Can you just prove that the square root of 2 is irrational, and since the square root of 8 = 2 * square root of 2 that means that the square root of 8 is also irrational?
Patron: That girl is a witch. Mal: Yeah, but she's our witch.
'Safe'
Natter .38 Special
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
tommyrot - Sep 22, 2005 6:43:52 am PDT #9910 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
sarameg - Sep 22, 2005 6:46:05 am PDT #9911 of 10002
OK, I bitch about my cats when they get noodgy, obnoxious or pissy, but at least the are under 20 lbs. Pissy Pet
Emily - Sep 22, 2005 6:46:55 am PDT #9912 of 10002
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola
I'm happy with my proof that sqrt(5) and sqrt(6) are irrational. With 8, I've gone with the following:
a/b=sqrt(8)
a=sqrt(8)b
a*a=8b*b=2*4b*b
Now the 4 in there means a*a is divisible by 4, so a is divisible by 2.
But the other 2 means that a*a/4 is also divisible by 2, and since it's not a square, a must be divisible by another 2, so a must be divisible by 2*2, so a=4c
4c=sqrt(8)b
16c*c=8b*b
2c*c=b*b so b must be divisible by 2 as well, so a and b weren't respectively prime. I'm just not sure if the part where I explain why a must be divisible by 4 is clear enough.
Then again, she may just mark me down for not doing it in the Greek style (oh god, she can't, can she? Because that's a totally different proof, involving lengths of lines, and... and she didn't teach us that, so no. Whew).
Emily - Sep 22, 2005 6:50:23 am PDT #9913 of 10002
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola
[Edit: geekily enough, I think I wrote the whole thing down just so that I could write "QED" at the bottom. We only ever got to write the Hebrew initials of "what was to proove", so I never got to write "QED" on anything. Until now. Thanks, Emily!]
Ooh! What are the Hebrew initials and what are the words they stand for? (My Abstract Algebra teacher was explaining on Tuesday about the use of a little box to signal the end of the proof, but couldn't remember what "QED" stood for. Shocking!)
The thing is, she showed us the proof for sqrt(2) (which I already knew and used to use as a sort of meditation to get to sleep oh god am I geeky enough yet?), but wanted us to do it for these three others.
§ ita § - Sep 22, 2005 6:56:25 am PDT #9914 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Now I'm imaging George Clooney living with that pig. It's kinda cute.
sarameg - Sep 22, 2005 6:59:00 am PDT #9915 of 10002
Now I'm imaging George Clooney living with that pig.
Wha...how did you get there?
Lee - Sep 22, 2005 6:59:59 am PDT #9916 of 10002
The feeling you get when your brain finally lets your heart get in its pants.
What sara asked... I don't get the leap, either.
§ ita § - Sep 22, 2005 7:01:43 am PDT #9917 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Well, imagining George Clooney is always a good way to start off the morning, but the segue wasn't out of nowhere.
Jesse - Sep 22, 2005 7:03:34 am PDT #9918 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Dude, speaking of George Clooney, did everyone but me already know about some crazy spinal injury he had? He was on Letterman last night, talking about (whitefonted for nasty) spinal fluid dripping out of his nose! I missed the beginning, so I don't know what happened, but it sounded pretty bad, with surgery and glue injections and all kinds of craziness.
Emily - Sep 22, 2005 7:05:25 am PDT #9919 of 10002
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola
Oh, if anyone geeky or crafty (ideally both) is at loose ends in NY this afternoon/evening, there's a lecture on Crocheting the Hyperbolic Plane at CUNY.
Man. So jealous.