Math and Science Trivia

[ScottH]

Some fun trivia questions.

Rules:
** NO googling! Impress us with your knowledge today; research skills are another day ;-)

1) I wrote the equation that ties together the five most universal constants. Who am I and what was the equation?

2) I first proposed ~6.67^-11 as this important constant. What is the constant for, and who am I?

3) What recently proven famous theorem's author claimed to have "found a most elegant proof" for the theorem and "jotted it in the margin" of his notebook?

4) What computer-science pioneer designed the logical machine that is now named after him?

5) Who came first: Jacob or Johann?

[Mozzes]

3) What recently proven famous theorem's author claimed to have "found a most elegant proof" for the theorem and "jotted it in the margin" of his notebook?

That one's easy: Fermat. The others I can't recall at the moment.





Mozzes added to this post, 2 minutes and 23 seconds later...


2) I first proposed ~6.67^-11 as this important constant. What is the constant for, and who am I?

That's the gravitational constant but I don't know proposed it. Newton, maybe?





Mozzes added to this post, 3 minutes and 51 seconds later...

4) What computer-science pioneer designed the logical machine that is now named after him?

I'd guess Von Neumann.

[Monte314]

Some fun trivia questions.

Rules:
** NO googling! Impress us with your knowledge today; research skills are another day ;-)

1) I wrote the equation that ties together the five most universal constants. Who am I and what was the equation?

2) I first proposed ~6.67^-11 as this important constant. What is the constant for, and who am I?

3) What recently proven famous theorem's author claimed to have "found a most elegant proof" for the theorem and "jotted it in the margin" of his notebook?

4) What computer-science pioneer designed the logical machine that is now named after him?

5) Who came first: Jacob or Johann?

1.) I'd have to say DeMoivre.
2.) Universal Gravitational Constant in MKS units, I. Newton
3.) Fermat
4.) Alan Turing
5.) I think it was Johann (but I can never keep the Bernoulli's straight)

[ScottH]

Thus far, #'s 2-4 have been correctly answered.



1.) I'd have to say DeMoivre.
2.) Universal Gravitational Constant in MKS units, I. Newton
3.) Fermat
4.) Alan Turing
5.) I think it was Johann (but I can never keep the Bernoulli's straight)

Jacob actually taught Johann, and by most accounts was the most arrogant of the two (though both were known for their exceptional arrogance, perhaps a consequence of INTx-ness?). Johann was considered by most to be the better mathematician of the two, which of course didn't please the elder Jacob.

A contemporary of the brothers was Euler, who [by some accounts] first solved the catenary problem, and who also later published the famous e^i*pi + 1 = 0, the formula that tied the 5 universal constants together.

I spent a time reading about Euler; I find his history intriguing. He has many works that have yet to be published, and many consider him to have been the most prolific mathematician ever.

[thegnat]

5 most universal constants...hmm...

PV=nRT...nah not all constants.
energy...planck's constant....nah
not one of newton's laws.
equilibria...nah
speed of light...another constant...that i could use along with planck's but that's only two...

maybe it could be energy. Rydberg perhaps....Rydberg's constant
mass of an electron, charge, planck's, speed of light, epsilon constant thingy....aah permitivity of free space.
Where R = (m(e^4))/(8(epsilon^2)(h^3)c)
I had to look part of that up from notes to make sure I got it right...and what the epsilon was...cause I forgot...

That's what I'm guessing for #1. It's the equation I can come up with with the most constants...atm.

You have Rydberg's constant, mass of an electron, charge of an electron, planck's constant, speed of light. And permitivity of free space. Actually. I edit. Rydberg's constant isn't necessarily a constant. It can change for different elements. The formula I showed was for Hydrogen. There would be dependence upon the energy level, n, I believe. I'm not sure necessarily about epsilon either. But if either Rydberg's constant or it isn't considered a constant it has 5 :P

Edit: aaah, read the spoiler. Interesting. I had no idea.