# What's your vote for the most interesting constant? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667 "2001-08-02T17:05:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/21 "2001-08-02T21:06:28Z")
Jones’ Constant: The number which, when added to, subtracted from, multiplied by, or divided into the answer you got gives you the answer you should have gotten. More seriously, I’ve always like µ[sub]0[/sub]=4 x 10[sup]-7[/sup] weber/amp-meter–the permeability of free space. The name of it just strikes me as very aesthetic. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/22 "2001-08-02T21:15:48Z")
Don’t forget the permissivity of free space, epsilon naught. If it’s too low, free space slaps you and calls you fresh. ---
**Author:** ![\_Uigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e9a140/32.png) [@\_Uigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Uigi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/23 "2001-08-02T21:19:04Z")
From a strictly geometric/artistic standpoint… the Golden Ratio is quite nice. (This thread has a lot of potential for mutation to a mixture of both real and fictitious constants…hmmm.) ---
**Author:** ![KeithB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/48db29/32.png) [@KeithB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithB)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/24 "2001-08-02T21:30:35Z")
I knew someone who made a big deal about the fact theat G was close to 2/3. It meant that there was some signifigance to it. He was very disapointed to find out that it was just because of the units invloved. Change to US units and the number is completely different. ---
**Author:** ![Tyklfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tyklfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyklfe)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/25 "2001-08-02T22:07:31Z")
How 'bout this one the fine structure constant e[sup]2[/sup]/(hbar)© Where E=electron charge, Hbar=Planck’s Constant, C= The speed of light ---
**Author:** ![City\_Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@City\_Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/City_Gent)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/26 "2001-08-02T23:40:28Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*e[sup]i_pi[/sup] + 1 = 0. Can’t decide any further than that. \*\* I have that equation tattooed on my left bicep. I suspect that the intersection of the set of people who think equations can be cool and the set of people who have tattoos is a very small set. My favorite single constant is the Euler-Mascheroni constant, ``` lim (sum from k=1 to n (1/k - ln(n))=0.57721566.... ``` n-\>infinity I think this thread should be split in two: one for mathematical constants and one for physical constants. They’re as different as ice cream and yogurt. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/27 "2001-08-03T07:05:11Z")
From the tone of things it seems that some people think you can get “dibbies” on a perticular constant. I am going to vote, goshdarnit, and I’m going with Planck’s constant. (My second shoice was the noise level that three teenagers can generate in my house.) To me Planck’s constant evokes the small-scale graininess of the universe’s texture on a quantum scale. I think of a piece of film that I try to examine at greater and greater degrees of enlargement. The Universe just doesn’t have infinitely fine grain. As an aside, if I pull the stop-plug on my eMail can any of you recommend some books that will help a college graduate start on the path to understanding QM? I know it would be a while on my own, but hey, I’ve got some free time. As always, you guys are terrific… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/28 "2001-08-03T12:19:17Z")
I find the **golden ratio** (Phi) aesthetically pleasing, but then, I’m supposed to, aren’t I? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/29 "2001-08-03T12:20:32Z")
Oops, I mean the [Golden Ratio](http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/phi.html#golden). ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/30 "2001-08-03T12:57:22Z")
And the nominees for most interesting constant are […](http://www.mathsoft.com/asolve/constant/constant.html) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/31 "2001-08-03T12:59:48Z")
Uh, let me rephrase that. And the nominees for most interesting constant are [these](http://www.mathsoft.com/asolve/constant/constant.html). ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/32 "2001-08-03T13:57:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarlGauss \* > \*\*Uh, let me rephrase that. > > And the nominees for most interesting constant are [these](http://www.mathsoft.com/asolve/constant/constant.html). \*\* I love that Apery’s constant is listed there, even though no one knows what it is. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/33 "2001-08-03T14:24:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by KarlGauss \* > > \*\*Uh, let me rephrase that. > > > > And the nominees for most interesting constant are [these](http://www.mathsoft.com/asolve/constant/constant.html). \*\* > > I love that Apery’s constant is listed there, even though no one knows what it is. \*\* From that site: > [@](#): > > In 1979, Apéry stunned the mathematical world with a miraculous proof that Z(3) is irrational. I remember the day well. I, for one, was beside myself with excitement:D ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/34 "2001-08-04T00:55:03Z")
The “Golden Ratio”, Phi, and the Fibonacci/Lucas/Eunoia constant are all the same to me. This certainly makes it the most interesting. Science meets aesthetics, somewhere between chaos and order. ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/35 "2001-08-04T02:15:13Z")
And almost horrified that–thus far–nobody has nominated my favorite constant… the **Gas Constant, R** , where: **R** = 8.314510 JK[sup]-1[/sup]mol[sup]-1[/sup]. I mean, first: where would thermodynamics be without it? And, second: it’s actually TWO great constants rolled into one, since: **R** = N[sub]A[/sub]k, where _N[sub]A[/sub]_ is Avogadro’s number (which, IIRC, someone around here recently had a problem with), and _k_ is Boltzmann’s constant (which enables us to quantify Entropy as a function of the number of possible configurations of a system, AND was the subject of a post I made “long” ago as a comment on a Staff Report that NEVER got responded to!). Gas Constant–that’s my nomination. ---
**Author:** ![g8rguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@g8rguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/g8rguy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/36 "2001-08-04T04:46:32Z")
And **I’m** shocked that no one has mentioned what I’ll call, for lack of a better term, Adams’ constant: 42. 😃 On a more serious note, how about the Planck length or time? ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667/37 "2001-08-16T18:57:02Z")
I think I was in a wildly hypomanic state when i wrote the original post cuz I hardly remember writing it. Since this thread has taken on the feel of the Oscars I’ve decided to have an award ceremony. At one lame point in my life or another I have been fascinated by Phi (read Fibonacci, Golden Ratio, etc), Euler’s number (e), and Planck’s constant. I remember spending many a stoned hour thinking about how Planck’s constant (forgive gross misinterpretations) put an actual number on the limit to which we can be certain about anything. I wish I knew about this constant during my teenage nihlistic phase - what a trump card to the sophmoric argument. Problem is, I can only grasp tidbits of the enormity of, to use the kid’s vernacular “lighwave-stuff” when im on ketamine and I figured that’s no basis for giving awards to constants (though it appears it is the basis for giving awards to movies). Anyway, as a commodity trader, the golden ratio has made me rich. It’s a fascinating strange attractor in the whacky world of dynamic nonlinear human whatnot. The problem with phi is that its origins aren’t that mysterious. When all is said and done its still the rate at which rabbits hump. Back to my original choice, Euler’s number. Somehow I see this number as the pot of gold the end of the calculus rainbow. Best Constant: Euler’s Number Best Universal Fabric Constant: Planck’s Constant Most Congenial Constant: Phi BTW: My favorite theorem is Godel’s. Doh new thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-vote-for-the-most-interesting-constant/74667.md?page=1)