Category Archives: Math

Q: Is teleportation possible?

Posted on November 9, 2009 by The Physicist

Physicist: Nope. The best you could hope for is a machine that reads the exact location of every atom in your body, as well as it’s chemical relationship to every nearby atom, then sends that blue print to another machine … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Entropy/Information, Physics, Quantum Theory | 7 Comments

Q: Since pi is infinite, do its digits contain all finite sequences of numbers?

Posted on November 8, 2009 by The Mathematician

Mathematician: As it turns out, mathematicians do not yet know whether the digits of pi contains every single finite sequence of numbers. That being said, many mathematicians suspect that this is the case, which would imply not only that the … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Math | 115 Comments

Q: What is the probability that in a group of 31 people, none of them have birthdays in February or August?

Posted on November 3, 2009 by The Physicist

Physicist: There are 365.25 days per year (on average), there are 31 days in August, and 28.25 days in February (on average).  The “.25” isn’t exact, but the last time that the “leap year every four years” rule wasn’t used … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Math | 3 Comments

Q: Why is e to the i pi equal to -1?

Posted on October 29, 2009 by The Physicist

Physicist: This equation () was recently voted one of the most famous equations ever.  That isn’t part of the answer, it’s just interesting. First, you’ll find (by plugging them into a graphing calculator and graphing) that: 1) 2) 3) Where … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Equations | 30 Comments

Q: What is monotony?

Posted on October 21, 2009 by The Physicist

Physicist: It seems fair to say that monotony goes hand in hand with predictability which goes hand in hand with low entropy.  So (mathematically speaking), you can reasonably define monotony as the reciprocal of entropy, or something like that.

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Entropy/Information, Philosophical | 4 Comments

Q: Are there an infinite number of prime numbers?

Posted on October 21, 2009 by The Physicist

Physicist: Yes.  Here’s a proof (there are many): 1) Assume there are a finite number of primes. 2) Multiply them all together and add 1. 3) This new number is not divisible by any of the original primes so it … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Math | 8 Comments