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How about the result concerning finding the roots of polynomials; that there are increasingly complex exact and explicit formulae as you go from linear to quart
by jonp 16y ago
How about the result concerning finding the roots of polynomials; that there are increasingly complex exact and explicit formulae as you go from linear to quartic, but it's impossible to find such formulae for quintics or higher.
I don't know if that fits your needs: it's elementary to state, but not exactly elementary to prove.
- RiderOfGiraffes 16y agoLovely result, but as you expect, not really sufficiently elementary. Also, while mathematicians find impossibility proofs among the most useful results, non-mathematicians are usually more impressed by results that show something unexpected is possible. But I'll keep it in mind.