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Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 07 May 2014, 22:19
by RobbieM
GuyBarry wrote:TC95 wrote:1190 is a pronic number
Which means it's the product of two consecutive integers, I think - presumably 34 x 35.
And curiously, when you halve such a number, you end up with the sum of the series from 1 to the lowest of the two starting numbers.
e.g. 1+2+3+...+33+34=595 (half of 1190).
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 07 May 2014, 22:40
by The Orange One
Curiously? It's just a fact of life, makes perfect sense.
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 07 May 2014, 22:46
by RobbieM
Yes, sorry - a bad choice of word for my figure of speech (or maybe a curious one?
)
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 08 May 2014, 11:08
by DrainBrain
RobbieM wrote:And curiously, when you halve such a number, you end up with the sum of the series from 1 to the lowest of the two starting numbers.
Pictorially:
Code: Select all
XXXXX X XXXX
XXXXX -> XX XXX
XXXXX -> XXX XX
XXXXX XXXX X
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 09 May 2014, 14:49
by RobbieM
A wonderful work of art - thank you!
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 26 May 2014, 16:02
by GuyBarry
DrainBrain wrote:Start with 1. Say what you see.
1
11
21
1211
(In case people haven't got it, that's "one 1" or 11, "two 1s" or 21, "one 2, one 1" or 1211 - so the next item is 111221, then 312211 and so on.)
When I was at university I went to a talk by John Conway, who introduced that sequence and first analysed it - it's known as the
"look-and-say" sequence. There's an incredible theorem about it which says that every such sequence will eventually split up into a number of "elements", and by an amazing coincidence there are exactly 92 such elements - the same as the naturally occurring chemical elements!
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 27 Jun 2014, 17:11
by GuyBarry
The Orange One wrote:You can tell the QI Forum that a bunch of mis-matched tube challengers are ahead of them.
They've almost caught up now - 1207 against our 1220:
http://old.qi.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=17100&start=1290
I no longer take part there, but it's got a bit sluggish here recently. I hope that some people here are interested in staying ahead.
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 28 Jun 2014, 15:58
by GuyBarry
They're only seven behind now, and it looks practically certain that they'll overtake us. If they do, I'm afraid I'll have to go over and join them. I'm keen to submit some new entries and I can't wait for this forum to catch up.
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 30 Jun 2014, 19:54
by RobbieM
I've got it moving again, slightly...
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 01 Jul 2014, 07:43
by GuyBarry
Ah, that's the spirit! They're on 1218 now, I've just got ours up to 1223. Let's try to keep that competitive edge.
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 01 Jul 2014, 14:57
by GuyBarry
They've finally pulled ahead. They're on 1224 now:
http://old.qi.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t= ... b3c650b87f
I've got a post ready to go on 1225. What do I do? Only my sense of loyalty makes me hesitate.
EDIT: Oh, someone's just posted 1225 over there. Guess I'll wait then. Come on - do you want to fall behind a bunch of QI-ers?
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 01 Jul 2014, 15:18
by GuyBarry
OK, I've just posted a message over there saying I'm sticking with this team. We can do it...
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 01 Jul 2014, 21:04
by RobbieM
Just caught up again...
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 02 Jul 2014, 07:03
by GuyBarry
And they didn't even use it themselves!
Well done team - ahead by two again.
EDIT: make that four!
Re: Counting - discussion thread
Posted: 03 Jul 2014, 15:11
by GuyBarry
palkanetoijala31 wrote:1239 the number of the code used by the elf to lower the sleigh in santa clause the film.
Wow, Andi has taken part for the first time since about 110 (I think). Now I know what it takes to get Tube Challengers motivated!
