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k a March Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
Mar 2, 2025
March is the month for State MATHCOUNTS competitions! Kudos to everyone who participated in their local chapter competitions and best of luck to all going to State! Join us on March 11th for a Math Jam devoted to our favorite Chapter competition problems! Are you interested in training for MATHCOUNTS? Be sure to check out our AMC 8/MATHCOUNTS Basics and Advanced courses.

Are you ready to level up with Olympiad training? Registration is open with early bird pricing available for our WOOT programs: MathWOOT (Levels 1 and 2), CodeWOOT, PhysicsWOOT, and ChemWOOT. What is WOOT? WOOT stands for Worldwide Online Olympiad Training and is a 7-month high school math Olympiad preparation and testing program that brings together many of the best students from around the world to learn Olympiad problem solving skills. Classes begin in September!

Do you have plans this summer? There are so many options to fit your schedule and goals whether attending a summer camp or taking online classes, it can be a great break from the routine of the school year. Check out our summer courses at AoPS Online, or if you want a math or language arts class that doesn’t have homework, but is an enriching summer experience, our AoPS Virtual Campus summer camps may be just the ticket! We are expanding our locations for our AoPS Academies across the country with 15 locations so far and new campuses opening in Saratoga CA, Johns Creek GA, and the Upper West Side NY. Check out this page for summer camp information.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the following events:
[list][*]March 5th (Wednesday), 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, HCSSiM Math Jam 2025. Amber Verser, Assistant Director of the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics, will host an information session about HCSSiM, a summer program for high school students.
[*]March 6th (Thursday), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Free Webinar on Math Competitions from elementary through high school. Join us for an enlightening session that demystifies the world of math competitions and helps you make informed decisions about your contest journey.
[*]March 11th (Tuesday), 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, 2025 MATHCOUNTS Chapter Discussion MATH JAM. AoPS instructors will discuss some of their favorite problems from the MATHCOUNTS Chapter Competition. All are welcome!
[*]March 13th (Thursday), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Free Webinar about Summer Camps at the Virtual Campus. Transform your summer into an unforgettable learning adventure! From elementary through high school, we offer dynamic summer camps featuring topics in mathematics, language arts, and competition preparation - all designed to fit your schedule and ignite your passion for learning.[/list]
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0 replies
jlacosta
Mar 2, 2025
0 replies
k i A Letter to MSM
Arr0w   23
N Sep 19, 2022 by scannose
Greetings.

I have seen many posts talking about commonly asked questions, such as finding the value of $0^0$, $\frac{1}{0}$,$\frac{0}{0}$, $\frac{\infty}{\infty}$, why $0.999...=1$ or even expressions of those terms combined as if that would make them defined. I have made this post to answer these questions once and for all, and I politely ask everyone to link this post to threads that are talking about this issue.
[list]
[*]Firstly, the case of $0^0$. It is usually regarded that $0^0=1$, not because this works numerically but because it is convenient to define it this way. You will see the convenience of defining other undefined things later on in this post.

[*]What about $\frac{\infty}{\infty}$? The issue here is that $\infty$ isn't even rigorously defined in this expression. What exactly do we mean by $\infty$? Unless the example in question is put in context in a formal manner, then we say that $\frac{\infty}{\infty}$ is meaningless.

[*]What about $\frac{1}{0}$? Suppose that $x=\frac{1}{0}$. Then we would have $x\cdot 0=0=1$, absurd. A more rigorous treatment of the idea is that $\lim_{x\to0}\frac{1}{x}$ does not exist in the first place, although you will see why in a calculus course. So the point is that $\frac{1}{0}$ is undefined.

[*]What about if $0.99999...=1$? An article from brilliant has a good explanation. Alternatively, you can just use a geometric series. Notice that
\begin{align*}
\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{9}{10^n}&=9\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{10^n}=9\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\biggr(\frac{1}{10}\biggr)^n=9\biggr(\frac{\frac{1}{10}}{1-\frac{1}{10}}\biggr)=9\biggr(\frac{\frac{1}{10}}{\frac{9}{10}}\biggr)=9\biggr(\frac{1}{9}\biggr)=\boxed{1}
\end{align*}
[*]What about $\frac{0}{0}$? Usually this is considered to be an indeterminate form, but I would also wager that this is also undefined.
[/list]
Hopefully all of these issues and their corollaries are finally put to rest. Cheers.

2nd EDIT (6/14/22): Since I originally posted this, it has since blown up so I will try to add additional information per the request of users in the thread below.

INDETERMINATE VS UNDEFINED

What makes something indeterminate? As you can see above, there are many things that are indeterminate. While definitions might vary slightly, it is the consensus that the following definition holds: A mathematical expression is be said to be indeterminate if it is not definitively or precisely determined. So how does this make, say, something like $0/0$ indeterminate? In analysis (the theory behind calculus and beyond), limits involving an algebraic combination of functions in an independent variable may often be evaluated by replacing these functions by their limits. However, if the expression obtained after this substitution does not provide sufficient information to determine the original limit, then the expression is called an indeterminate form. For example, we could say that $0/0$ is an indeterminate form.

But we need to more specific, this is still ambiguous. An indeterminate form is a mathematical expression involving at most two of $0$, $1$ or $\infty$, obtained by applying the algebraic limit theorem (a theorem in analysis, look this up for details) in the process of attempting to determine a limit, which fails to restrict that limit to one specific value or infinity, and thus does not determine the limit being calculated. This is why it is called indeterminate. Some examples of indeterminate forms are
\[0/0, \infty/\infty, \infty-\infty, \infty \times 0\]etc etc. So what makes something undefined? In the broader scope, something being undefined refers to an expression which is not assigned an interpretation or a value. A function is said to be undefined for points outside its domain. For example, the function $f:\mathbb{R}^{+}\cup\{0\}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ given by the mapping $x\mapsto \sqrt{x}$ is undefined for $x<0$. On the other hand, $1/0$ is undefined because dividing by $0$ is not defined in arithmetic by definition. In other words, something is undefined when it is not defined in some mathematical context.

WHEN THE WATERS GET MUDDIED

So with this notion of indeterminate and undefined, things get convoluted. First of all, just because something is indeterminate does not mean it is not undefined. For example $0/0$ is considered both indeterminate and undefined (but in the context of a limit then it is considered in indeterminate form). Additionally, this notion of something being undefined also means that we can define it in some way. To rephrase, this means that technically, we can make something that is undefined to something that is defined as long as we define it. I'll show you what I mean.

One example of making something undefined into something defined is the extended real number line, which we define as
\[\overline{\mathbb{R}}=\mathbb{R}\cup \{-\infty,+\infty\}.\]So instead of treating infinity as an idea, we define infinity (positively and negatively, mind you) as actual numbers in the reals. The advantage of doing this is for two reasons. The first is because we can turn this thing into a totally ordered set. Specifically, we can let $-\infty\le a\le \infty$ for each $a\in\overline{\mathbb{R}}$ which means that via this order topology each subset has an infimum and supremum and $\overline{\mathbb{R}}$ is therefore compact. While this is nice from an analytic standpoint, extending the reals in this way can allow for interesting arithmetic! In $\overline{\mathbb{R}}$ it is perfectly OK to say that,
\begin{align*}
a + \infty = \infty + a & = \infty, & a & \neq -\infty \\
a - \infty = -\infty + a & = -\infty, & a & \neq \infty \\
a \cdot (\pm\infty) = \pm\infty \cdot a & = \pm\infty, & a & \in (0, +\infty] \\
a \cdot (\pm\infty) = \pm\infty \cdot a & = \mp\infty, & a & \in [-\infty, 0) \\
\frac{a}{\pm\infty} & = 0, & a & \in \mathbb{R} \\
\frac{\pm\infty}{a} & = \pm\infty, & a & \in (0, +\infty) \\
\frac{\pm\infty}{a} & = \mp\infty, & a & \in (-\infty, 0).
\end{align*}So addition, multiplication, and division are all defined nicely. However, notice that we have some indeterminate forms here which are also undefined,
\[\infty-\infty,\frac{\pm\infty}{\pm\infty},\frac{\pm\infty}{0},0\cdot \pm\infty.\]So while we define certain things, we also left others undefined/indeterminate in the process! However, in the context of measure theory it is common to define $\infty \times 0=0$ as greenturtle3141 noted below. I encourage to reread what he wrote, it's great stuff! As you may notice, though, dividing by $0$ is undefined still! Is there a place where it isn't? Kind of. To do this, we can extend the complex numbers! More formally, we can define this extension as
\[\mathbb{C}^*=\mathbb{C}\cup\{\tilde{\infty}\}\]which we call the Riemann Sphere (it actually forms a sphere, pretty cool right?). As a note, $\tilde{\infty}$ means complex infinity, since we are in the complex plane now. Here's the catch: division by $0$ is allowed here! In fact, we have
\[\frac{z}{0}=\tilde{\infty},\frac{z}{\tilde{\infty}}=0.\]where $\tilde{\infty}/\tilde{\infty}$ and $0/0$ are left undefined. We also have
\begin{align*}
z+\tilde{\infty}=\tilde{\infty}, \forall z\ne -\infty\\
z\times \tilde{\infty}=\tilde{\infty}, \forall z\ne 0
\end{align*}Furthermore, we actually have some nice properties with multiplication that we didn't have before. In $\mathbb{C}^*$ it holds that
\[\tilde{\infty}\times \tilde{\infty}=\tilde{\infty}\]but $\tilde{\infty}-\tilde{\infty}$ and $0\times \tilde{\infty}$ are left as undefined (unless there is an explicit need to change that somehow). One could define the projectively extended reals as we did with $\mathbb{C}^*$, by defining them as
\[{\widehat {\mathbb {R} }}=\mathbb {R} \cup \{\infty \}.\]They behave in a similar way to the Riemann Sphere, with division by $0$ also being allowed with the same indeterminate forms (in addition to some other ones).
23 replies
Arr0w
Feb 11, 2022
scannose
Sep 19, 2022
k i Marathon Threads
LauraZed   0
Jul 2, 2019
Due to excessive spam and inappropriate posts, we have locked the Prealgebra and Beginning Algebra threads.

We will either unlock these threads once we've cleaned them up or start new ones, but for now, do not start new marathon threads for these subjects. Any new marathon threads started while this announcement is up will be immediately deleted.
0 replies
LauraZed
Jul 2, 2019
0 replies
k i Basic Forum Rules and Info (Read before posting)
jellymoop   368
N May 16, 2018 by harry1234
f (Reminder: Do not post Alcumus or class homework questions on this forum. Instructions below.) f
Welcome to the Middle School Math Forum! Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the rules.

Overview:
[list]
[*] When you're posting a new topic with a math problem, give the topic a detailed title that includes the subject of the problem (not just "easy problem" or "nice problem")
[*] Stay on topic and be courteous.
[*] Hide solutions!
[*] If you see an inappropriate post in this forum, simply report the post and a moderator will deal with it. Don't make your own post telling people they're not following the rules - that usually just makes the issue worse.
[*] When you post a question that you need help solving, post what you've attempted so far and not just the question. We are here to learn from each other, not to do your homework. :P
[*] Avoid making posts just to thank someone - you can use the upvote function instead
[*] Don't make a new reply just to repeat yourself or comment on the quality of others' posts; instead, post when you have a new insight or question. You can also edit your post if it's the most recent and you want to add more information.
[*] Avoid bumping old posts.
[*] Use GameBot to post alcumus questions.
[*] If you need general MATHCOUNTS/math competition advice, check out the threads below.
[*] Don't post other users' real names.
[*] Advertisements are not allowed. You can advertise your forum on your profile with a link, on your blog, and on user-created forums that permit forum advertisements.
[/list]

Here are links to more detailed versions of the rules. These are from the older forums, so you can overlook "Classroom math/Competition math only" instructions.
Posting Guidelines
Update on Basic Forum Rules
What belongs on this forum?
How do I write a thorough solution?
How do I get a problem on the contest page?
How do I study for mathcounts?
Mathcounts FAQ and resources
Mathcounts and how to learn

As always, if you have any questions, you can PM me or any of the other Middle School Moderators. Once again, if you see spam, it would help a lot if you filed a report instead of responding :)

Marathons!
Relays might be a better way to describe it, but these threads definitely go the distance! One person starts off by posting a problem, and the next person comes up with a solution and a new problem for another user to solve. Here's some of the frequently active marathons running in this forum:
[list][*]Algebra
[*]Prealgebra
[*]Proofs
[*]Factoring
[*]Geometry
[*]Counting & Probability
[*]Number Theory[/list]
Some of these haven't received attention in a while, but these are the main ones for their respective subjects. Rather than starting a new marathon, please give the existing ones a shot first.

You can also view marathons via the Marathon tag.

Think this list is incomplete or needs changes? Let the mods know and we'll take a look.
368 replies
jellymoop
May 8, 2015
harry1234
May 16, 2018
Problem of the week
evt917   34
N 9 minutes ago by valenbb
Whenever possible, I will be posting problems twice a week! They will be roughly of AMC 8 difficulty. Have fun solving! Also, these problems are all written by myself!

First problem:

$20^{16}$ has how many digits?
34 replies
evt917
Mar 5, 2025
valenbb
9 minutes ago
quadratics
luciazhu1105   18
N an hour ago by KF329
I really need help on quadratics and I don't know why I also kinda need a bit of help on graphing functions and finding the domain and range of them.
18 replies
luciazhu1105
Feb 14, 2025
KF329
an hour ago
Mathcounts STRATEGIES
Existing_Human1   22
N an hour ago by Nioronean
Hello commuinty!

I am wondering what your strategies are for mathcounts. Please note I do not mean tips. These can be for all rounds, but please specify. BTW, this is for state, but it can apply to any competition.

Ex:
Team - sit in a specific order
Target - do the easiest first
Sprint - go as fast as possible

I just made up the examples, and you will probably have better strategies, so if you want to help out, please do
22 replies
Existing_Human1
Thursday at 7:27 PM
Nioronean
an hour ago
Good Mocks for STate
Existing_Human1   0
an hour ago
Hello Community!

I am wondering what are the best mocks for state, with solutions
0 replies
Existing_Human1
an hour ago
0 replies
The daily problem!
Leeoz   2
N 3 hours ago by c_double_sharp
Every day, I will try to post a new problem for you all to solve! If you want to post a daily problem, you can! :)

Please hide solutions and answers, hints are fine though! :)

The first problem is:
[quote=March 21st Problem]Alice flips a fair coin until she gets 2 heads in a row, or a tail and then a head. What is the probability that she stopped after 2 heads in a row? Express your answer as a common fraction.[/quote]
2 replies
Leeoz
3 hours ago
c_double_sharp
3 hours ago
Really Nasty MathCounts Problem
ilikemath247365   17
N 3 hours ago by BS2012
2019 MathCounts National Sprint #29

How many of the first $100,000$ positive integers have no single-digit prime factors?


Side note: Just HOW are they supposed to solve this in like 5 minutes?
17 replies
ilikemath247365
Mar 14, 2025
BS2012
3 hours ago
Basic Maths
JetFire008   7
N 3 hours ago by huajun78
Find $x$: $\sqrt{9}x=18$
7 replies
JetFire008
Yesterday at 1:19 PM
huajun78
3 hours ago
The Real Deal: Looking for Writers!
supercheetah11   6
N 3 hours ago by anticodon
Hello AoPS!

My name is James, and I am the editor of a math newsletter by and for kids titled "The Real Deal: A Complex Space for Kids to Discuss Math". I am looking for a few more writers willing to write an article about their favorite math problem for the coming, 6th edition of the newsletter (articles should be about 600-800 words). We have a growing readership (around 3K), and you can know that your writing will be shared with kids all over the world who also love math. If you're interested, please write me at therealdealmath@gmail.com. You can read previous issues of the newsletter at http://www.realdealmath.org.

Thank you!
6 replies
supercheetah11
Yesterday at 6:33 PM
anticodon
3 hours ago
AMC 8 Help
krish6_9   32
N 4 hours ago by stjwyl
Hey guys
im in new jersey a third grader who got 12 on amc 8. I want to make mop in high school and mathcounts nationals in 6th grade is that realistic how should I get better
32 replies
1 viewing
krish6_9
Mar 17, 2025
stjwyl
4 hours ago
Factoring Marathon
pican   1435
N Yesterday at 5:35 PM by valenbb
Hello guys,
I think we should start a factoring marathon. Post your solutions like this SWhatever, and your problems like this PWhatever. Please make your own problems, and I'll start off simple: P1
1435 replies
pican
Aug 4, 2015
valenbb
Yesterday at 5:35 PM
Mathcounts state iowa
iwillregretthisnamelater   10
N Yesterday at 4:53 PM by DDCN_2011
Ok I’m a 6th grader in Iowa who got 38 in chapter which was first, so what are the chances of me getting in nats? I should feel confident but I don’t. I have a week until states and I’m getting really anxious. What should I do? And also does the cdr count in Iowa? Because I heard that some states do cdr for fun or something and that it doesn’t count to final standings.
10 replies
iwillregretthisnamelater
Thursday at 4:55 AM
DDCN_2011
Yesterday at 4:53 PM
MATHCOUNTS Chapter Score Thread
apex304   107
N Yesterday at 4:27 PM by alwaysgonnagiveyouup
$\begin{tabular}{c|c|c|c|c}Username & Grade & Score \\ \hline
apex304 & 8 & 46 \\
\end{tabular}$
107 replies
apex304
Mar 1, 2025
alwaysgonnagiveyouup
Yesterday at 4:27 PM
state mathcounts colorado
aoh11   60
N Yesterday at 3:00 PM by sadas123
I have state mathcounts tomorrow. What should I do to get prepared btw, and what are some tips for doing sprint and cdr?
60 replies
aoh11
Mar 15, 2025
sadas123
Yesterday at 3:00 PM
How important is math "intuition"
Dream9   16
N Yesterday at 2:57 PM by Dream9
When I see problems now, they usually fall under 3 categories: easy, annoying, and cannot solve. Over time, more problems become easy, but I don't think I'm learning anything "new" so is higher level math like AMC 10 more about practice, so you know what to do when you see a problem? Of course, there's formulas for some problems but when reading a lot of solutions I didn't see many weird formulas being used and it was just the way to solve the problem was "odd".
16 replies
Dream9
Mar 19, 2025
Dream9
Yesterday at 2:57 PM
k MATHCOUNTS Challenge problem
rrusczyk   17
N Jun 17, 2005 by Barnacle
As before - 8th graders or below only responding, please.

A rectangular floor is covered with square tiles. The floor is 81 tiles long and 63 tiles wide. If a diagonal is drawn across the floor, how many tiles will it cross?

[Bonus question: Can you generalize - what if the floor is m by n tiles?]
17 replies
rrusczyk
Jun 2, 2003
Barnacle
Jun 17, 2005
MATHCOUNTS Challenge problem
G H J
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rrusczyk
16191 posts
#1 • 4 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247, mithu542, CYW
As before - 8th graders or below only responding, please.

A rectangular floor is covered with square tiles. The floor is 81 tiles long and 63 tiles wide. If a diagonal is drawn across the floor, how many tiles will it cross?

[Bonus question: Can you generalize - what if the floor is m by n tiles?]
Z Y
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akatookey
52 posts
#2 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
i wont attemt it b/c im a sophomore...

but these problems are making me feel stupid...
Z Y
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TripleM
1587 posts
#3 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
I won't answer it either (not that I know what grades everything is) but I have to say its got a nice solution. We had one like this pop up in some group quiz we had once, and believe it or not, someone did it the long way :).. its one of those 'once you see the answer..' questions. Like most problems are actually.
Z Y
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Chinaboy
765 posts
#4 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
I'm going to be in 8th grade next year, so here's the answer (hopefully)
I broke it down to a 7x9 square grid, and I counted a total of 15 squares being crossed. Then you multiply 15 x 9 = 135 because the ratio of the sides is 1:9 so there will be 9 of these 7x9 grids that the diagonal will cross.
So then, the answer is 135 (hopefully...) :D
Z Y
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ComplexZeta
2853 posts
#5 • 3 Y
Y by Adventure10, Adventure10, Mango247
This problem actually has come up in various forms on the AIME many times. With the numbers chosen it's ok for a mathcounts question, and it's one of those problems that many people have seen before, so it's not really all that good for a contest like AIME, but I think it is fairly difficult. The first time I saw it I asked someone else at my school (aknoln) how to do it, and he gave me some suggestions, and from there I was able to figure out how to do them.
Z Y
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MysticTerminator
3697 posts
#6 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
I am in 8th grade this year. Let me start with two dimensions. If you have an m by n floor, then we want to count the number of times the diagonal crosses a side of a tile minus the number of times it goes through a corner of a tile. This is because each time it goes through a side, it enters a new tile. However, if it goes through a corner, it will only enter one new tile, not two, even though it has gone through two sides. So that is why I subtract the number of corners it goes through.

Anyway, to calculate that, the number of horizontal sides it goes through will be m, and the number of vertical sides it goes through will be n. The number of corners it goes through will be the gcd of m and n. So, the answer for two dimensions will be m+n-gcd(m.n). Note that this was a use of PIE (Principle of inclusion-exclusion). Generalizing to three dimensions with dimensions l, m, and n, I just use PIE again to get l+m+n-gcd(l,m)-gcd(l,n)-gcd(m,n)+gcd(l,m,n).
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MysticTerminator
3697 posts
#7 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Sorry I didn't answer the question. Using my handy-dandy formula, I get 81+63-gcd(81,63)=135, which agrees with Chinaboy.
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MysticTerminator
3697 posts
#8 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Oh, by the way, if you really wanted to, you could go right ahead and generalize to n dimensions by just using PIE several times. So, for maybe the national round, instead of asking such a tame question, they could ask:


What are the number of hypercubes that the main diagonal of a 56 by 119 by 91 by 117 by 243 hyperbox goes through?

Just kidding!
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TheSouthpaw
255 posts
#9 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
I'm in 8th grade right now...

Althought everyone's explained most of it already, the reason why it goes through the corner of a box gcf(a;b) times is because...

Consider the box to be a box on the plane. Draw the diagonal, and we must see how many lattice points (points with integer coordinates) it goes through. The slope of the line is obviously b/a. If this is not reducable (a and b are prime), the line will not go through any lattice points, because it is that segment (the diagonal) is the smallest unit for it to hit a lattice point. In other words, if you extend the line, the line will hit the next lattice point if you go a more to the left and b more up (or the opposite.)

Now to the case where (a;b) does not equal 1. This means that the fraction can be reduced. This means that it will hit the corner of the box gcf(a;b) times.

That was for the people who didn't understand why the formula works.
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sugarcookie34
14 posts
#10 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
I guess I qualify to reply. To get the answer, you break the grid down to a 9x7, and find that there are 15 squares touched, and then you multipy by 9 because you divided by nine earlier. So the answer is 135?? :lol:

On a mxn grid, you could find the GCF of m and n and break it down to an m'xn', which is a tiny version. Then, you count up the squares, and multipy that number by the GCF to get the real number!
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Bookworm
32 posts
#11 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
What's a hypercube (From MysticTerminator's post)?
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TripleM
1587 posts
#12 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Basically a 4 dimensional cube. Pretty much has no relation to the real world, only useful in maths problems!
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MCrawford
6325 posts
#13 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Hypercubes may have more relation to the real world than you think. There is a large body of physics that deals with theories of more than 3 dimensions. Superstring theory is one such area.
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ComplexZeta
2853 posts
#14 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
True, but all the dimensions in string theory except the usual three are very small, so you usually won't end up with hypercubes at least.
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gauss202
4854 posts
#15 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
That's not necessarily so, because the sizes of objects doesn't really affect their overall geometry/topology. Multi-Dimensional geometry plays a big role in all sorts of things, from Relativity to Economics to Knot Theory. It's amazing how things that first seem to be purely mathematical constructs can come back to explain the physical world. Negative numbers and complex numbers are a perfect examples of that.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by gauss202, Jun 16, 2003, 5:50 PM
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s0mp
291 posts
#16 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Chinaboy wrote:
I'm going to be in 8th grade next year, so here's the answer (hopefully)
I broke it down to a 7x9 square grid, and I counted a total of 15 squares being crossed. Then you multiply 15 x 9 = 135 because the ratio of the sides is 1:9 so there will be 9 of these 7x9 grids that the diagonal will cross.
So then, the answer is 135 (hopefully...) :D

Yeah i did it exactly like you (w/o reading your post :P ) and i came up with 126 (14 by 9)...meh I drew a sloppy 7x9 at least i know how to do it. And I'm in 8th.
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Syntax Error
1443 posts
#17 • 3 Y
Y by Adventure10, Adventure10, Mango247
i did it the same way as i think most of u guys did. but i wasnt sure if i should post it after so many people had done for the same solution. anyways. i remember first seeing this type of problem in the 2002 chapter mathcounts competition. i was puzzled into how i was supposed to do it. but then i figured out how later that day. well i was in 6th grade at the time. but who knows. whatever. nuff said
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Barnacle
411 posts
#18 • 3 Y
Y by Adventure10, Adventure10, Mango247
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