Pythagorean Triplets and Diophantine Equations
Last week I posed a challenge that came from my high school computer teacher: Can you find an efficient method (or “algorithm”) to generate Pythagorean triplets? As a reminder, a Pythagorean triplet is a set of three integers that satisfy the Pythagorean...Brain Teaser: Finding Pythagorean Triplets
In an earlier post I wrote about a brain teaser from middle school. Here’s one that is a bit more advanced. My high school computer teacher issued us a challenge: “I want you to write an algorithm to identify Pythagorean triplets.” At the time, I...Brain Teaser: Proof That 2 = 1
This is a classic brain teaser I learned in middle school (or “junior high school” where I grew up). Let’s prove that: Here’s the proof: Let’s start by establishing some variables: Okay, so if that’s true, then we know: In algebra,...The Death of Books, the Dawn of Publishing
“Have you read the latest Neal Stephenson book? It’s called Reamde,” a friend recently asked. “I bought the book, but hate traveling with a thick book, so I bought a second copy on iBooks and read it on the plane.” A throwback like me, I...Find Me Online
