Is it possible? Simple questions, not so simple solutions

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ม.ค. 2025

ความคิดเห็น • 1.8K

  • @bezpansky
    @bezpansky 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3533

    I have discrete math course flashbacks. All of this is fun and games, until you are graded for it.

    • @isee7283
      @isee7283 5 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      ikr

    • @ItsAllEnzynes
      @ItsAllEnzynes 5 ปีที่แล้ว +67

      My discrete final is in 10 hours, very much so not looking forward to it :|

    • @melaniemedina8037
      @melaniemedina8037 4 ปีที่แล้ว +78

      It shouldn't be that way... School conditions us to be scared of math but once you actually look at it from a fun and games angle it's actually really interesting and useful in certain applications.

    • @realbignoob1886
      @realbignoob1886 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Yea

    • @patstaysuckafreeboss8006
      @patstaysuckafreeboss8006 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@melaniemedina8037 Must depend on the school/teachers/kids. Nobody was "scared" of math at my school. Maybe some who were less than average but that's about it

  • @BobbyJCFHvLichtenstein
    @BobbyJCFHvLichtenstein 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2441

    If you get a pen thicc enough, you can connect all of them with 1 line

    • @ryancw714
      @ryancw714 3 ปีที่แล้ว +129

      If the dots are big enough, you can use only three really long lines at slight angles.

    • @brucefulton
      @brucefulton 3 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      @@ryancw714 Or if the piece of paper is large enough

    • @Neo36563
      @Neo36563 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      Or if all dots are overlapped

    • @KuyashiiPlays
      @KuyashiiPlays 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Or if you can fold the paper

    • @JohnSmith-im8qt
      @JohnSmith-im8qt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      A line has no width.

  • @soup6482
    @soup6482 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3092

    3:20 imagine pausing the video to try to solve it for like an hour jsut to come back, unpause it, and see its impossible

    • @kugelblitz-8614
      @kugelblitz-8614 5 ปีที่แล้ว +203

      but if you're smart enough you will understand the impossibility and start trying to prove it

    • @CGoldthorpe
      @CGoldthorpe 5 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Who would do that

    • @CGoldthorpe
      @CGoldthorpe 5 ปีที่แล้ว +58

      That is comendable engagement, and you likely understand why better than those who just shake their heads in agreement. Stay a skeptic in all matters!

    • @mohammedjawahri5726
      @mohammedjawahri5726 5 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      if you couldn't figure out that it's impossible then you couldn't solve it

    • @robossthinking1056
      @robossthinking1056 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Mohammed jawahri that doesn’t mean u can’t solve it

  • @no.6794
    @no.6794 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3017

    "Is it possible to start with 4 students and infect the whole class?"
    2020: Say no more.

    • @coolboy9854
      @coolboy9854 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      worse ror what happened to this guy?

    • @Zack_Zander
      @Zack_Zander 4 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      worse ror
      Patient Zer0 lives while thousands of other people died...
      Quite ironic

    • @tandlose
      @tandlose 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      666 likes, seems fitting

    • @DanksterPaws
      @DanksterPaws 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@Zack_Zander whos Patient 0

    • @Berilia
      @Berilia 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@DanksterPaws I'm pretty sure patient zero just refers to the first human recorded to have a particular disease

  • @qsaification
    @qsaification 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2207

    1:53 the third problem is actually how water works in Minecraft

    • @user-go5he1fe1g
      @user-go5he1fe1g 5 ปีที่แล้ว +47

      C o p i e d

    • @brian-bed
      @brian-bed 5 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      qsaification I was going to write the exact same thing!!!

    • @AutisticShyGuy
      @AutisticShyGuy 5 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      **looks at number of likes** nice

    • @qsaification
      @qsaification 5 ปีที่แล้ว +66

      @@user-go5he1fe1g It is actually pretty obvious to those who have played Minecraft, that's the first thought that came into my mind. It doesn't surprise me if you saw comments similar to mine :)

    • @user-go5he1fe1g
      @user-go5he1fe1g 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@qsaification oh k

  • @KiemPlant
    @KiemPlant 5 ปีที่แล้ว +177

    3:16 that moment when you've placed enough water sources in Minecraft to know the answer immediately.

    • @betmenc
      @betmenc ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I was thinking same

  • @randomfun3552
    @randomfun3552 5 ปีที่แล้ว +657

    there is something unique about this channel

    • @lyrimetacurl0
      @lyrimetacurl0 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      It has 1 odd node.

    • @randomdude9135
      @randomdude9135 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yeah. It's like a hybrid of 3b1b n socratica but something more

    • @roualhoujeiri5905
      @roualhoujeiri5905 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Everything about this channel is perfect but what makes it unique is HIM ⬆️

    • @erinelizabeth9545
      @erinelizabeth9545 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yeah - confusion

    • @disembodiednarrator
      @disembodiednarrator 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yeah it can predict the future

  • @tvao9010
    @tvao9010 2 ปีที่แล้ว +356

    The infected question is actually similar to multiplying water in minecraft, the best way is to place a water source across the diagonal of the cube, so every block becomes a water source

    • @jay-tbl
      @jay-tbl 2 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      That's what I immediately thought! And i figured the most efficient way to infect students would be put the infected kids diagonally across the room, just like the way you would fill an area with water in minecraft

    • @brandonm1708
      @brandonm1708 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      I love that that’s what I thought of as well

    • @M_1024
      @M_1024 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Just wanted to comment that!

    • @vivaankhanna7125
      @vivaankhanna7125 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Ikr!!

    • @Potato-pq5ez
      @Potato-pq5ez ปีที่แล้ว

      life imitates art..

  • @xvnexus8814
    @xvnexus8814 5 ปีที่แล้ว +689

    3:06 and that's why you sit in the corner of the class room.

    • @mayocult2025
      @mayocult2025 5 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      Best chance to survive a zombie apocalypse

    • @HPD1171
      @HPD1171 5 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      @@mayocult2025 taking classes online is an even better strategy

    • @mayocult2025
      @mayocult2025 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@HPD1171 true

    • @tishaflorence1009
      @tishaflorence1009 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@HPD1171 now we all have to take online classess

    • @thegallivantinggamers4904
      @thegallivantinggamers4904 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      HPD1171 Welp,

  • @grezende4056
    @grezende4056 4 ปีที่แล้ว +68

    Theory: whenever someone says "no pun intended" in a video/presentation... The pun was intended.

  • @brunicorn
    @brunicorn 5 ปีที่แล้ว +796

    Can't believe you didn't mention triangulation in chess in the thief/cop problem.

    • @efrestein
      @efrestein 5 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      This problem reminded me exactly the same thing

    • @vinodkumar-wm3oq
      @vinodkumar-wm3oq 5 ปีที่แล้ว +54

      Magnus carlsen has joined the chat.

    • @tonyth9240
      @tonyth9240 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Yes, I thought of the same.

    • @Dimitri_gdr
      @Dimitri_gdr 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I thought exacly the same too !

    • @swoobidydoogidie7769
      @swoobidydoogidie7769 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Bobby Fischer has entered the chat

  • @rohanbalasubramanian2466
    @rohanbalasubramanian2466 4 ปีที่แล้ว +95

    The police thief problem at 8:26 is similar to a concept in chess called triangulation where you lose a tempo with your peices and force your opponent to play an unfavorable move due to him having no good move(like the Red Red city of police and the robber in this example)

    • @null3007
      @null3007 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I was thinking about that as well haha, came to the timed comment section to see if anyone else spotted it.

    • @gjy0525
      @gjy0525 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Do you play chess?

    • @michapiwowarski4834
      @michapiwowarski4834 ปีที่แล้ว

      th-cam.com/video/bE6ENkdnG0c/w-d-xo.html
      Puzzle 3 in this video is the most insane version of this ever.

    • @ericp20z4
      @ericp20z4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ​@@null3007me too haha

    • @ericp20z4
      @ericp20z4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      In germany we call this Zugzwang

  • @sesemuller4086
    @sesemuller4086 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4925

    The classroom problem is the infinite water source problem in minecraft.
    Just sayin’...

    • @joske7804
      @joske7804 5 ปีที่แล้ว +171

      Yooo thats what I was thinking.. spooky

    • @neongamerlp9856
      @neongamerlp9856 5 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      Wie alle Mainguaftler das selbe denken xd

    • @user-cc5kl7qv8f
      @user-cc5kl7qv8f 5 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      I thought that too :D

    • @RandomPerson-fu3ro
      @RandomPerson-fu3ro 5 ปีที่แล้ว +212

      _uses Minecraft to simulate this problem_

    • @ohboy1113
      @ohboy1113 5 ปีที่แล้ว +59

      Damn all you, I thought I was original.

  • @quirix6843
    @quirix6843 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thanks

  • @codingphysics695
    @codingphysics695 5 ปีที่แล้ว +408

    I found a different way to think about the infection problem: Suppose all in infected students are inside a rectangle smaller then the 5 * 5 grid. Since all healty students outside the rectangle share at most a single border with an infected person, the infection can never spread outside the rectangle. With 4 or fewer infected persons you can allways draw rectangles around them, so that there are remaining students outside the rectangles. Only with 5 infected students, that are placed along the diagonal, the surrounding rectangle is equal to the complete grid, so everyone can be infected (and also will be).

    • @zachstar
      @zachstar  5 ปีที่แล้ว +46

      I might have interpreted this wrong but what about 4 people along the diagonal being infected (ignoring the center)? Now you cant draw a rectangle around everyone and have students outside of it.

    • @karagi101
      @karagi101 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      MajorPrep For the thief problem, what prevents the thief from doing the same thing as the police? That is, go to the neutral city and switch states so once again the police can’t land on the same color city as that of the thief. Seems to me that then there is no guarantee that the thief can be caught.

    • @zachstar
      @zachstar  5 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      @karagi101 If the thief has the opportunity to go through that city on their own before the cop then they will change the state of the game to one they'd lose. the cop could just follow them and it'd result in that same pin. But either way from the beginning the cop has the ability to go through the city first and from there the thief couldn't get to it themselves (at least in the layout from the video).

    • @-abigail
      @-abigail 5 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      I think this solution works but nerds expanding a little: draw bounding boxes around each subset of students who don't neighbour each other, including diagonal neighbours. Each subset won't be able to infect beyond their bounding box, and with n infected students the biggest bounding box you can construct has an area of n² - so 4 students can't create a 5x5 bounding box, but 5 can.

    • @robharwood3538
      @robharwood3538 5 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@zachstar I think the OP means 'rectangle' not in terms of an outer hull of all the points, but a connected sub-matrix with no 0 rows or columns. In your example of 4 along the diagonal, there will always be 1 row/column which is all 0s, either making a single 4x4 'rectangle', or two disconnected 'rectangles' either a 1x1 & a 3x3 or two 2x2 ones. Each of those separated connected-sub-matrices cannot expand beyond their own borders. The 0 row/column can never become populated with any infected students. Thus, the problem can be thought of in terms of matrices, matrix degrees, and linear independence (at least for figuring out the minimal n; the reasoning doesn't quite work when the # of initial infected students is allowed to be larger than the minimal n, since 0 rows/columns can then sometimes become infected).

  • @MrBelles104
    @MrBelles104 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    12:50 you can draw this without retracing or making your pencil leave the paper by tilting the pencil to where it won 't draw but is still on the paper.

  • @ir2001
    @ir2001 5 ปีที่แล้ว +319

    The police-theif game at 8:26 can win you a bet

    • @NameisU
      @NameisU 5 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      How exactly will you propose the bet?
      Be this thief so I can prove to you that I can capture you as a cop for $x

    • @NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache
      @NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@NameisU Or I bet the cop will/will not catch the thief

    • @Wtahc
      @Wtahc 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Can it really? how dumb are people? you can solve it with very minimal bruteforcing/pattern recognition...

    • @Wtahc
      @Wtahc 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@NameisU Yes, what elde would the bet be? lmao

    • @ir2001
      @ir2001 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      1. Thou Shant Lewd Kaori Any wise person could increase the complexity of the problem while preserving that basic odd edge which is the key to solve this problem. In this way your brute force approach shall be in force forever.

  • @stylesmarshall6990
    @stylesmarshall6990 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Thank you so much! I've tried with at least a dozen classrooms by know and I couldn't figure out how there were always survivors! I've used this info four times now and it has worked without fail!

  • @robharwood3538
    @robharwood3538 5 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    This was a surprisingly insightful video, connecting the simple idea of whether something is possible, to how to identify and understand invariants, to the final revelation of Euler's Characteristic, which I've seen before but never really understood. Thanks!! 😊
    You're on par with 3Blue1Brown, Mathologer, et al., but a little briefer, more collected, and more to-the-point. It makes your videos a little easier to digest, not requiring quite as much time spent. Truly great work, MajorPrep! Thanks again!

  • @galatic-wyvern2993
    @galatic-wyvern2993 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    6:00
    there is an easier proor.
    It is impossible to infect a student unless you have an infected student in their row or column.
    so... you need however many rows or columns there are.

  • @nikolayzapryanoff1032
    @nikolayzapryanoff1032 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    As always, awesome video, man! I usually save your videos to watch them right after I wake up. Helps me wake up with the perspective I want for the day.

  • @RandomGuy-pe7zs
    @RandomGuy-pe7zs 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    WHAAATTT THEEE *BEEP*
    It's my first video on this channel and how come I not realise till 7:49, its Zach

  • @_DarkKnight2301_
    @_DarkKnight2301_ 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    At 14:56 you could also just teleport right away and start from the outside point and weave your way around. Both ways work because you're starting at an odd numbered node.

    • @zachstar
      @zachstar  5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Yep! I actually saw that after having the animations done but didn’t want to change it lol

    • @_DarkKnight2301_
      @_DarkKnight2301_ 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@zachstar Lmao. It's all good. Always interesting to see new ways to view and approach a problem. Even ones where it's not complicated, but ideas can vary. Also, I would've done the same thing too lol. Love your videos. Keep up the good work, but dont overwork yourself.

    • @baertorv
      @baertorv 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The reasoning behind why it's possible with the teleport hole, is that it just makes the two "nodes" the same (since you can travel between them without restrictions), so you can just add their degree and get 14, which is even. Then you just start in one of the odd nodes :).

    • @qwazy01
      @qwazy01 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      So at 14:38 is the puzzle solvable? Or do the odd nodes need to be adjacent to either each other or the worm hole?

  • @akgamer1825
    @akgamer1825 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    13:31 ah yes, I didn't see the answer until you made that simple shape! Thank you

  • @garyhill68
    @garyhill68 5 ปีที่แล้ว +433

    Only be a robber in states with an even number of cities!
    Life hack...

    • @bruce4139
      @bruce4139 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      What?

    • @Mr48two
      @Mr48two 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      But what if the robber followed the police into that void?

    • @bruce4139
      @bruce4139 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Mr48two if that happened he would still be caught because if he touches the red then the police is on either neutral or and it will be your move or he will have to turn back and get cornered

    • @viktorvondoom9119
      @viktorvondoom9119 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Imagine someone getting caught and not being able to understand why they caught him... "But the math checks out!" Would be another case to study the Dunning-Kruger effect

    • @wgray8231
      @wgray8231 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      gotcha i.imgur.com/RYDDp16.png

  • @TataOwO
    @TataOwO 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    If we bring the question at 3:13 to Minecraft "Can you use only 4 water bucket to fill the 5x5 grid?" it will be a lot easier to think

  • @blazethefaith
    @blazethefaith 5 ปีที่แล้ว +202

    Never thought this would become useful, but the infection problem is just minecraft water spread mechanics. At least 2 adjacent water sources are needed to form a new one, and the least amount you can fill a square with is a diagonal of them, which would be the same as any given side. This just multiplies it by 4 and uses the perimeter.
    That's hilarious

    • @Hydrastic-bz5qm
      @Hydrastic-bz5qm 5 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      @@qbwkp because Minecraft is an accurate model of the universe.

    • @erinelizabeth9545
      @erinelizabeth9545 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Just VACCINATE YOUR CHILDREN

    • @sbunny8
      @sbunny8 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Diagonal is only one possible solution. It can be done without putting any sources on the diagonal.
      Here's an N=5 solution that doesn't use the diagonals.
      0 1 0 0 0
      1 0 0 0 1
      0 0 0 1 0
      0 0 0 0 0
      0 1 0 0 0

    • @ImLuna_az
      @ImLuna_az 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@erinelizabeth9545 Someone mentions Minecraft water physics
      You:

    • @unliving_ball_of_gas
      @unliving_ball_of_gas ปีที่แล้ว

      @@sbunny8 Or a more systematic way of doing it is to cover two connected sides of the square like an "L" as in:
      00001
      00001
      00001
      00001
      11111
      But then that would be wasting students since there are infected students that already have two neighbours at the start. So the most efficient way is to draw the "L" without infected students that already have two neighbours:
      00001
      00000
      00001
      00000
      10101

  • @NotHexaaaa
    @NotHexaaaa 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    2:16 Fun Fact: This puzzle can be visualized in Minecraft using Water since they share the same mechanics. Goal would be to make the hole filled with all source blocks.

  • @nextnormal8472
    @nextnormal8472 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1346

    Ah, math that i dont understand.
    Perfect.

  • @rubikvoncube3583
    @rubikvoncube3583 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    2:27
    *MINECRAFT WATER PHYSICS WANTS TO KNOW YOUR LOCATION*

  • @alvinpalmgren3442
    @alvinpalmgren3442 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    For anyone wondering how the V-E+F=2 works, here's a short explanation:
    When there's only 1 vertex, there is obviously no edges and the only face is the outer section, so V-E+F=1-0+1=2. If you add another vertex a new edge is also created, so the sum doesn't change. You can keep adding new vertices like this, and as long as you don't connect any old ones V-E is always going to stay the same (and since you're not creating any new faces F is not going to change either).
    If you connect two existing vertices, though, *only* an edge is going to be created - thus V-E is going to decrease by one. Meanwhile, a face is inevitably going to be created, and the total sum is going to remain two.

  • @negin1812
    @negin1812 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Anyone who plays chess can solve this puzzle 8:56 easily, we have the same concept in our game. Sometimes enemy king (let's call it black) is in the worse position, but you can't pushem away or change the situation on a board with your king, because black repeats your moves and don't let your king walk in. This triangle in the right bottom is the key, in chess we call that triangulation, when black can repeatedly do only 2 moves to repeat the position, but you can do 3 and so make the black go away. Surprised that knowledge of chess helped me with some math problem, chess actually is a great game to sharpen your mind because quite often you've got to solve such puzzles on a board to win. Great video btw, it took me several hours to watch it and solve everything

  • @WLY2718
    @WLY2718 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    My favourite TH-cam channel, you completely change the way I view mathematics and it’s applications

  • @jjtucker
    @jjtucker 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    The way I looked at the disease question is that when you initially select the infected desks, you are immediately choosing the parameters of how far the infection can spread. If you have a 5x5 square, and you put a student on (1,2) a student on (1,4) a student on (2,3) and a student on (2,5) then your parameters are going to be where the farthest x and y points meet. Since you're given a maximum of 4 people to infect, your parameters can never exceed 4x4, or 16 squares.

    • @jacoblillo1077
      @jacoblillo1077 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Like water source blocks in Minecraft

    • @wren_.
      @wren_. 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      and the furthest you can place your edges are at the corners. But you can’t have students at just (1,1) (2,2) (4,4) and (5,5), because they would just create 2 x 2 squares. You have to connect them which would mean you would have to have five students at least

    • @destructicon844
      @destructicon844 ปีที่แล้ว

      Idk if it was assumed that the classroom was a square, but my solution was: square root of area - one

  • @childofivy
    @childofivy 5 ปีที่แล้ว +579

    I CAN DO THE CONNECT THE 9 DOTS IN 1 LINE!!!
    *Uses a crayon without the wrapper and uses the side*

    • @efisgpr
      @efisgpr 5 ปีที่แล้ว +37

      A line has no width in geometry.

    • @Buttermommy
      @Buttermommy 5 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      @@windows_sky r/ihavereddit

    • @avamatthews1459
      @avamatthews1459 5 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      Y’all eat your crayons with or without the wrapper?

    • @aaronrocha7065
      @aaronrocha7065 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@avamatthews1459 you monster

    • @daddyofallcontent9955
      @daddyofallcontent9955 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@avamatthews1459 imagine eating the crayons 1 and 1

  • @giorgi4ever
    @giorgi4ever 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    3:12 simple as that for anyone who understands minecraft water

  • @lavalaph
    @lavalaph 5 ปีที่แล้ว +64

    The infected students thing is basically the same as filling up a hole in Minecraft such that the entire hole is filled with source blocks

    • @alexwang982
      @alexwang982 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      still_lava115 ya you need water source on diagonal, iirc

    • @nickcline3792
      @nickcline3792 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      functionally identical if you assume water cannot be picked back up and you only have 4 water buckets

  • @yoyoman_blue6485
    @yoyoman_blue6485 5 ปีที่แล้ว +208

    "Is this possible to infect all of the students?"
    "Answer: *NO"*
    Coronavirus: Hold my Chinese..

    • @collindrummer8116
      @collindrummer8116 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Holy crap that was funny how did no one like

    • @VahinSharma
      @VahinSharma 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@collindrummer8116 cuz they're chinese

    • @glumbortango7182
      @glumbortango7182 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@collindrummer8116 because this video is months old and this got commented only a day ago?

  • @Awseswa
    @Awseswa 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I subbed three years ago when I decided to go into engineering and didn't know what to major in (ended up choosing electrical). Glad I stayed subbed because your videos are becoming more and more interesting. Happy to see that you have gained so many subscribers because you seriously have such high content quality.

    • @zachstar
      @zachstar  5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thank you for the comment and glad you've stuck around!

  • @mihaleben6051
    @mihaleben6051 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    1:07 this is some weird minesweeper

  • @cycklist
    @cycklist 5 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Superb! Enjoyed that.

  • @sudarshandas4270
    @sudarshandas4270 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    10:11 this is a concept in the game of chess actually named as Zugzwang

  • @georgepaul6240
    @georgepaul6240 5 ปีที่แล้ว +124

    Is it possible? apparently sometimes it is and sometimes it isnt...
    Who could have known
    Great video btw

  • @sageknot7537
    @sageknot7537 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    For the students infected one, I'm surprised he didn't mention that the students have to be in a continuous diagonal line for maximum infection. And that the students form the edge of the square/rectangle, so it's impossible for the infection to move outward

    • @BryanLu0
      @BryanLu0 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Labelling rows with letter and columns with numbers, place infected students at a1 c1 e1 e3 and e5. This would create an L shape and the rest of the students would be infected spreading from the corner

    • @ambiverter
      @ambiverter ปีที่แล้ว

      @@BryanLu0 Good find!

    • @schwingedeshaehers
      @schwingedeshaehers ปีที่แล้ว

      It don't have to be diagonal for maximum efficiency

    • @schwingedeshaehers
      @schwingedeshaehers ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ​@@BryanLu0even other "shapes" work
      00100
      00000
      10101
      00000
      00100
      Works too
      But I think the l shape, is the on, that Takes the longes time to reach every cell

  • @Meari20
    @Meari20 5 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    This topic turned out to be very interesting, although it did not seem to me at first. Thank!

  • @PlasmaLink64
    @PlasmaLink64 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I came up with a slightly different method for the infected students. I noted that in order to completely span the length of a side, you need at least n/2 + 1/2 students, arranged in a X O X O X straight line. (I think for Even n, it's n/2 + 1, X O X O X X).
    You need to do this for horizontal, and vertical, otherwise the infection won't be able to reach every row/column. While you can share an infected student between the two lines (e.x. lines are top row and leftmost column, sharing the top left corner infected student), that still leaves n/2 + 1/2 + n/2 - 1/2 = n. For evens, it works out to n+1.
    So, it's not possible to infect all students with fewer than n infections.

  • @AbhishekAnshuuu
    @AbhishekAnshuuu 5 ปีที่แล้ว +40

    This channel surprisingly gives me feels like the Vsauce used to do.

    • @Naijiri.
      @Naijiri. 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      all hail vsauce

    • @kouimette
      @kouimette 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Watch Ted Ed

    • @KenKelvinN
      @KenKelvinN 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I'm pretty sure that I saw an video with these exactly same problems in one of the Michael's channels.

    • @AbhishekAnshuuu
      @AbhishekAnshuuu 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@KenKelvinN he has spread his contents over so many channels and its so hard to pinpoint this in his contents.

  • @nofficerr
    @nofficerr 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    2:00 is simple if you play minecraft and know anything about water source blocks

  • @FinetalPies
    @FinetalPies 5 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    lol the chasing the thief problem is so obvious to anyone who's played roguelikes

    • @LlamaLopez
      @LlamaLopez 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Exactly what I was thinking lol

  • @Derrad
    @Derrad ปีที่แล้ว

    Bruh .. am so used to ur sketch videos that when you suddenly popped up at 7:55 i was shook 😂 you got a range dont you 😂

  • @HeataveGaming
    @HeataveGaming 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    11:00 we litterally learned this in my a level further maths class today

  • @Deufurth
    @Deufurth 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Another way to prove the infected students involves looking at efficiency.
    The most efficient use of two tiles would be the max amount of squares two sources can infect. If you look at all possible arrangements of two sources, then the most efficient path would be the two squares connected by a corner, as this leads to two new infected. The new infections will always be generated inwards.
    This means that for efficiency, you would need to start at any corner, and work your way to the other. Since there will never be an infection on the sides that do not lead to a corner with another infected, there can never be spread in that direction, meaning that the most efficient amount of starting tiles (the smallest amount tiles to fill in the square), must be n.

  • @abyssalgodsword
    @abyssalgodsword 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    This came up in my recommended and the infected problem felt too real, very informative though good work!

  • @mrchof4875
    @mrchof4875 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    It has probably already been said, but something like the problem about the thief actually happens a lot in chess. When you reach the latest stages of the game with very few pieces (kings and pawns), you can find yourself in positions that would benefit one side or another depending on who has to move next. So the strategy involved is to "lose a tempo/move" by triangling with your king (using 3 moves to come back to the same spot, instead of 2) so you get the same position handing the turn to the other player and therefore forcing him to let you some space on the board. It's kind of hard to portrait really, but it is not that of an advanced tip you learn in chess, but still it made me instantly find the solution for this problem

  • @fj2921
    @fj2921 2 ปีที่แล้ว +119

    The problem of the infected students could be viewed as Minecraft water sources spreading. It's really the same concept.

  • @Kelvoraax
    @Kelvoraax 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The infected Students problem seems very reminiscent of Conway’s Game of Life

  • @UODZU-P
    @UODZU-P 5 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    when you intuitively know the proof around 4:00 because its the same as minecraft water physics

  • @PositronQ
    @PositronQ 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    4:40 only 3*3 is infected but only with one recursion and the other is increase in log

  • @gawys28
    @gawys28 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    2:22 Ah the good old minecraft pool problem
    There's a more intuitive way to resolve it though

    • @gawys28
      @gawys28 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The same goes with the thief problem

  • @klemo2529
    @klemo2529 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    2:25 this is exactly how water works in minecraft, you can pick it up with a bucket if it's a full block of water, if it's a (corrient? sorry, english is not my language) you can't, if you put two buckets..... I will not explain this, if you dont understand, watch this video again

  • @silentoccasion4359
    @silentoccasion4359 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    For the first problem, you can connect all dots in 3 lines. Just connect all the columns then tilt the lines and expand. The line will then intercept at some point

    • @DjDJ-sd1un
      @DjDJ-sd1un ปีที่แล้ว

      What do you mean?

  • @worldsokayestdrummer7700
    @worldsokayestdrummer7700 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    14:44 You could just go through the hole to go outside and have that be your new “starting point” lol

  • @orlemley5789
    @orlemley5789 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    When watching the part at 4:10 i just kept thinking about infinite water sources in minecraft

  • @Anna.Feather
    @Anna.Feather ปีที่แล้ว

    7:42 For this one I can up with a non-mathematical solution(I’m not sure if this is 100% correct since I only doubled checked this in my head mentally and it is late where I am’ In the “grid” of students, if at least one row/column of students doesn’t have an infected, the not everyone in the class will get infected. I don’t know if I explained this clearly. But basically in that column/row no students could get infected, there is a case that if there is a column/row had two infected in either side, the student in between in the before non-infected row/column, but for that to happen you would need to sacrifice another column/row becoming empty. Again, I don’t know if this is 100% correct and I don’t think I explained it that well. So I am probably wrong.

  • @NStripleseven
    @NStripleseven 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    2:42 See also: Minecraft water source generation

  • @vafkamat
    @vafkamat 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    love this video - good work Zach

  • @thesmallestbeast1152
    @thesmallestbeast1152 4 ปีที่แล้ว +50

    No, no, they just close the schools at that point. Believe me, we know.
    -The Future

    • @vstorm8339
      @vstorm8339 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Let's get 20 dislikes too, so it's also signed 2020.

  • @quirkycubing5630
    @quirkycubing5630 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    This channel is awesome! I'm considering a career in statistics, and this channel is just feeding that idea. I love this channel!!!

  • @-sturmfalke-
    @-sturmfalke- 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    The first one was a challenge our math teacher once gave us.
    Me, not knowing the point of the riddle, just connected three points downwards, and then FOLDED the paper, so that the line actually connected all nine. I just thought of controlling space to get what I want, because I didn't got it right.
    Big Brain or dumb failure of the rules? He said its good.
    Sorry for the bad sentences, I usually don't speak english very often.

    • @qwazy01
      @qwazy01 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I guess you were allowed to lift the pencil off the paper then

    • @jakej2680
      @jakej2680 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      You could also solve it by backtracking the pencil along existing line segments. You're not taking the pencil off of the paper and are not creating additional line segments, merely re-tracing existing segments.

    • @-sturmfalke-
      @-sturmfalke- 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Tom Petitdidier Thank you for your help!

  • @sheriff332
    @sheriff332 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Pls pls pls read this bcoz I took a long time to think it and literally, I am an 11yr old.
    11:07
    I can draw it
    Without taking the pencil off the paper or without drawing the same edge twice
    I will use a vertex twice bcoz it wasn't mentioned
    It is a pentagon
    Let the topmost point be A
    The down left one B
    The down right one C
    The one in the middle of the pentagon D
    The one between A and B will be E
    And the one between A and C will be F
    So start from F
    Go to E
    Go to A
    Go to D
    Go to B
    Go to C
    Again go to F
    Then go to A
    Ta da!!!!

    • @santoriomaker69
      @santoriomaker69 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Aww, you tried, but now you can't draw the line from B to E.

    • @sheriff332
      @sheriff332 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@santoriomaker69 that's right sir
      I tried my best though

  • @socks2423
    @socks2423 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    the problem at 5:18 (infected students) felt realy easy to me. I could just tell how it would work for some reason. Then I realized, it is the same as water spreading mechanics in minecraft.

    • @mkks4559
      @mkks4559 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I knew solving it felt familiar. Making aquariums in Minecraft is useful.

  • @Pomodorosan
    @Pomodorosan ปีที่แล้ว +1

    3:20 the infection can never grow outward towards the edge without there being an initial infection, so you must have infected nodes on the edges, then work from there

  • @alialmezel2929
    @alialmezel2929 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    3:42 ... one of the instructors last name is " Van Dijk " !

  • @NjeriNdonga
    @NjeriNdonga 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    It's past midnight. I should be sleeping. But first, let's solve problems I will never encounter.

  • @telotawa
    @telotawa 5 ปีที่แล้ว +31

    2:08 everyone who knows how water spreads in minecraft has an intuitive understanding of this problem

    • @LL-pl2ek
      @LL-pl2ek 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I dont have Minecraft

    • @weskerposting
      @weskerposting 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      L L uncultured

    • @wewladstbh
      @wewladstbh 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@LL-pl2ek it's 25 dollars poor boy!!!! get outta here workin class bitch!!!!

    • @LL-pl2ek
      @LL-pl2ek 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@wewladstbh
      Did you think baby me could?

    • @wewladstbh
      @wewladstbh 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@LL-pl2ek I didn't realise I was in contact with an infant! My apologies!

  • @loafes1352
    @loafes1352 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    The problem at 8:43 reminded me of the opposition in chess and how often you need to triangulate the king in alot of pawn endgames

  • @Braycoe
    @Braycoe 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    3:35 beaver flu: a rare variant of bird flu that lasts forever
    *uh oh*

  • @SlyRocko
    @SlyRocko ปีที่แล้ว

    1:53 This problem actually has a pretty interesting application in Minecraft:
    Water blocks technically have two different states: Source water blocks that can be collected, and rushing water blocks that cannot.
    Rushing water can be converted to source water using the same exact rules shown, and it is also proven there that the absolute minimum source water blocks needed to fill a pool of nxn size has to be n blocks.

  • @evanbutler1396
    @evanbutler1396 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    So he said no pun intended for the opening problem, but that's literally where "thinking outside the box" came from.

    • @Ten_Thousand_Locusts
      @Ten_Thousand_Locusts 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      No it's not

    • @evanbutler1396
      @evanbutler1396 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Ten_Thousand_Locusts mate, yes it is.

    • @Ten_Thousand_Locusts
      @Ten_Thousand_Locusts 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@evanbutler1396 it's literally not

    • @evanbutler1396
      @evanbutler1396 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Ten_Thousand_Locusts then what is the origin? I've presented a point, all you've said is I'm wrong without presenting any evidence to the contrary.

    • @Ten_Thousand_Locusts
      @Ten_Thousand_Locusts 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@evanbutler1396 burden of proof isn't on me dumbass, you're the one making ridiculous statements out here not me.

  • @rineft7737
    @rineft7737 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I learned more stuff about math then i did in my entire year in algrebra 1

  • @tankigamingwithrichardrock9930
    @tankigamingwithrichardrock9930 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    9:48 is like triangulation of the king in chess

  • @firedropcutie
    @firedropcutie 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Did anyone else notice the infected student puzzle is basically just minecraft water source creation?

  • @Avarioth
    @Avarioth 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    My mother once had me try to solve the 1st puzzle on this list and while it did take me like 20 minutes (I refused to give up!), the phrase "thinking outside the box" occurred to me as I was taking a bathroom break (lol), so I asked my mother if the dots were restrictive. As in, was I ONLY allowed to draw directly from dot to dot. She said no, I didn't have to... after which it pretty much solved itself xP. But yeah, that even occurring to me did take a long time...

  • @СтроительФриз-р2ж
    @СтроительФриз-р2ж 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The way i see the box problem is this (sorry for my english)
    Disease can spread only in a boundaries of your X-es, like if you could draw a rectangle in the box that includes all the X-es, disease cannot spread more than that, and so with 4 X-es you can cover maximum 4x4 square, and its not enough for spreading disease to all

  • @rayanzz1410
    @rayanzz1410 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I thought this video would be about an unlock pattern, lol

  • @yummydragon8533
    @yummydragon8533 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    15:26 “congratulations! you closed all doors!”
    “what is my reward?”
    “you get to stay in this house forever!”

  • @triniasta
    @triniasta 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    0:20 There can be thicc line wich connect all dots xD

  • @GaussianEntity
    @GaussianEntity 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    The example at 10:00 is basically opposition in Chess. You triangulate with your King to end up 2 squares away from the opposing King to force them to either move back or move aside, similar to syncing up with the same type of city as the thief. The cornering of the thief is another Chess concept called zugzwang. The thief has no good moves to make since every move is a forced loss. You use opposition to force the opponent into zugzwang in both.

  • @l3nn4rt24
    @l3nn4rt24 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Yeah :D her ist the first english speaking person who pronounces Euler correctly :DDD 16:30

    • @KTF055
      @KTF055 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      and I was watching the node-stuff asking myself the whole time: will he mention Euler at some point... wasn't disappointed but had to wait quite a while...

  • @BigDBrian
    @BigDBrian 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    for the question at 1:40 i looked at it differently. divide the board into black and white 2x2s. Notice that there are 25 2x2s, which means there's not the same amount of black and white on the board. However, any tile you place will cover the same amount of black and white spots. This contradiction means it's impossible.

  • @sarasotauptoseattle
    @sarasotauptoseattle 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I believe the "9 dot game" is where the term "think outside the box" actually comes from, so you were actually right on point.

  • @tothm129
    @tothm129 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    these type of videos are usually frustrating but i actually learned something

  • @iicy8871
    @iicy8871 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I’m sorry, but… What did I just learn?

  • @aMEZAingDom
    @aMEZAingDom 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Zach on the house problem: “this would be difficult to brute force
    Me who gets it first try: “yes, this is big brain time”

  • @kaysome85
    @kaysome85 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    5:36 what if you just put the students in a diagonal line

    • @DaDerpyCarrot
      @DaDerpyCarrot 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      it doesn't work either if there's only four, there will still be 9 that won't be infected, which are all the ones at the edge.

    • @Caelestus59
      @Caelestus59 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      The X and Y determines the capacity. If you have four, then the max length is four.

    • @Avarioth
      @Avarioth 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@DaDerpyCarrot - Won't necessarily be on the edge, but yes, 9 won't be infected, lol.

  • @SkylarsTerribleMemes
    @SkylarsTerribleMemes 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    11:08 so if i can't take my pencil off the paper, can i just use someone else's pencil?

  • @ArnavBarbaad
    @ArnavBarbaad 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    You were just 5 months too early with the classroom example. It is now our reality.

  • @IsraeliXdude
    @IsraeliXdude 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    0:44
    Any grid XY can be covered by rectangulars where XY/xy=natural number

  • @doncor.leon.e
    @doncor.leon.e 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    14:20. Who also thought that your battery is low? xD

    • @hermanc1517
      @hermanc1517 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      No cus i have iPhone

    • @BabaFroga
      @BabaFroga 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@hermanc1517 you want to say that your battery is always low?

    • @gdultimateswe0418
      @gdultimateswe0418 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      No IPhone is best

  • @davidvarga2916
    @davidvarga2916 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    10:25 simpler method to answer door issue: count the doors in each room. You have 3 rooms with 5 doors and 2 rooms with 4 doors.
    let's say that each time you pass a door in the same room you add +1
    For example a single room with 5 doors and you start outside the house: Go in 1 go out 2 go in 3 go out 4 go in 5 all the doors are closed but you're stuck inside 😂 so you're unable to continue if there are more rooms.
    Now let's say we have 2 rooms with 5 doors each, but now we start inside one of the rooms so now our last door in room 1 will get us out and we can enter the second room and basically do the same as we did in the first example and get stuck inside 😂
    if you have 3 rooms with 5 doors you are stuck cause you can't have more than 2 rooms with uneven number of doors and it also doesn't matter what number of doors they have if they are all uneven. Each time you encounter a room with an uneven number of doors you can only go in and out in pairs till you get to the last door in which case you have to exit if you want to continue to the next room but that only works once and you will never reach the 3rd room with uneven doors.