Category Archives: Math

Q: What is The Golden Ratio? How is it used in Mathematics?

Posted on September 26, 2010 by The Physicist

Physicist: The golden ratio, g, is . The golden ratio is defined in many (equivalent) ways but the best known is: if A and B are two numbers such that the ratio of A+B to A is equal to the … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Equations, Geometry, Math, Philosophical | 8 Comments

Q: What is the physical meaning of “symmetries”? Why is there one-to-one correspondence between laws of conservation and symmetries? Why is it important that there is such correspondence?

Posted on September 23, 2010 by The Physicist

Physicist: This is the shortest answer yet: “Noether“. When a physicist talks about symmetry, they don’t usually mean symmetry the way everyone else in the world does.  The backbone of mechanics (both classical and quantum) is the “Lagrangian”, .  Basically, … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Equations, Philosophical, Physics | 1 Comment

Q: If you were on the inside of the Sun falling in, the matter closer to the surface doesn’t affect your acceleration, but the matter closer to the core does. Why is that?

Posted on September 2, 2010 by The Physicist

The original question was: Plait talks about the “physics of solid bodies” and why, specifically, if you were on the inside of the Sun falling in, the matter “behind” you- closer to the surface- doesn’t affect your acceleration at all, … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Astronomy, Math, Physics | 14 Comments

Q: Will we ever overcome the Heisenberg uncertainty principle?

Posted on August 1, 2010 by The Physicist

Physicist: Nopers! The Heisenberg uncertainty principle, while normally presented in physics circles, is actually a mathematical absolute.  So overcoming the uncertainty principle is exactly as hard as overcoming that whole “1+1=2” thing. The uncertainty principle (the “position/momentum uncertainty principle”) is … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Equations, Math, Physics, Probability, Quantum Theory | 24 Comments

Q: What’s the chance of getting a run of K or more successes (heads) in a row in N Bernoulli trials (coin flips)? Why use approximations when the exact answer is known?

Posted on July 24, 2010 by The Physicist

The original question was: Recently I’ve come across a task to calculate the probability that a run of at least K successes occurs in a series of N (K≤N) Bernoulli trials (weighted coin flips), i.e. “what’s the probability that in … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, -- By the Physicist, Combinatorics, Equations, Math, Probability | 54 Comments

Q: Will there always be things that will not or cannot be known?

Posted on June 30, 2010 by The Mathematician

Mathematician: Unfortunately, limits to knowledge seem to be built into the nature of the universe, and even into logic itself. Relativity: Einstein’s theory of special relativity implies that no information can travel faster than the speed of light. That means … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Math, Philosophical, Quantum Theory, Relativity | 6 Comments