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ELI5: The 1+2+3+... = 1/12 sequence

7w5h6e

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5:Betting odd, the other answers don't help with my problem, what you lose? Additionally, how are odds calculated (horses and ancient gladiator pit fighting)

7w65tm

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Why is quadratic the term for an equation with a variable of power 2, when quad typically refers to 4?

7wfoe3

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Why is x^2 quadratic if x^3 is cubic? Where did the term quartic (x^4) come from?

ELI5: How does the Banach-Tarski paradox works?

7x3lo4

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: Why do almost all mathematicians do there best work in their 20s/30s?

7xak80

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5:If i am trying to predict some outcome that has a 70% chance of being A and 30% chance of being B, will my predictions be more successful if I guess A 100% of the time, or A 70% of the time and B 30% of the time?

7xepte

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: Why is linear algebra important in Computer Science

7xn4g8

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: How/why are multiplayer video games said to be balanced if your win/loss ratio is 50/50?

7ygchj

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: How do you straighten the curves for graphs with multiple variables?

7ym91j

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Had a horrific teacher (story for another time) and I have assignments. The rest of the Internet is really not helping so if someone could help I would massively appreciate it. I really need help with inverse relationships and how to straighten them out. As simple and stupid as possible please. Everywhere else uses far too obscure/unhelpful terms to explain it. Help me ELI5, you're my only hope.

ELI5: Gradients vs Subgradients

7ywz3b

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5:How secant method is used to study performance of buildings in earthquakes?

7zt660

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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Eli5: why can't you martingale bet 1st and 2nd 12 on roulette and walk away with better odds than the house

802ygh

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Why do certain numbers have their own names rather than just a multiple of a smaller number?

80f04t

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

(Obligatory 'I searched for, like, 15 whole seconds and couldn't see this question before - apologies if I'm mistaken!) Why do some numbers get their own name, such as 'hundred', 'thousand' and 'million', while other large numbers are only defined as multiples of smaller numbers, e.g. 'ten thousand', 'one hundred thousand'? Why don't these have their own words?

ELI5: Might sound dumb, but what's a rational number?

80t1h1

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Can anyone explain it clearly to me please Or link me to a very helpful video or something. Thanks

ELI5: Instrumental Variables and 2 Stage Least Squares

80wlid

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

I know that basically you add a Z variable to get rid of endogeneity in an independent variable but why does this work

ELI5: A simple Monty Hall explanation

7a8ksd

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: How is life expectancy calculated?

7acl5p

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Is it a simple average of the age in which all people die including babies who die young, e.g. SIDS? What got me thinking about this was the fact that the life expectancy would be pulled downward by things like babies dying or college guys doing stupid shit. However, once you make it past those stages are 40, then your life expectancy is higher than that average that includes these folks.

ELI5:How come Grigori Perelman solved the Poincare conjecture and why did it took so to be accepted?

7az32n

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Trading on TD Ameritrade, and trading stocks in general

7bm4xb

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: If 0.999... = 1, then does 0.333... = 0.4?

7byfvd

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: What exactly proves the pythogeran theorem to be true?

7c0lw8

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5:What makes a problem amenable to quantum computation?

7cayy3

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

What characteristics must a problem have to make it a good candidate for quantum computation? I know there are specific problems, such as factoring and database search, for which quantum algorithms have been developed, but I have no intuition on how to extend that to "Oh, in the future quantum computers will, (say), solve caching" or "Really improve the quality of texture rendering" or any other random thing. It seems like "modular arithmetic" might be a key characteristic? Related, which claims "For all intents and purposes, they're limited to breaking encryptions.": https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3w1l61/eli5_how_do_you_program_a_quantum_computer/

ELI5: How does the Black Scholes Equation model derivative prices but not predict them?

7ckbp3

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Bonus question: What does it really mean to model a system? I guess I'm just rough with the exact definitions of the words in a mathematical context.

ELI5: How does statistics software calculate OLS coefficients (Or rather how would you do it by hand if needed)

7cxiw7

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Say I had a data set of some y and say 2 x variables. How does the software use this to get me a regression function Also extra question: how does altering the y observations affect the coefficients

ELI5: If the tax penalty for healthcare is dropped, how does that save money in the long run?

7d4yjq

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Interaction terms in statistics

7d8l4c

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

What's the purpose and how do they work

ELI5: Measurements

7dcx2n

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: why does the West use the Greek alphabet in mathematics?

7dn2t8

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: If any distance can be halved, at what point do you stop touching something?

7dzxcs

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Solve my problem?

7e3j84

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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When it comes down to business, what is calculus and what are some basic ideas we use for it?

7e4fmi

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Where did that extra $1 come from?

7e4h7j

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: How does Japanese multiplication work? Why does this work?

7e8lpu

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

For those who don't know it is a system of counting the number of times a line intersects

ELI5:How do we know what our galaxy looks like and how do we know that there are other relaxes out there if there is no way to see it?

7eblbm

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5:How does adding "ideal numbers" to a number ring allow mathematicians reconcile competing prime factorizations into a single set of primes?

7eracq

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

I dont have a formal education in math, but have always enjoyed reading up on it and trying to understand it. I have a good foundation, but some of the more abstract stuff throws me for a loop. Sorry in advance for any misuse of terminology or if I've misunderstood anything I've based my question on. I can across an article in Quanta Magazine [1] that explained, as far as I understand, the following: Gabriel Lamé thought he proved Fermat's Last Theorem. He thought he could prove it by adding a few exotic numbers to his number system. I've learned that mathematicians call these new systems "number rings". Lamé thought he was good to go, but found his number system lacked unique prime factorization. The number 6 had duplicity (2x3) and (1+SQRT(-5))x(1+SQRT(-5)). Ernst Kummer apparently developed a way to combat this loss of unique prime factorization with what he called "ideal numbers", which can be added to a number ring to restore unique prime factorization. What I'm having trouble understanding is how adding an ideal number, but not removing the conflicting number can accomplish this. To elaborate, how can adding an ideal to a number ring allow (2x3) and (1+SQRT(-5))x(1+SQRT(-5)) to not conflict anymore? Would there not still be duplicate for 6 no matter how many ideal numbers you add? Or do ideal numbers fundamentally change every number in the ring so that upon adding an ideal number, (1+SQRT(-5))x(1+SQRT(-5)) doesnt technically exist anymore? I feel like I'm either fundamentally not grasping ideal numbers, the article, or something inbetween. Thanks in advance. [1] Ideal Numbers Seek Their Lost Primes

ELI5: why does PI have infinite decimals and why are they all random?

7f6qnt

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5:What is a Hilbert Space?

7fi8em

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

One of the strikes (read: dungeons) in Destiny 2 involves storming a Hilbert Space populated by time-travelling robots, but I've no idea what a Hilbert Space even is.

ELI5: The Cheryl’s Birthday Logic Puzzle

7fnvf7

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

I found out about this perplexing question when I was googling math problems one day. It stood out to me because of how weird it was. In this puzzle, two guys named Albert and Bernard ask their friend Cheryl when her birthday is. Rather than telling the two when her birthday is like a normal person she gives them a series of dates. Then she tells one of them a month and the other a day. Here’s full details on the puzzle. What I want to know is how the hell people can find the answer. Every explanation I’ve seen so far makes no sense.

What is variance and standard deviation?

7g3tlj

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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Backgammon...please

7gov4b

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: please help me solve this question :)

7gv2z9

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5:probability of sum being 7 when throwing two dice

7hfcw1

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Construction of numbers

7hkd13

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

I understand that the natural numbers can be constructed using set theory and are defined by the Peano Axioms. How do we get negative numbers (and thus the integers) from the naturals? How do we get the rationals from the integers? How do we get the reals from the rationals? How do we get the complex numbers from the reals?

How two read binary?

7hnxiu

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: What is an Oracle and why does it make solving the P vs. NP problem so much harder?

7i9b7z

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: If Pi never ends then how does it have a square root?

7i9esn

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: How did Rejewski crack the enigma code using disjoint circles?

7idyr4

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

I'm making a large project about the Enigma, and I have stumbled upon a document that explains how the enigma was cracked and how he used disjoint circles (?). I'm not a native speaker, but the source I found was in English, so any easy explanation on how disjoint circles work and how they affect the cracking of the enigma code would be greatly appreciated! Edit: It was supposed to be disjoint CYCLES, but can't really change it now

ELI5: How spreadsheets make this common mistake?

7ii4x6

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: What is the present value of all yearly salaries in the future?

7j1der

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: How do related rates and differentials work?

7jc8yx

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

I have a huge test coming up and it involves those topics along with Optimization and Linearization. I can't wrap my head around how the formulas are made up/used and they change all the time.

ELI5 Why do certain numbers stick with me? Numbers like 86, 72, and 54 are numbers I’m always thinking about (I know, weird), and has been this way for years.

7jrnm6

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5 Research: Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test

7k6xnd

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5 Euclidean and non Euclidean Geometry

7kl5vg

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: How is this not the answer to 1 divided by infinity?

7kui2q

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Mathematically, if you add an infinite sum of decreasing positive numbers, how in the world can you not reach infinity?

7l6ytc

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Suppose you had an equation that was the sum of infinitely many terms, and each term is equal to the following equation (where n represents that number's placement in the equation; so for the first term in the sum equation, n = 1, the second term in the equation has n = 2, etc.): number = 1 / 10^(n-1) So the first number in this sequence is 1 over 10 raised to 0, or 1 over 1, which is 1. The second is one over 10 raised to 1, or one-tenth, 0.1. The second number is one over 10 squared, or 1 over 100, 0.01. Suppose you add up an infinite number of these terms. You'll get something like... 1 + .1 + .01 + .001 + .0001 + .00001.... Now technically speaking, the number you will get with this infinite sequence of number is 1.111111111111..... with an infinite number of trailing decimal ones. But since you are adding up an infinite number of positive numbers ... How in the world can you NOT be reaching infinity?! How can an infinite number of positive numbers not equal infinity? It's fascinating to me. It sounds counterintuitive; paradoxical. If you are interested, the 0:00-1:50 mark of this video here is the inspiration for this question.

ELI5:What is math and why is it a universal principal. (ive got discalculus and dont understand)

7l9zui

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: The link between pure math and physics

7lco2c

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

https://www.wired.com/story/secret-link-uncovered-between-pure-math-and-physics/ I am struggling to understand this. Reddit links here https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/7gxkk4/secret_link_uncovered_between_pure_math_and/

Eli5: why arent dogs interested in watching movies or tv shows but we are?

7ld72q

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5:Can you explain to me the difference between terms in statistics (association vs. causation; sample vs. population; quality vs. power)

7mqy4l

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Hey all! I am taking a class this quarter on statistics & research in education at the graduate level BUT I do not have a background in statistics whatsoever. I am reading an article on statical literacy and am having trouble grasping the main concepts. Can anyone explain: association vs. causation sample vs. population quality vs. power of a test? Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!

ELI5: why not just buy every possible Powerball ticket?

7nbxmw

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: why do so many numbers involve repeating decimals

8pmkov

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

I thought maybe I could figure this out on my own, but google sent me to some academic sites that were over my head. I'm not a stranger to math, but I haven't really used it since college. Anyway I solved a simple probability problem for someone recently (what the odds of rolling at least one 4 or 5 on x number of dice) and I noticed the answers came back with recurring decimals. Why? I understand in base ten 1/3 becomes 0.333.... but beyond that I don't really get it. It happens all the time. Like I said college was a long time ago but ELI5?

ELI5: Why is a sample size of 30 the suggested minimum required to perform statistical analysis?

8qtwbk

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

My advisor suggested me to survey at least 30 households before I can perform statistical analysis

ELI5: The relation between fractal and emergence.

8s7kmr

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Why fractals are considered system with an emergent behavior? what are their emergent properties? in both Emergence and Fractal Wikipedia pages this correlation is cited.

ELI5: Why are there so many ways to shuffle a deck of cards?

8srl22

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Why/how is 1-(1/x) the same as (x-1)/x ?

8tvnba

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Probability of guessing someone’s state

8ug9df

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5 how to generate Bernoulli numbers.

88tpb9

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

The wiki page on them goes just barely over my head.

ELI5: How did Pythagoras invent his therom

895g3s

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Gauge theory

89rsqs

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: Why calculators can show you 1*10^99, but not 10*10^99?

89uncp

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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Relationship between pixel density and degree in rotation?

8acec5

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

[removed]

ELI5: what is an indefinite integral, and a definite integral?

8akhex

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: what is the difference between "mean absolute error" and "root mean squared error"? When or where is each best used?

8axf23

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

I'm doing some neural network and saw that there are types of error. I know that they are computed differently, but what does each mean?

ELI5: azimuth in astrological terms. what the heck is it?

8b4m8t

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

im taking an astrology class and can't seem to grasp the concept can anyone explain?

ELI5 Now that I've learned a significant amount of math, why is my mental math no longer super fast like it once was?

8bhyeq

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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Why does the US have a different measuring system from the rest of the world, rather than all using the same one?

8bnmxl

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

[removed]

ELI5:why does the cube of a prime number have 4 factors?

8bsc23

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

[deleted]

ELI5:How can plane crashes be considered an independent event, but also continue to have an increasing chance of occurring statistically?

8d23pi

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

If I flip a coin twenty times and get tails each time, my chances of getting heads on the twenty-first flip is still fifty percent, regardless of the prior pattern. Though it inherently feels unlikely, it is just as probable as any other pattern. Flipping the coin is an independent event and one flip's outcome is not affected by the outcome to the flip prior to it. Back to planes: according to statistics, the probability of a plane crash are (loosely) one in 1.2 million, made up from the average of plane crashes to overall flights. Presumably meaning the more often someone flies on a plane, the higher the probability they would have of experiencing a crash. But, since every flight is an independent event where the plane either lands safely or does not land safely, isn't it just as likely for someone to experience a crash if it is their first flight as someone who is on their one thousandth flight? Much like the coin flip, a flight's likelihood of crashing is completely separate from the event of the flight crashing or not prior. I guess my point being, my mind sees the plane crashing or not crashing as a binary event that is independent of any flight prior. So how can the chances of experiencing a plane crash increase with taking more flights or decrease with taking less flights? Maybe, I am wondering, are the statistic of the plane crashing relevant to the passenger or to the flight itself? I'm sure my logic is flawed somewhere here, I just can't sort out how.

ELI5 base phi number system an how to convert numbers into it

8d7laa

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: Minimax Theorem

8dy8l3

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

So the two definitions of this that I see are: For any game, there exists an optimal mixed strategy. This strategy is equal to the Nash Equilibrium. Now, as far as I can tell the Nash Equilibrium is saying basically the same thing, that two players each make the best decisions given the options available to the other player. So what makes this such a huge and important theorem? Isn't it trivial that there's always either a best strategy or a set of equally good best strategies?

ELI5: why do you add 2 when finding the surface area of a cylinder and 4 when finding the surface area of a pyramid?

8eown8

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: Adjoint functors in category theory - what are they and what is the significance of a functor being adjoint?

8foy2g

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5:Please explain (Mathematics - Complex numbers)

8fs7ud

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: What is linear algebra?

8fx48s

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: The Birthday Paradox and what are the odds that someone was born the same month and day (not year) as me?

8gihtj

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: What exactly is a golf handicap and how does one calculate it?

8gknd2

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: You drop five coins by accident and they all fall on head. You then wonder how improbable that event was. How would you calculate that, taking into account that the fact the event happened is what prompted the calculation?

8goskp

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

[deleted]

ELI5: the 8000th busy beaver number eludes ZF set theory

8gtvh4

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

This: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2725 Saw it on Hacker News and after reading all the comments I have no idea what it means or what the significance is. (edit because I fat-fingered the URL on mobile)

ELI5: what are splines and how do the relate to the drive of a robot

8gyjx7

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

ELI5: Why do leap years work? How is it possible the earth isn't a day behind with the extra day?

8h1b3i

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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Why does it sometimes make sense to have more dimensions than three?

8hh4cs

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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ELI5: What is the most efficient means of completing my study guide?

8hhvxi

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

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Can anyone explain a use of evaluating Functions in the real world to me like I’m 5 (like what are they used to do irl?)

8hn3le

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

[removed]

ELI5: Evaluating Functions IRL

8hn759

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Spent a whole period looking for a use of Evaluating Functions in real life and can’t find any clear answers. Hoping someone here will be able to be of assistance

ELI5:what is the meaning of true positve ,true negative ,false positive and false negative?

8hu1ge

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

Why Can't We Divide By Zero ?

8hxmog

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

[removed]

ELI5:[Serious] that viral math problem where the answer is said to be 9, not 1. if we swap out a variable for one of those numbers, it should still work as a function, correct? But maybe I'm doing my math wrong, but I can't make it work with 9. Can someone explain?

8i2tpp

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

[removed]

ELI5: Why's math more abstruse to learn than philosophy?

8im0mk

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

[removed]

ELI5: What makes a mass poll reputable?

8ip2y5

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics

If I decide that I want to make a poll, interviewing 7.000 people for instance, what makes my poll worth a damn in the academia? Does it even work like that? What ordinary people have to do to make a poll that has weight so people who study social sciences can reference it?

ELI5:Why is Pi so special and how was it discovered?

8ivlyy

explainlikeimfive

Mathematics