11k views

A challenge by R. P. Feynman: give counter-intuitive theorems that can be translated into everyday language

The following is a quote from Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman . The question is: are there any interesting theorems that you think would be a good example to tell Richard Feynman, as an answer to ...
12k views

Nice examples of groups which are not obviously groups

I am searching for some groups, where it is not so obvious that they are groups. In the lectures script there are only examples like $\mathbb{Z}$ under addition and other things like that. I ...
2k views

Surprising Generalizations

I just learned (thanks to Harry Gindi's answer on MO and to Qiaochu Yuan's blog post on AoPS) that the chinese remainder theorem and Lagrange interpolation are really just two instances of the same ...
4k views

Paradox: increasing sequence that goes to $0$?

It is $10$ o'clock, and I have a box. Inside the box is a ball marked $1$. At $10$:$30$, I will remove the ball marked $1$, and add two balls, labeled $2$ and $3$. At $10$:$45$, I will remove the ...
2k views

Cardinality of all cardinalities

Let $C = \{0, 1, 2, \ldots, \aleph_0, \aleph_1, \aleph_2, \ldots\}$. What is $\left|C\right|$? Or is it even well-defined?
8k views

What are some examples of a mathematical result being counterintuitive?

As I procrastinate studying for my Maths Exams, I want to know what are some cool examples of where math counters intuition. My first and favorite experience of this is Gabriel's Horn that you see in ...
15k views

What is the importance of the Collatz conjecture?

I have been fascinated by this problem since I first heard about it in high school. From the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collatz_problem: Take any natural number $n$. If $n$ is ...
345 views

A Book of Neat Theorems for Laymen

I'm looking for reading assignment ideas for my students. I'd like them to read up on results in mathematics in layman's terms. For example, the Monty Hall problem, or Borsuk Ulam as the "Ham ...
167 views

Can you go backwards from a Morley triangle?

Definition 1. If T is a triangle, let E(T) be the triangle formed by the intersections of the adjacent trisectors of the (interior) angles of T. Synonymously, E(T) will be called the Morley triangle ...