

I love the way they didn't even try to attempt to explain any of this in a way an ordinary person could understand.

Thank you BBC for not making my head hurt.

It's great to see a gal do well in math. It's very rare.

In elementary school it was the kid's best subject. We had hopes she'd stay sharp enough to go to Georgia Tech or somesuch. But she didn't even make it to honors math in high school. Well, she did take it one year only. She's still good at math, but just didn't have the real chops.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Honey, sweetie, while you may have broken ground with this, you are a mathematician... and no book you ever write on this matter will ever be considered "popular" by any standard.

I don't know. Who would have thought a book called "A Brief History of Time" could become so popular?

[Bogey78O]

You added up the wrong way...she had 30$ originally...gave 25 to the cashier. She then gave back 3 to each woman so she's left with the woman having paid 27$. Which is what 9 times 3 is.

After she divided sup the last 2 dollars they'll be back down to 25$ given to her. Which is right.

It's a nice semantical math problem. Sleight of hand and all. Not to different than how Democrats play with numbers.

[FreedomCalls]

Solving "part" of a math problem is not solving a math problem. I climbed the stairs today so I guess I am "part" of the way to a trip to the moon. Actually getting there is the hard part for both endeavors.

[Texas Eagle]

You added up the wrong way...she had 30$ originally...gave 25 to the cashier. She then gave back 3 to each woman so she's left with the woman having paid 27$. Which is what 9 times 3 is.

I know. That's what I said. 9 times 3 is 27. There's only 2 dollars left to distribute which makes a total of 29 dollars. What happened to the 30th dollar?

[Maelstrom]

ROFLMAO!

Each woman chips in 10 dollars.

5 dollars is handed back.

Now each woman has paid $8.333333...

$1 is given to each woman.
Now each woman has paid $9.333333... and NOT $9 each.

You should have $2 left.

[Desert88]

"What happened to the 30th dollar?"

Sales tax? ;-)

[January24th]

Perhaps, but you're closer to the moon than those that ponder what the stairs are for.

[sergeantdave]

Solving a problem and correctly applying the solution are two different matters.

(Pubbie, whether or not the student has solved the problem really doesn't matter. I support your picture 1,000%.)

[Maelstrom]

and WRONG!

LOL!

No, not you, the question itself.

[Tench_Coxe]

Being Sweden, she'll probably pose nude for the article on the breakthrough. While not understood, it will be popular.