Why don’t you break it down for us?
Why I need to “prove” a thingy I can draw in 15 seconds does not make sense to me [geometry class] Just give me the damned drawing stuff and get off my back [can you tell I detested geometry because of my math tormenting teacher of 4th grade?] Not to mention that in general I have pretty much never used 80% of all the math I had to try and force into my skull other than literally elementary school level stuff, and for anything else, I could always get a book and look up what I needed. So no, knowing math is not really handy to me in any hobby sort of way. Since apparently playing with equations seems to be hobby for pretty much anybody in mathematics that isn’t getting paid to scribble graffiti on chalkboards.
And if it pleases you to play with equations, knock yourself out. If you want to read russian fiction, knock yourself out [Ill get some valium to put me to sleep instead] and enjoy the artwork.
I tried to find out what was so important about a theorum, just to discover it really has no real world importance. I can’t use it to calculate wet hull speed, or the amount of paint for my barn, or how many squirrels I can fit in my jetta’s trunk. It is great for spending time playing with numbers. I guess it is insulting to be questioned as to what use some batch of numbers is just to be dismissed as essentially a hobby that you can turn into a paper to get a degree at a university with. Most of us have a need to make a living, and need to make sure what we do can actually make a paycheck.
Okay, so you don’t like pure math. Fair enough, I’m more of an applied guy as well anyway. Do you like music? Of what use is music? While musicians are fiddling with their guitars and keyboards, some of us have to work for a living, you know.
Sheesh, I never knew some people were that hostile to math.
Mathematicians need to make sure what they do can actually make a paycheck too, of course; it just so happens that there are people willing to pay them for what they do. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the people who pay mathematicians; presumably, they can explain to you their motives for doing so.
I note you enjoy reading the “Girl Who” novels. Hey, if you want to read that stuff, knock yourself out. But one might ask what use some batch of fictional sentences is; you can’t use it to calculate wet hull speed, or paint a barn, or cure cancer. That Stieg Larsson really lucked out there, managing to eke out a living from that writing hobby of his.
What, may I ask, do you do for a living?
To address the OP, I know much less about this subject than most (perhaps all) of the other posters in this thread, but I can highly recommend “Fermat’s Last Theorem” by Simon Singh for a very interesting, readable, and comprehensive treatment of the subject.
I think part of the solution has to do with F(x)=x^(1/x)…
…that is, plot the “x”-th root of x on log graph paper.
http://graph.seriesmathstudy.com/
note: not a log graph but bear with me:rolleyes:
Starting at the origin…at 0…the graph curves up through x=1, starts flattening out at x=2, peaks at x=e, and slowly curves back down to y=1 as x goes to infinity.
At 0 there is a graphic incontinuity (cant divide by 0) thus A^0+b^0=c^0 dosen’t work (1+1 =/ 1)
1 works (elementary arithmetic) a^1+b^1=c^1…1+2=3
2 works (pythagoras) 9+16=25
3 and integers above dosen’t work because, unlike 1 and 2, the slope of the curve is decreasing.
I’d wager if e was an integer, it would work.
BTW, what interesting stuff can be found where (a^e)+(b^e)=(c^e)?
*Very *well said, my Boinky friend. And precisely why I can never watch The Big Bang Theory.
Re: Enola Straight:
This suggests you believe a^n + b^n = c^n does not have any solutions where a, b, and c are positive integers and n is a real number > e.
But that conjecture is false: 4^n + 4^n - 5^n is positive when n = 3 and negative when n = 4; accordingly, there is some n inbetween 3 and 4 (and thus larger than e) such that 4^n + 4^n = 5^n.
Quoth aruvqan:
Of what use is living? Serious question, there. Some might argue that our purpose in life is to understand the world. If putting bread on the table is important, it’s only because it enables us to live long enough to understand more things. Look at it this way, and pure mathematics becomes one of the most practical pursuits of all, since it leads directly to fulfilling life’s purpose, instead of just indirectly like almost all other fields.
Fermat’s theorem is the equivalent of someone knowing how to subtract but not add. The problem is then the theorem isn’t complete it isn’t a universal law as such. It deals with a finite set. Armstrong’s Conjecture I came up this year solves this problem.
Break it down and have you steal it? What the conjecture does is remove the limitration of adding two. So you can add the same number of exponents in a relation with the size of the exponent. the relation is always is always equal or less than a certain number. I can’t prove this theory as I don’t even understand half what you guys say. But just imagine if something like that was true? Would you give it up before you can publish it? I’m convinced it is.
Oh, to be able to understand half…
when you were 16 had you developed any universal exponenet laws?
Had you expanded on any theory?
If you don’t have a formal math education, what makes you so sure somebody hasn’t already come up with your theorem and proven it?
Google. But I’m not its happened to me with square numbers. I asked my maths teachers and they said they have never seen it before.
How would you prove an expansion on fermat
i do receive a formal maths education
Why don’t you start by telling us exactly what your conjecture/theorem/whatever is?
(Also, is English your native language?)
Given that you can’t even explain your theorem in comprehensible English, the likelihood of finding a discussion on it with a cursory Google search seems low. Have you searched any scholarly literature?
And just because your math teacher hasn’t seen something, does that prove that it’s original? Do you have any idea how much original material is published in fields like number theory every year?
Ok. The theory involves the amount a^2 + a2^2 = b^2
It is the ratio of the numbers needed and the exponent value. NO it doesn’t prove that it isn’t original but the mere fact that I was able to whether or not it has been makes it brilliant. Have you ever seen an expansion on fermat? So just because my english isn’t brilliant doesn’t mean my mind isn’t. I am brilliant.
No offense, but I see this at least once a month (usually more often, actually) on a different site. We get high school students who submit “original” math ideas that their teachers have never seen. Usually, it’s a fundamental algebra or number theory result that is taught in undergraduate math courses. Sometimes, it’s something that should be seen in high school. It’s incredibly rare that a truly original result is offered, and even then, usually the ‘proof’ that is included is horribly flawed.
None of this is to say that high school math teachers are worthless. Many, if not most, do a reasonable job of teaching basic math. But it shouldn’t be assumed they have extensive, or even adequate, knowledge of any mathematics beyond what is required by curricula.