Nerdiest Post Ever: Astonishing Math Facts

[High Praise! to The Gormogons]
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1 The number four is the only number with as many letters as its quantity stipulates. Which is good, because if that were true for 427, it would take some time to spell.

2 Lots of people memorize pi to umpteen places (your Czar, for example), but very few people bother with the square root of, say, three. So memorize the first couple of digits, like 1.73, and then make up a whole bunch of random numbers for about 20 minutes. Almost no one will call you on it, despite being totally impressed with you.

3 Another thing to fool people with: tell them “And weirder still is square root of five.” Tell them it starts with 2.23, and then recite your home telephone number, with area code, then your cell phone number with area code. Then tell them your home number and cell phone number to freak them out like one of those BS Lincoln-Kennedy conspiracies, and ask them what the odds are both your phone numbers are found in the square root of five. By the way, if your home and cell phone numbers really are (606) 797-7499 and (789) 696-4091, you’re pretty awesome.
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17 Comments

  1. Indeed, professor innominatus, as is remembering the sines and cosines of 30, 45 and 60 degrees.

    But don’t forget that:

    ⌡se^x = se^x + c

    which says that if you add-up all the sex in your life you get just plain “sex” and that nagging constant (or constant nagging, depending on your spouse).

  2. Actually I thought you were wimping out saying the square root of 3 was 1.73, instead of of 1.732 (also the year (1732) George Washington was born)*. You might as well say the square root of 2 was only 1.41 instead of 1.414. I only remember Pi to 7 places and I hardly remember ‘e’ at all (I think it starts with 2)

    *This has been your IMAO Cliff Clavin moment.

  3. That’s a viable solution, also, CT.

    So is “c” for “cookies.” I mean, if you have a lifetime of good sex and lots of cookies, what’s better than that? Ah, hah! There is an answer. The “s” in ⌡se^x stands for “sammiches!!”

    Sammiches, sex and coooooookies.

  4. The sum of the digits of the products of 9 either add up to 9 or another product of 9. For example: 9×1=9; 9×2=18 (digits add up to 9); 9×3=27(digits add up to 9); … ; 9×9=81. Or, if you take a number whose digits add up to 9 (or a multiple thereof) that number is divisible by 9. For example: 144. 1+4+4=9 … 144/9 = 16; or 14454 … 1+4+4+5+4 = 18, and the digits of 18 add up to 9. 14454/9 = 1606. Check it yourself with other numbers whose digits add up to 9 or one of its multiples.

  5. for an EE like me, 1.732 is a number used everyday. 1.414 every other day. And you have the nerd who invented 3 phase power to thank for this useless bit of trivia, and I have no idea why i bothered sharing it with anyone.

  6. I also love the mathmatical proof that women are evil.
    Given that the success that one has with a woman in a relationship is directly proportional to the time and money put into it, we can write that as Woman = time * money.
    It is said that time is money, so Woman = money * money, or
    Woman = money^2
    Now, if money is the root of all evil,
    Woman = (sqrt(evil))^2
    Therefore, Woman = evil.
    QED

  7. Now, for some Democrat math:
    Show that 1 = 2
    Let
    a = b
    multiply both sides by a:
    a^2 = ab
    subtract b^2 from both sides:
    a^2 – b^2 = ab – b^2
    factor both sides:
    (a + b)(a – b) = b(a – b)
    divide both sides by (a – b):
    (a + b) = b
    but, a = b, so
    (b + b) = b, or
    2b – b
    divide both sides by b:
    2 = 1
    QED

  8. Harvey, we really need a “nerd column.” Since Frank won’t do it (and he’s forgotten his Calculus anyway), you could appoint Ogrrre to pick a committee of nerds and then we could have nerd contests.

    Or not.

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