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Greatest Equations Ever
sgant writes "What is your favorite equation? This was the question asked by Physics World in a recent poll. This is also covered in a New York Times article about the same poll. Some of the equations mentioned were the simplistic 1+1=2 and Euler's equation, ei + 1 = 0. What are some of your favorite equations?"
Euler's equation is actually Exp[i*Pi] + 1 = 0 not Exp[i*n] +1 = 0 (unless they say n = Pi, which they don't). I'd have to say this is the most elegant equation of all time. It combines the 5 most important numbers in all of mathematics into a single formula. This formula also has tremendous applications in many fields of engineering and other areas of applied mathematics. If it wasn't for this equation, your cell phone wouldn't work.
Scott
Gotta Love V=IR. Works pretty well, I use it daily, well that and P=VI.
Take a look at the username, and take a guess at mine :o)
So.. it has come to this
B*u*pi * integral of e^x
Hint: Try writing it in mathematical notation.
My favorite is the thinkgeek tshirt that says "2+2=5 for extremely large values of 2".
It is not just funny... if you consider the numbers not as integers, but as any float value with that integer as the first number, it is true.
My favorite is 0 = 0, because it's the one that most often indicates you're done with the math exercise. :-)
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
"What is your favorite equation? ..."
Shashdot has already covered this in a poll! We all already know that E=mc^2 is the overall favorite, closely followed by F=ma.
http://slashdot.org/pollBooth.pl?qid=804
I think your favorite equation should be E^2=m^2c^4+p^2c^2.
Nah?
I always liked this one that my calc teacher says he saw once on a students paper
Sin x / n = 6
The logic of this was that the n on the bottom cancelled out the n on the top so the result was Six. Oh well I laughed when I was shown it.
I mean, you're right it does. But man, was I skeptical.
:.
I say, that until I saw the sum of cubes I internally denied the existance of negative numbers. I mean I could work with them and all, I just didn't believe in them. If you deny the existance of negative numbers, you cannot have an expression 0-1, because -1 is meaningless, so therefor the result is meaningless. It's circular reasoning, and this is why[according to my youthful very non-standard way of thinking of things]:
there is a number -1
there is a number 0
if you have two numbers, there is a third number which represents their sum.
there is a number -1 + 0
if there is a number -1 + 0 there must be a class of numbers known as negative numbers
[the direction you were going in?]
but if you cannot prove there is a number -1 + 0, you cannot even get that far.
a^3+b^3 = (a+b)(a^2 - ab + b^2 ), on the other hand, shows quite clearly that no matter what numbers a and b you pick, you end up, in your equation, with a negative number.
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
There are 10 kinds of people: those who understand binary and those who don't.
Dyslexics have more fnu.
This difference in views is similar to a fundamental difference between engineers and physicists: Engineers feel their equations are a reasonable approximation of reality, and physicists feel that reality is a reasonable approximation of their equations. And mathematicians? They see no relation between the two. ;)
George Bush still doesn't know if Bin Laden is alive! After numerous rounds of "We don't even know if Osama is still alive", Osama himself decided to send George Bush a message in his own handwriting to let him know that he was still in the game.
Bush opened the letter and it appeared to contain a coded message:
370HSSV-0773H
Bush was baffled, so he typed it out and e-mailed it to Colin Powell. Colin and his aides had no clue either so they sent it to the CIA. No one could solve it, so it went to the NSA and then to MIT and NASA and the Secret Service.
Eventually they asked Britain's M I6 for help. They cabled the White House: "Tell the President he is looking at the message upside down."
I wish I could deny the existence of negative numbers. My bank, on the other hand, insists that is how much money I have...
For example, MS Windows.