A math puzzle

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Tiberius, Nov 20, 2012.

  1. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Location:
    Norfolk, VA
    Others have explained it, but if you write out the squares for (3 - 4) and (5 - 4) it becomes obvious:

    (3 - 4)^2 becomes (3 - 4) (3 - 4)

    So it would be:
    (3 - 4) (3 - 4) = (5 - 4) (5 - 4)
    There's no way for that to turn into
    3 - 4 = 5 - 4
     
  2. M'Sharak

    M'Sharak Definitely Herbert. Maybe. Moderator

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2002
    Location:
    Terra Inlandia
    I think it's this kind, especially if the ID which goes with the source image is anything to go by.
     
  3. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 14, 2004
    Location:
    Rishi's Sad Madhouse
    These puzzles usually boil down to division by zero or multiplication by zero in one of the steps. I hadn't seen this variant before.

    ETA: Thanks, M'Sharak.
     
  4. rhubarbodendron

    rhubarbodendron Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 1, 2011
    Location:
    milky way, outer spiral arm, Sol 3
    me neither. A very nice variation of the old math trick :)

    I had suspected it to be a Salticidae - the eye position is typical. In my country we only have very small black and white striped ones (Salticus scenicus) and even tinier brown ones with 4 dots (Sitticus pubescens). Both species have black eyes with blue reflections. The green reflection in your avatar-spider's eyes is quite attractive :)
     
  5. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2009
    3-4 is not equal to 5-4, and one can also completly above any line before that.