High Level Problem Solving Techniques... (3 Viewers)

[Slidey]

What is the graphs topic like?

It looks very boring and tedious. Thoughts?

 

[ishq]

i hadn't encountered such a topic - except for differential graphing in 3U - and in the beginning it took me 10 min/graph - I was slow to pick connections
Now, its alright - a bit tedious - especially if you are a neat freak and want your graph to be perfecto! - using 4 diff coloured pens [ makes me wonder why we cant just do the HSC on a blackboard - so much easier ]
But now i have this checklist in my head everytime i see a ques - so..yeah...its not my favourite - and might become boring after doing one million graphs.
But it helps in 3U...

 

[FinalFantasy]

i started some graphs, surely it helps with 3u, atleast u get more familiar w\ da diff. graphs=P

 

[withoutaface]

What is the graphs topic like?

It looks very boring and tedious. Thoughts?

Graphs imo is one of the easiest topics there, just need to be able to manipulate the things in your head.

 

[withoutaface]

But what if you are one of the "dumber" ones?

Then you better work your ass off and then hope for a difficult exam

 

[Idyll]

can any1 clarify this? becoz i want assurance this years exam isnt guna b too hard heh

i heard the examiners discovered this page while they were setting your exam http://www.claymath.org/millennium/ . rumour has it one of them was in need of cash, and they were hoping someone might be able to write down a solution.

i guess that means your exam shouldn't be too hard

 

[Slidey]

Oh, cool! If we do each of these 7 questions, we're bound to do really well in the HSC, then!

I've already solved P=NP - it was a pushiover.

 

[Templar]

I've already solved P=NP - it was a pushiover.

Now try getting an algorithm in P time to find prime factors of hundred digit numbers, so we can break RSA encryption easily.

6 more questions to go...

 

[withoutaface]

I seriously sat down for three hours one time trying to prove there were no odd perfect numbers. I feel so dirty.

 

[Templar]

I seriously sat down for three hours one time trying to prove there were no odd perfect numbers. I feel so dirty.

You could have sat there for 3 months and get the same result.

 

[withoutaface]

You could have sat there for 3 months and get the same result.

Indeed, although I may have come up with more incredibly ignorant methods to lead to the same null result...

 

[Slidey]

Re minds me of the time I spent an hour in a maths test in year 11 trying to prove sqrt2 was irrational.

 

[Idyll]

Re minds me of the time I spent an hour in a maths test in year 11 trying to prove sqrt2 was irrational.

pfft, that's easy.

just write out all the digits, to prove it's non-terminating!

 

[Templar]

Re minds me of the time I spent an hour in a maths test in year 11 trying to prove sqrt2 was irrational.

Try proving pi is irrational because it's transcendental...I eventually went back to the method suggested in the question.

Indeed, although I may have come up with more incredibly ignorant methods to lead to the same null result...

Problem with these questions is that they're so simple that a ten year old would undertand, but the knowledge to solve it is much more complex. Think of Fermat's Last Theorem, how it seemed to be a trivial number theory question and what it actually took to prove it.

 

[Slidey]

Think of Fermat's Last Theorem, how it seemed to be a trivial number theory question and what it actually took to prove it.

It's likely that it WAS a simple proof. Wiles' proof is FAR, FAR too complicated to have been the one Fermat had. Plus, Fermat didn't have computers.

Of course, it's possible Fermat had a flawed proof or no proof at all...

 

[Templar]

Wiles' proof is FAR, FAR too complicated to have been the one Fermat had. Plus, Fermat didn't have computers.

Of course, surely Fermat did not invent all by himself the Taniyama Shimura conjecture, group theory, Frey curves...

Wiles didn't use computers either. He used a pen and paper.

 

[Slidey]

Parts of his proof could not have been done without computers, actually.

 

[Templar]

and a forum:

www.mathlinks.ro

Just be aware that most of the problems in Mathlinks are very, very hard.

 

[FinalFantasy]

hihi! im juz wondering where on da site.. http://www.artofproblemsolving.com can i find 'techniques' of solving high lvl problems?

 

[Templar]

Parts of his proof could not have been done without computers, actually.

I'm curious. Can you point to the exact part?