7 ms·

using the rearranged form: ((x + (((2yz) + (yy) + (zz) + (((zzz) - (zyy))/(x + y)))/(x + z)))/(y + z)) I find by brute force (no pride!) the first

using the rearranged form: ((x + (((2*y*z) + (y*y) + (z*z) + (((z*z*z) - (z*y*y))/(x + y)))/(x + z)))/(y + z)) I find by brute force (no pride!) the first solution triplet: 35, 132, 627 Edit: of course, this is not a solution. It's now just an example to others to beware of floating point errors.

jackgolding 9y ago
If only that worked in uni maths, my lecturers wouldn't even give one mark for giving the correct answer by the end of the course!
gefh 9y ago
Unfortunately, 4.00000009534 is not 4 :)
MereInterest 9y ago
Comes out as 167820976/41955243 in lowest terms, which isn't quite 4.
- glitcher 9y ago
  Language nitpick (because maths): I realize when you say "isn't quite 4" you mean the solution is not quite equal to 4, but it could also be incorrectly interpreted as a solution that is slightly less than 4. 167820976/41955243 = 4 + 4/41955243
hawkice 9y ago
That doesn't equal 4 it equals 4.00000009534. So, there is a precision issue, probably using floats to keep division results.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- vacri 9y ago
  I once saw a youtube video which said that an object moving at 4m/s would be slowed down by [thing] by 0.00006m/s, so its new velocity would be 3.99994m/s ... except that no, its new velocity would be 4m/s. The author, a physicist, ignored sig figs. 4 - 0.00006 = 4, when you're dealing with measurements :)
  - ouid 9y ago
    sig figs are just an informal way of dealing with uncertainty that can be applied procedurally by high school students.
    - vacri 9y ago
      It's not about uncertainty, it's about precision. Unless, of course, you think that scientific notation is limited to only high schools.
      - ouid 9y ago
        What do you think the difference between precision and uncertainty is?
        vacri 9y ago
        'Uncertainty' is a much more ambiguous term that means many more things than 'imprecision of measurement'. Still, I'm interested to hear why you think sig figs are high-school only when they're the standard way of writing in scientific notation. Do you genuinely think that the example I gave from the video is reasonable? It sounds like you're a theorist and have no experience in real-world application.

using the rearranged form: ((x + (((2*y*z) + (y*y) + (z*z) + (((z*z*z) - (z*y*y))/(x + y)))/(x + z)))/(y + z)) I find by brute force (no pride!) the first

jackgolding 9y ago

If only that worked in uni maths, my lecturers wouldn't even give one mark for giving the correct answer by the end of the course!

gefh 9y ago

Unfortunately, 4.00000009534 is not 4 :)

MereInterest 9y ago

Comes out as 167820976/41955243 in lowest terms, which isn't quite 4.

glitcher 9y ago
Language nitpick (because maths): I realize when you say "isn't quite 4" you mean the solution is not quite equal to 4, but it could also be incorrectly interpreted as a solution that is slightly less than 4. 167820976/41955243 = 4 + 4/41955243

hawkice 9y ago

That doesn't equal 4 it equals 4.00000009534. So, there is a precision issue, probably using floats to keep division results.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
vacri 9y ago
I once saw a youtube video which said that an object moving at 4m/s would be slowed down by [thing] by 0.00006m/s, so its new velocity would be 3.99994m/s ... except that no, its new velocity would be 4m/s. The author, a physicist, ignored sig figs. 4 - 0.00006 = 4, when you're dealing with measurements :)
- ouid 9y ago
  sig figs are just an informal way of dealing with uncertainty that can be applied procedurally by high school students.
  - vacri 9y ago
    It's not about uncertainty, it's about precision. Unless, of course, you think that scientific notation is limited to only high schools.
    - ouid 9y ago
      What do you think the difference between precision and uncertainty is?
      - vacri 9y ago
        'Uncertainty' is a much more ambiguous term that means many more things than 'imprecision of measurement'. Still, I'm interested to hear why you think sig figs are high-school only when they're the standard way of writing in scientific notation. Do you genuinely think that the example I gave from the video is reasonable? It sounds like you're a theorist and have no experience in real-world application.