Mathemagic featuring Arthur Benjamin

TED: Arthur Benjamin: Lightning calculation and other “Mathemagic”

Also see Youtube Mathemagic.

Min and Max – An explanation

Ok, from the comments on the previous post it seems people are NOT “getting it”. This is NOT a “problem”, this is funny.

So I guess people don’t know what the functions min() and max() do or are just confusing them

max([...]) - this function usually takes a list of numbers and returns the highest number in the list.

e.g.

if x belongs to [0,20] then y = max(x, 18) => y belongs to [18-20]

max(20,18) = 20
max(19, 18) = 19
max(10, 18) = 18

min([...]) - this function usually takes a list of numbers and returns the lowest number in the list.

e.g.

if x belongs to [0,20] then y = min(x, 18) => y belongs to [0-18]

min(20,18) = 18       [<- fixed thanks Mind Booster Noori]
min(19, 18) = 18
min(10, 18) = 10

This means that according to the function the function displayed in my previous post, according to that function, ALL students grades will be between 18 and 20. That means if you have a freaking 0 in the exam and a 0 in the Assignment you’ll get an 18/20 (which is an excellent grade). i.e. THE MINIMUM grade is 18. It’s a simple mistake in the equation. What the page should say to be correct is

Nota Final = min(Nota do exame final+Nota do trabalho, 18)<- this would be the correct equation

And hell this was posted under “Entertainment”.

So the previous post wasn’t supposed to be about something “unfair” it was supposed to be about making fun of a simple mistake that under the circumstances really is funny.