# Why can't Wolframalpha solve this equation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-wolframalpha-solve-this-equation/701918 "2014-10-20T14:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-wolframalpha-solve-this-equation/701918/21 "2015-01-16T04:07:39Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Weren’t the Reyelian’s the aliens who were supposed to rescue the Heaven’s Gate cultists during their group suicide event a few years ago? 🙂 I believe you’ve gotten your cults mixed up. The Raelians were the ones who claimed to have cloned a human baby. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-wolframalpha-solve-this-equation/701918/22 "2015-01-16T04:09:15Z")
> [@vomit\_comet](#): > > If your sock drawer is full of loose socks, consisting of 12 blue socks and 6 black socks and they are not stuffed together into pairs, the are random and loose - like I like my women… you are tired, it’s early and your bedroom light is burnt out, you can only go into the room once to grab socks because you are late and have no time to fool around. You can go into the living room to put your socks on but how many socks do you need to pull out of the drawer to ensure that you will have a complete pair when you return to the living room to put them on? This seems rather simple. You need to pull out 3 socks (2 could be different colors, but 3 guarantees some color doubles up). ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-wolframalpha-solve-this-equation/701918/23 "2015-01-16T05:00:10Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > This seems rather simple. You need to pull out 3 socks (2 could be different colors, but 3 guarantees some color doubles up). It is indeed that simple. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-wolframalpha-solve-this-equation/701918/24 "2015-01-16T20:55:49Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Speaking of nothing being perfect, I meant “Reyemile” rather than “Reyelian” at the end… Man, you spent one year and three months going over your proof. Also, I’d like to nominate you for the **Stranger on a Train** award for best/longest/most thorough posting on a technical subject. Seems like you’d be a more well-known contender, but there are fewer math heads here than everyone and his brother who talk about rockets and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-wolframalpha-solve-this-equation/701918/25 "2015-01-17T06:18:10Z")
When I use Yahoo search for “Reyemile number” I get this thread as the first hit and then a bunch of results for dice and magic cards and also one for “persistent genital arousal disorder.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-wolframalpha-solve-this-equation/701918/26 "2015-01-17T07:26:17Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Man, you spent one year and three months going over your proof. Just three months, I’m afraid… > [@](#): > > Also, I’d like to nominate you for the **Stranger on a Train** award for best/longest/most thorough posting on a technical subject. Aw, thanks. (Unless this was dependent on the full fifteen month presumption! :)) > [@rsa](#): > > When I use Yahoo search for “Reyemile number” I get this thread as the first hit and then a bunch of results for dice and magic cards and also one for “persistent genital arousal disorder.” :dubious: “Reyemile number” is not a standard term; I named it in this thread after the OP. If you seek standard names for such things, the system of “Reyemile numbers” is isomorphic to what are called the split-complex numbers, while the “Reyemile integers” comprise the quadratic integer ring Z[sqrt(2)]. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-wolframalpha-solve-this-equation/701918.md?page=1)