Category Archives: Math

Q: If two trains move towards each other at certain velocities, and a fly flies between them at a certain constant speed, how much distance will the fly cover before they crash?

Posted on January 21, 2010 by The Mathematician

The brain teaser comes in a many variations. For example: Trains A and B, 700 miles apart, are heading toward each other on a straight piece of track. Train A is going 85 mph while train B is going 55 … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Brain Teaser, Math | 13 Comments

Q: What’s the relationship between entropy in the information-theory sense and the thermodynamics sense?

Posted on January 18, 2010 by The Physicist

Physicist: The term “Entropy” shows up both in thermodynamics and information theory, so (since thermodynamics called dibs), I’ll call thermodynamic entropy “entropy”, and information theoretic entropy “information”. I can’t think of a good way to demonstrate intuitively that entropy and … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Entropy/Information, Equations, Math, Philosophical, Physics | 12 Comments

Q: Will black holes ever release their energy and will we be able to tell what had gone into them?

Posted on January 14, 2010 by The Physicist

Physicist: In any reasonable sense the answer to both of these questions is a dull “nope”.  In theory however, the answer is an excitable “yup”! Blackholes lose energy through “Hawking Radiation”, which is a surprising convergence of general relativity, quantum … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Astronomy, Entropy/Information, Physics, Quantum Theory | 4 Comments

Q: What are the Intersecting Chord and Power of a Point Theorems?

Posted on January 14, 2010 by The Mathematician

Mathematician: The Intersecting Chords theorem asks us to consider two intersecting line segments inside of a circle (such that each line segment starts and ends on the edge of the circle). Each line segment can be thought of as being … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Geometry, Math | Leave a comment

Q: Why does the leading digit 1 appear more often than other digits in all sorts of numbers? What’s the deal with Benford’s Law?

Posted on December 28, 2009 by The Mathematician

Mathematician: Benford’s Law (sometimes called the Significant-Digit Law) states that when we gather numbers from many different types of random sources (e.g. the front pages of newspapers, tables of physical constants at the back of science textbooks, the heights of … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Math | 1 Comment

Q: How does the Monty Hall Problem work?

Posted on December 26, 2009 by The Physicist

For those of you who aren’t familiar with The Monty Hall Problem: You’re on a game show where there is a prize hidden behind one of three doors (A, B, or C), and the objective is to guess the correct … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Brain Teaser, Math | 13 Comments