Numbers

[Zombie]

Numbers

People think “maths” and maybe shudder at the thought?   

But numbers are all around us

all the time

so we shouldn’t be scared of them

But many of us are

Which is bad news in the job world where numbers are everywhere from spreadsheets to getting the coffees

Is it because of upbringing? Education? A bad experience?

perhaps all these things and more

Numbers can become less threatening if we know some fun facts about them, or ways we use them in everyday life

So this thread is for that purpose

for anything about numbers, or a particular number, that’s fun interesting or we use or do all the time without even noticing the number(s)  

 

[Valkyrie]

2 hours ago, Zombie said:

so we shouldn’t be scared of them

But many of us are

Which is bad news in the job world where numbers are everywhere from spreadsheets to getting the coffees

Is it because of upbringing? Education? A bad experience?

 

 

I've always struggled with math.  I had some bad math teachers, which didn't help.  The one time I had a good math teacher, I actually did pretty well.  I chose a language-based career, although I still had to suffer through statistics.  With yet another bad teacher  

[Valkyrie]

@Timothy M. should enjoy this thread  So would @Parker Owens and @Drew Espinosa

[Parker Owens]

28 minutes ago, Valkyrie said:

@Timothy M. should enjoy this thread  So would @Parker Owens and @Drew Espinosa

and also perhaps @ancientrichard

[Parker Owens]

Numbers are my life, as high school mathematics teacher. Number facts, puzzles, games, spatial oddities - all these are grist to my geeklike mill. Plus, how many numbers appear in poetry? More than we might imagine, I believe. In any case, I think this thread is awesome.

[ancientrichard]

Like @Parker Owens  I used to teach Mathematics and find numbers intriguing. I recently read somethings about undefinable numbers and non-computable numbers. However much we find out, there'll always be lots we don't know.

[astone2292]

Ooof...I am not a numbers person. I've always been a history kid. All of my mathematics and algebra teachers struggled with me, even though I wanted to be better with numbers. My geometry class in senior year proved interesting as I was able to understand proofs and theorems more adeptly than the rest of the class. Once I had a teacher that explained that math had rules that could be explained in the English language, compared to being put on a markerboard and being told, "This is what you do," I was ecstatic about it! I could do math! In...my senior year... Thanks a lot, small town education system.

Being a dunderhead broompusher of society, I've had many a manager who claimed to be "the numbers manager." I've wanted to smack them in the face with a dirty mop. Am I allowed to shame these people for thinking that because they can read sales numbers and percentages, it gives them the right to sit in an office chair and twiddle their thumbs? 

Side note:  I'm off to change my member title to 'Dunderhead Broompusher.'

[Krista]

I was good with numbers, I actually thought once upon a time to become a math teacher. Teaching doesn't pay well enough and I'd have to deal with brats all day, so I just didn't go into that.  I love doing Algebra though, all those nice rules and concepts. Geometry was my least favorite. Although, I have to admit, I do struggle with practical math. Like using math to build a building, etc.. I focus far too much on the concept and not the math and I get frustrated.

On a side note: People do have favorite numbers though.

22 and 57 are mine. I've just always been drawn to the number 57, I don't know why. There's no real significance to it in my life. (And when I get to 57 years of age, I doubt I'll enjoy it then too). 22 was my High School athletics number and for some reason it just stuck with me. 

[astone2292]

36 minutes ago, Krista said:

On a side note: People do have favorite numbers though.

22 and 57 are mine. I've just always been drawn to the number 57, I don't know why. There's no real significance to it in my life. (And when I get to 57 years of age, I doubt I'll enjoy it then too). 22 was my High School athletics number and for some reason it just stuck with me. 

I fell in love with my lunch pin number from all twelve years of general education, and have been using 2292 in a lot of my usernames across cyberspace! I didn't even think of it being my favorite number until you mentioned the concept, and I have a deeper appreciation for it! It's a strange number to have kept throughout my existence, but he's been by my side since kindergarten and I won't give him up easily!

[Parker Owens]

There are numbers to be enjoyed just for the sound of them. 1142 is one of these, pronounced eleven-forty-two, it reminds me of my grandmother who lived at a house with that number.

[northie]

Unfortunately, having Parker Owen as a dear friend somehow hasn't resulted in me suddenly becoming a fan of math(s). 😏😄

[Palantir]

Seek no further - the answer is 101010

[Zombie]

22 minutes ago, Palantir said:

Seek no further - the answer is 101010

loved the radio show ❤️ 

 

[wenmale64]

There are only 10 types of people in the world...  Those who understand binary and those who don't 😇.

[ancientrichard]

I quite like the unary system. Unix systems used to have an option to choose the number base, and I liked to set that to one.

[Philippe]

51 minutes ago, wenmale64 said:

There are only 10 types of people in the world...  Those who understand binary and those who don't 😇.

1

[Valkyrie]

The best number is clearly 42   

[Palantir]

This one fascinates me. Take a number, reverse the digits and then add.

After enough iterations the answer is a palindrome.

eg 68 + 86=154

again 154+451=605

again 605+506= 1111

YAY!!!

 

[Philippe]

 

[ancientrichard]

5 hours ago, Palantir said:

This one fascinates me. Take a number, reverse the digits and then add.

After enough iterations the answer is a palindrome.

 

Now we have to prove it, preferably for numbers in any base.  

[BigBen]

Q.  Why was six afraid?

A.  Because seven ate nine.

 

I'm a fan of the numbers seventy and above in French.  The names become odd to English ears, as seventy is literally called "sixty-ten", and so on from "sixty-eleven" up to "sixty-nineteen", followed by "four-twenties" for eighty.  They continue on the same way, all the way up to "four-twenty-nineteen" (99).  It took a lot of drill to become automatic when counting, but now it really tickles my fancy.

[ReaderPaul]

On 2/4/2021 at 11:25 AM, Krista said:

I was good with numbers, I actually thought once upon a time to become a math teacher. Teaching doesn't pay well enough and I'd have to deal with brats all day, so I just didn't go into that.  I love doing Algebra though, all those nice rules and concepts. Geometry was my least favorite. Although, I have to admit, I do struggle with practical math. Like using math to build a building, etc.. I focus far too much on the concept and not the math and I get frustrated.

On a side note: People do have favorite numbers though.

22 and 57 are mine. I've just always been drawn to the number 57, I don't know why. There's no real significance to it in my life. (And when I get to 57 years of age, I doubt I'll enjoy it then too). 22 was my High School athletics number and for some reason it just stuck with me. 

I also loved algebra, vector analysis, and related subjects. Hated differential equation and numerical analysis.

As for your favorites, 22 and 57 -- 22 = 2 x 11.  Both 2 and 11 are prime numbers.  57 = 3 x 19, and 3 and 19 are both prime numbers.  So you are "primed" and ready, even if you had not thought of those aspects of your favorite numbers!

[ancientrichard]

On 2/5/2021 at 5:22 AM, Palantir said:

This one fascinates me. Take a number, reverse the digits and then add.

After enough iterations the answer is a palindrome.

 

YAY!!!

 

I've been thinking about this for several days, butt still can't prove it though I do believe it.

This is as far as I've got:

Notation:

In expressions of the form: abcd...  a, b, etc are integers in  the range 0 to 9 and abcd represents the number with digits a, b, c, d  

All numbers are assumed to be in base ten unless otherwise stated.

The transformation T is defined to that T(abcd) = abcd + dcba

The Sum S of any number N is defined as S(N) = sum of the digits of N,
so S(abcd) = a+b+c+d

The 'Hypothesis' is that any positive integer can be converted into a palindrome by a sufficient number of applications of transformation T

I have so far been unable to proved the hypothesis but have several observations that may help in constructing a proof.

(1) The hypothesis has some plausibility, since, if all the digits of some number N are sufficiently small T(N) will be a palindrome.

Suppose N = abcd, then T(N) = abcd + dcba

We evaluate that by performing the additions (d+a), (c+b), (b+c), and (a+d)

If all those sums are less than or equal to 9 they all produce single digits,
so T(abcd) = (a+d)(b+c)(b+c)(a+d)  which is a palindrome

For example T(2417) = 2417 + 7142 = 9559

On the other hand, we do not get a palindrome when the addition of two digits gives an answer greater than or equal to 10, because the resulting carrying figure destroys the pattern and more applications of T are then needed to get a palindrome.

(2) It may help to consider the sum of the digits of a number.

If none of the additions involved in calculating T(N) is greater than or equal to 10, then T(N) is a palindrome and

S[T(N)] = 2*S(N)

If v of the additions of digits give an answer greater than or equal to 10, then T(N) is not a palindrome and

S[T(N)] = 2*S(N) - 9v

so there may be a tendency for the digits to get smaller when T(N) is not a palindrome.

(3) The property of palindrome is not an intrinsic property of a number considered in isolation, but only of a number expressed in a particular base.

Every number is a palindrome when expressed in base 1.

In base N, N = 10 and is not a palindrome.

 

 

 

[Zombie]

On 2/5/2021 at 10:37 AM, ancientrichard said:

Now we have to prove it, preferably for numbers in any base.  

358

a nice number

and the number of years it took to prove “Fermat’s Last Theorem” 

 

[AC Benus]

On 2/8/2021 at 4:55 AM, Zombie said:

358

a nice number

and the number of years it took to prove “Fermat’s Last Theorem” 

 

"And that's Numberwang!"