{"id":1572,"date":"2018-10-23T16:00:48","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T23:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/areteem.org\/blog\/?p=1572"},"modified":"2018-11-06T13:11:40","modified_gmt":"2018-11-06T21:11:40","slug":"3-most-interesting-math-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/areteem.org\/blog\/3-most-interesting-math-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"3 of the Most Interesting Math Problems\u2014Some of them Unsolvable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mathematics can get quirky when you talk about the theoretical or imaginary. Many of us can understand adding 5 to -1 results in 4, but when applied to the real world things aren’t as cut-and-dry. If Sally has -1 apples, that doesn’t compute well when it comes to real-world quantity. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t be\u00a0fun\u00a0<\/em>to think about the theoretical or how something can’t possibly fit in the real world. Here are some math problems<\/a> that really get the noggin working.<\/p>\n

The Collatz Conjecture is…What?<\/h6>\n

Pick a number. If it’s even, divide that number by two. If it’s an odd number, multiply it by 3 and add 1. You’d think that with this simple concept, you might find a number that would escalate to astronomical numbers instead of shrink to 1. Well, so far no mathematician has found such a number. That is what’s called the Collatz Conjecture. Every number tested with the Collatz Conjecture has eventually lead to 1 once the Collatz process is followed. It’s a math problem that no mathematician has ever been able to “solve,” meaning there isn’t one single number that doesn’t lead to 1\u2014or at least, it hasn’t been found<\/em> yet. Interesting stuff.<\/p>\n

The Goldbach Conjecture is Also…What?<\/h6>\n

Another math problem, similar to the Collatz Conjecture, is the Goldbach Conjecture. It’s a number theory concept that states all even integers greater than two are the sum of two prime numbers. A concept “found” by Christian Goldbach<\/a>, this math problem has been tested to\u00a0400,000,000,000,000, a number many people wish they could find in their bank account. Regardless if it’s a monetary value or just a concept, we think it’s noteworthy to put here as one of the most interesting math concepts.<\/p>\n

The Monty Hall Problem is Just Mind-Bending<\/h6>\n

The Monty Hall Math Problem<\/a> is probably one of the most confusing problems on probability. The problem is stated below:<\/p>\n

“Suppose you’re on a game show, and you’re given the choice of three doors: behind one door is a car. Behind the others, goats. You pick a door, say No. 1, and the host, who knows what’s behind the door, opens another door, say No 3, which has a goat. He then says to you, ‘Do you want to pick door No. 2?’ Is it to your advantage to switch your choice?”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The answer is actually\u00a0yes<\/strong>. It is incredibly counter-intuitive and seemingly wrong to assume that switching door choice is to your advantage, but it’s actually true. The probability of winning after switching doors is actually 2\/3 given standard assumptions about the nature of the problem. There’s\u00a0plenty<\/span>\u00a0of information about this math problem online that we would love to list here, but it’s probably best to read up on it<\/a> for further understanding.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading about some of the most interesting problems this week. We’ve got daily and weekly math problems<\/a> over on our Zoom International Math League site if you’d like some further thinking material. Have a wonderful day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mathematics can get quirky when you talk about the theoretical or imaginary. Many of us can understand adding 5 to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[98],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n3 of the Most Interesting Math Problems\u2014Some of them Unsolvable - Areteem Institute Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/areteem.org\/blog\/3-most-interesting-math-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 of the Most Interesting Math Problems\u2014Some of them Unsolvable - Areteem Institute Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mathematics can get quirky when you talk about the theoretical or imaginary. 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