Kiddie problem. - Page 2

mfgoode · 2005-03-25, 04:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

How about [b].[/b]125

:surprised
Great!!.
I didnt think of that. Come to think of it .0125 and the rest of the zero decimals wont do.

Mally

mfgoode · 2005-03-25, 04:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulunderwood

Thanks

another the imaginary number -12.5i

:surprised
Excellent!! Didnt think of that either.
Just think where a simple problem has lead us?

Mally

mfgoode · 2005-03-25, 14:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulunderwood

Thanks

another the imaginary number -12.5i

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

How about [b].[/b]125

Well whats wrong with +12.5, +1.25i or +1.25i ?

0r .125, 12.5 or 1.25 ?, for that matter!

Mally

!

mfgoode · 2005-03-28, 16:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfgoode

Well whats wrong with +12.5i, +1.25i or +1.25i ?

0r .125, 12.5 or 1.25 ?, for that matter!

Mally

!

What no more answers?
I still have one more different answer up my sleeve.

This is apart from the negative values which are equally valid of the above

Come on guys use your imaginations

Mally

cheesehead · 2005-03-29, 06:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfgoode

Well whats wrong with +12.5, +1.25i or +1.25i ?

+12.5 is okay. But taking away the 1st and next digits of [b]+1.25i[/b] leaves [b]+.5i[/b], which is not 1/5 of [b]+.25i[/b].
Were you thinking of [b]+.05i[/b] as the third value? That would [i]substitute[/i] "0" for "2", instead of simply [i]taking away[/i]
the "2" as required by the original posting.
[u]You already pointed out that ".0125 and the rest of the zero decimals wont do."[/u] :-D

Quote:

0r .125, 12.5 or 1.25 ?, for that matter!

Similarly, [b].125[/b] is wrong because the second term is [b].25[/b], not [b].025[/b], and so forth ...

mfgoode · 2005-03-29, 16:16

QUOTE:[cheesehead]
Were you thinking of +.05i as the third value? That would substitute
"0" for "2", instead of taking away
the "2" as required by the original posting :UnQUOTE]

:surprised
Im glad you brought up this thought provoking point.

Its not surprising that you find it baffling as to many others in the past.

The same argument was put forward by the mid-eastern traders when they encountered the Sanskrit 'sunya'. The Arabs called it the mysterious 'sifr' and spread it to the Western world where it was called Ziffer and chiffre by the Germans and French resp. tho' they included numbers in general.

THe'SUNYA' means a void which has no magnitude but possesses place value.
Before I comment fully, I throw this problem open to the forum to get their views to detrmine what is right and what is wrong.

Mally

cheesehead · 2005-03-30, 12:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfgoode

Its not surprising that you find it baffling as to many others in the past.

I'm not baffled.

The digit "0" is used as a placeholder after the decimal point. So?
Your puzzle rules mention taking away digits, but not adding/inserting them.
If we had a placeholder that was not a digit, we could use that ... but we don't.
Inserting the [b]digit[/b] "0" as a placeholder is outside the rule requiring "take away".

Quote:

THe'SUNYA' means a void which has no magnitude but possesses place value.

Fine ... but "0" is not a sunya.
If you intend that taking away the digit "2" from .25 produces .05 instead of .5,
then you need to revise the puzzle's wording.

Remember, you said .0125 wouldn't do. If that "0" isn't allowed, then neither is the one in .05

wblipp · 2005-03-30, 18:39

I was going to post solutions using a numbering system with a base other than 10. It was an interesting discovery that there are no such solutions. (i.e. no solutions in hexadecimal nor binary nor base-7 nor any other base.)

William

mfgoode · 2005-03-31, 16:00

wblipp: Thank you for extending the problem to other bases. It has saved me needless trouble as I thought about this also and its possibility but did not put pen to paper.
Now that you have ruled out the application to other bases it makes the problem unique. I am intrigued to read about 'all bases' and will be interested to know your line of reasoning.
I am now of the opinion that I should lift the restriction of 3 digits to any finite number thus generalising the problem and making it more interesting.
Mally

wblipp · 2005-03-31, 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfgoode

I am intrigued to read about 'all bases' and will be interested to know your line of reasoning.

Letting the 3 digit number be ABC and the base be "b", we have

Ab^2+Bb+C=5(Bb+C)
Bb+C=5C

From which we can get
C=Ab^2/20

We know C<b. From this we get
Ab<20.

The gets a small number of possible values for A and b. The only cases with
A<b and C<b and C an integer is the base 10 solution.

mfgoode · 2005-03-31, 16:23

[QUOTE=wblipp]Letting the 3 digit number be ABC and the base be "b", we have......Unquote]
Thanks wblipp. Thats great but I still have to digest it :surprised
Mally

2005-03-29, 16:16	#17
mfgoode Bronze Medalist Jan 2004 Mumbai,India 2²×3³×19 Posts	Kiddie problem QUOTE:[cheesehead] Were you thinking of +.05i as the third value? That would substitute "0" for "2", instead of taking away the "2" as required by the original posting :UnQUOTE] :surprised Im glad you brought up this thought provoking point. Its not surprising that you find it baffling as to many others in the past. The same argument was put forward by the mid-eastern traders when they encountered the Sanskrit 'sunya'. The Arabs called it the mysterious 'sifr' and spread it to the Western world where it was called Ziffer and chiffre by the Germans and French resp. tho' they included numbers in general. THe'SUNYA' means a void which has no magnitude but possesses place value. Before I comment fully, I throw this problem open to the forum to get their views to detrmine what is right and what is wrong. Mally

2005-03-31, 16:00	#20
mfgoode Bronze Medalist Jan 2004 Mumbai,India 2²×3³×19 Posts	Kiddie problem wblipp: Thank you for extending the problem to other bases. It has saved me needless trouble as I thought about this also and its possibility but did not put pen to paper. Now that you have ruled out the application to other bases it makes the problem unique. I am intrigued to read about 'all bases' and will be interested to know your line of reasoning. I am now of the opinion that I should lift the restriction of 3 digits to any finite number thus generalising the problem and making it more interesting. Mally

2005-03-31, 16:23	#22
mfgoode Bronze Medalist Jan 2004 Mumbai,India 2²·3³·19 Posts	Kiddie problem [QUOTE=wblipp]Letting the 3 digit number be ABC and the base be "b", we have......Unquote] Thanks wblipp. Thats great but I still have to digest it :surprised Mally

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
What is the problem here?	didgogns	Msieve	1	2016-11-15 03:31
problem 2.4	MattcAnderson	Puzzles	4	2014-08-21 04:40
problem I have	science_man_88	Miscellaneous Math	2	2010-10-10 16:36
51 problem	Neves	Miscellaneous Math	5	2004-02-10 22:59
51 problem	Neves	Puzzles	15	2004-02-05 23:11

2005-03-30, 18:39	#19
wblipp "William" May 2003 New Haven 2×7×13² Posts	I was going to post solutions using a numbering system with a base other than 10. It was an interesting discovery that there are no such solutions. (i.e. no solutions in hexadecimal nor binary nor base-7 nor any other base.) William