# how do I solve this question (and get the wifi password)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525 "2019-08-31T16:36:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teddybound](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@teddybound](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teddybound)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/1 "2019-08-31T16:36:24Z")
Actually I got this from a facebook group… I don’t get the answer even though I am supposed to be good at Math! [![](https://i.imgur.com/7qh48ju.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/7qh48ju.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/2 "2019-08-31T17:46:02Z")
I swear we’ve had this exact question before, but my searching is turning up nothing. I think it was some time in the middle of March? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/3 "2019-08-31T18:02:30Z")
[This](https://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2018/09/13/students-in-china-solve-a-math-problem-for-internet-access/) might help. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/4 "2019-08-31T21:18:31Z")
Without doing any actual math the first thing I would have tried would have been the digits of pi. ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/5 "2019-08-31T21:25:37Z")
First, I guessed the answer to be pi, since it is the only number for which many people know more than 10 digits. I would have given that a try and the problem would be solved. If that didn’t work, I’d do the integral, which is easy, since the complicated term involving x^3 obviously integrates to zero, since the overall expression is odd, meaning the integral for -2 to zero will cancel the integral from zero to two. That leaves just the sqrt(4-x^2) term, which is easy if you know a few tricks. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/6 "2019-08-31T21:28:48Z")
According to [Maxima](https://sourceforge.net/projects/maxima/) it’s exactly pi. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/7 "2019-09-01T04:16:56Z")
I’d solve the question by patronising a different establishment. Life’s too short. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/8 "2019-09-01T04:44:49Z")
I think you could make it a bit harder and use the definite integral from -1 to 1. Still solvable with a calculator, I think. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/9 "2019-09-01T12:46:54Z")
I almost got tripped up when I asked a bartender for the wifi password and she replied, “you have to buy a drink first”. I’d already purchased one, so I was able to say, “all lower case?” She answered, “yes, and no spaces”. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/10 "2019-09-01T14:01:35Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > According to [Maxima](https://sourceforge.net/projects/maxima/) it’s exactly pi. And pi is exactly 3! [/frink] ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/11 "2019-09-01T14:26:46Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > And pi is exactly 3! [/frink] Except in Indiana, where in 1897 it was very nearly [decreed by law to be exactly 3.2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Pi_Bill). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/12 "2019-09-01T15:49:48Z")
I feel like I should understand this but it’s be so many years since my 2 semesters of calculus and I’ve never had to use it. I suppose i should brush up just to keep my brain in shape. And yes, I also would have tried pi. Then e. Then a bunch of other important constants, mathematical and physical. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/13 "2019-09-01T17:12:00Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > And pi is exactly 3! [/frink] So 6? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/14 "2019-09-01T17:30:58Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > And pi is exactly 3! [/frink] Pi is 10 base pi. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/15 "2019-09-02T12:40:16Z")
Actually pi is exactly √2 + √3, according to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBpBNy6DjE4&feature=share) perfectly cromulent YouTube video. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-solve-this-question-and-get-the-wifi-password/839525/17 "2019-09-02T14:11:33Z")
Reported( **salesvu1983** )