Impossible Squares - Numberphile

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 มิ.ย. 2024
  • Ben Sparks shows us a simple problem that takes some fascinating twists.
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  • วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี

ความคิดเห็น • 834

  • @numberphile
    @numberphile  4 ปีที่แล้ว +59

    Catch a more in-depth interview with Ben on our Numberphile Podcast: th-cam.com/video/-tGni9ObJWk/w-d-xo.html

    • @bradensorensen966
      @bradensorensen966 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      What if you make a slanty square... INSIDE a slanty square?

    • @krishdevi6433
      @krishdevi6433 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Is there an equation (or equations) for the sequence/s of odd numbers that are the result of the sum of two squares? (Not including 0^2 + n^2) For example: 5 13 17 25 29 37 41 45 53...? Where you put in 'n' and it gives you the number in the sequence?

    • @tarynleffler2606
      @tarynleffler2606 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@krishdevi6433 I would also like to know this.

    • @dont5014
      @dont5014 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      WOWW YOU DON'T READ MY PROFILE PICTURE 😶😶❌❌

  • @howsjimmysocool
    @howsjimmysocool 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1613

    I was yelling at my computer asking why the area wasnt being solved using pythagoras - and then he surprised me with it being a proof for pythagoras...

    • @oldcowbb
      @oldcowbb 4 ปีที่แล้ว +98

      exactly, i was about to comment "this is a wasted chance to use pythagoras "

    • @eve8372
      @eve8372 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Haha same here!

    • @AngryDuck79
      @AngryDuck79 4 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      Me too. Pythagoras jumped out at me about a minute in and he took eight minutes to get around to it lol

    • @kezzyhko
      @kezzyhko 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Yep, started writing a comment already, then decided to check if there is already such a comment

    • @saint_n9ne
      @saint_n9ne 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Was looking for this comment...

  • @itwasinthispositionerinoag7414
    @itwasinthispositionerinoag7414 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1311

    Rubik's cube in the background feeling all superior with its extra dimension

    • @darksnowman7192
      @darksnowman7192 4 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      Never thought to meet a kripperino on numberphile

    • @claymournesden8705
      @claymournesden8705 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Continuum transfunctioner

    • @praveenanookala4457
      @praveenanookala4457 4 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      Another agadmator fan!

    • @ffynloparnell1888
      @ffynloparnell1888 4 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      Klein bottle next to it feeling superior with its fourth dimension

    • @chronyx685
      @chronyx685 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      dark snowman kripp was not carried by annihilan battlemaster this game

  • @numberphile
    @numberphile  4 ปีที่แล้ว +1526

    This was filmed BEFORE the lockdown but edited during it! :) - Brady

    • @stevemattero1471
      @stevemattero1471 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      What a great topic! Why 4k+3 and not 4k+1?

    • @MrPictor
      @MrPictor 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      @@stevemattero1471 Watch mathologers's videos.

    • @anantkerur557
      @anantkerur557 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      4k+3 is equivalent to 4k+4-1 which is the same as one less than a multiple of 4 [ 4k-1]. Note that these 'k's are different

    • @jojojorisjhjosef
      @jojojorisjhjosef 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Illegal maths meeting.

    • @yaminireddy5157
      @yaminireddy5157 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Ahh ,i was just about to ask. :)

  • @chrismcdonald6195
    @chrismcdonald6195 4 ปีที่แล้ว +865

    "We're getting square numbers because we're drawing squares."
    FINALLY - something on Numberphile I kinda know already!

    • @caleblewis8169
      @caleblewis8169 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      What's a square

    • @rexlapis3126
      @rexlapis3126 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Quadrilateral

    • @rameshshinde4488
      @rameshshinde4488 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Hi

    • @dont5014
      @dont5014 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      WOWW YOU DON'T READ MY PROFILE PICTURE 😶😶❌❌

    • @svz5990
      @svz5990 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@dont5014because your name says Don't!

  • @CursedJoker
    @CursedJoker 4 ปีที่แล้ว +488

    I'm sure that if you go and film Matt Parker long enough, he'll come up with some "kinda possible" Squares.

    • @nanamacapagal8342
      @nanamacapagal8342 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      3.

    • @quinn7894
      @quinn7894 4 ปีที่แล้ว +37

      *cough* *cough* classic Parker square

    • @jackwilliams7193
      @jackwilliams7193 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      well done

    • @caleblewis8169
      @caleblewis8169 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Parker squares

    • @dont5014
      @dont5014 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      WOWW YOU DON'T READ MY PROFILE PICTURE 😶😶❌❌

  • @craigmcqueen7992
    @craigmcqueen7992 4 ปีที่แล้ว +188

    7:03 That was a real pleasure to see how such an elegant proof of Pythagoras' theorem just popped out like that.

    • @EnteiFire4
      @EnteiFire4 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I really like the one without algebra, where you rearrange the four triangles to make two rectangles, where one on the top left corner horizontally, and the other is on the bottom right vertically. The rest of the square is made of a square of side "a" and a square of side "b".

    • @svz5990
      @svz5990 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@dont5014why the chicken kfc borgor are you everywhere?

  • @midwinter78
    @midwinter78 4 ปีที่แล้ว +366

    As soon as I saw the square-in-a-square diagram, I started yelling "that's the square on the hypotenuse!"

    • @GuyNamedSean
      @GuyNamedSean 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      I realized that as well! I also roundabout found my way toward the theorem behind what numbers are and are not candidates.

    • @loganstrong5426
      @loganstrong5426 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Same! Which made it pretty obvious to me that any square you can make has an area that is the sum of two squares.

    • @criskity
      @criskity 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Me too, and I was wondering why he decided to go the messier route by subtracting the areas of 4 triangles. Pythagoras is right there to begin with!

    • @fredresz7773
      @fredresz7773 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Logan Strong
      Stumbling across little gems like this and the comment from GuyNamedSean above is what really deepened my love for math!

    • @lamusicadepedrovicente
      @lamusicadepedrovicente 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      yes! it got me a bit nervous they not using that to find the area

  • @MozartJunior22
    @MozartJunior22 4 ปีที่แล้ว +328

    8:52
    It's amazing how Brady has developed a mathematician's mind after all these years of doing these vidoes. This is exactly the question a mathematician would ask

    • @inigo8740
      @inigo8740 4 ปีที่แล้ว +52

      When I first found the channel, I had no idea he wasn't a maths guy, he really seemed to know. Of course after having watched many videos and having learned about the channel, I can now tell a bit he isn't originally a math guy. But you can also see he's getting a bit of a hang on it.

    • @Liggliluff
      @Liggliluff 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I wished we were given an answer to that question.

    • @alessandrofelisi6037
      @alessandrofelisi6037 4 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      ​@@Liggliluff They become "less sparse" as you go up! In fact, they tend to "fill" all the natural numbers, in a certain sense.

    • @jamieg2427
      @jamieg2427 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      He's been filming Numberphile long enough that some of his first viewers could have gotten a masters in math twice over.

    • @RipleySawzen
      @RipleySawzen 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@alessandrofelisi6037 Do you have a list of these somewhere or a proof of this?

  • @Dude-sr4ji
    @Dude-sr4ji 4 ปีที่แล้ว +81

    7:20 why do I feel like I just got rickrolled by Pythagoras?

    • @dovahseod
      @dovahseod 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      You got Pythagorasrolled

    • @TangoWolf09
      @TangoWolf09 26 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Pythagorolled

  • @edwardstennett4794
    @edwardstennett4794 4 ปีที่แล้ว +93

    Ben Sparks is by far my favourite TH-cam mathematician. His knack for explaining things in a way that's easy to understand for pretty much anyone makes maths so much more accessible. I regularly rewatch his videos - would love to see him do even more videos on Chaos.

    • @fredresz7773
      @fredresz7773 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Edward Stennett
      Man I love all of the people on this channel! ALL of them!
      They’re all so fun to watch and enjoy math with.

    • @apothecurio
      @apothecurio 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      I feel sometimes the guests can speak pretty dryly. Ben Sparks is NOT one of these guests. Not by any means whatsoever.

    • @dont5014
      @dont5014 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      WOWW YOU DON'T READ MY PROFILE PICTURE

    • @adamqazsedc
      @adamqazsedc 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      He is, a math teacher

  • @mariosonicfan2010
    @mariosonicfan2010 4 ปีที่แล้ว +348

    "suddenly there's this deep glimpse of maths that goes way beyond what they're ready for"
    you make it sound like math is some ancient forbidden arcane knowledge or something

    • @sergey1519
      @sergey1519 4 ปีที่แล้ว +141

      ancient, not forbidden, maybe arcane

    • @ruben307
      @ruben307 4 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      It is.

    • @leonthethird7494
      @leonthethird7494 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      So pretentious

    • @atimholt
      @atimholt 4 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      Well, he’s talking about 9 year olds.
      I remember having those kinds of epiphanies, if only because the curriculum was geared specifically to lead down a logical path.

    • @Codricmon
      @Codricmon 4 ปีที่แล้ว +68

      The dark side of mathematics is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be... unnatural.

  • @maxharrison9020
    @maxharrison9020 4 ปีที่แล้ว +148

    PLEASE DO A PODCAST WITH THIS MAN

    • @TimothyReeves
      @TimothyReeves 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Done recently

    • @robertveith6383
      @robertveith6383 9 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Stop yelling your post in all caps.

  • @chrisbersabal102
    @chrisbersabal102 4 ปีที่แล้ว +142

    3:10 i thought i am the only who does that pen cover thing

  • @Peetzaahhh
    @Peetzaahhh 4 ปีที่แล้ว +185

    5:41 in and I'm bewildered how Pythagoras didn't come up
    EDIT: 7:24 oh it’s because he’s proving it

    • @matthewlyons6544
      @matthewlyons6544 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Peetzaahhh this was exactly what I was thinking. In my head I was shouting Pythagoras, but then realised the reason it wasn’t referenced was because it was being proved!

    • @pickles974
      @pickles974 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Peter Attia when did you stop learning maths and how old are you? I'm asking a bunch of people in the comments because I'm assuming people who are amazed by this video must be about 11 years old or younger.

    • @mhr6780
      @mhr6780 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@pickles974 🙄

    • @OwlyFisher
      @OwlyFisher 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@pickles974 rude. not all of us intuit maths

    • @adamqazsedc
      @adamqazsedc 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@pickles974 yknow how this video isn't _just_ about The Pythagorean Theorem.

  • @waltercisneros9535
    @waltercisneros9535 4 ปีที่แล้ว +44

    7:10
    "We prove Pythagoras"
    *drops mic*

  • @ZachGatesHere
    @ZachGatesHere 4 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    Ben has this knack for taking something we all know about and hitting from a different direction and I love it.

    • @jeremyrixon150
      @jeremyrixon150 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      This!

    • @dont5014
      @dont5014 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      WOWW YOU DON'T READ MY PROFILE PICTURE

  • @Wigglemice
    @Wigglemice 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    6:42 as soon as I saw this, I was like, "Ohhh of course! That's how you visualize the Pythagorean theorem! I should have seen that sooner!" Man, I love those ah ha moments.

  • @cfgauss71
    @cfgauss71 4 ปีที่แล้ว +68

    The real question we want answered: where does that ladder lead to?

    • @Bibibosh
      @Bibibosh 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Arthur Clay hahaha !!!! Nice observation

    • @labiadhchokri2124
      @labiadhchokri2124 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      It leads to z axis

    • @ChocoHearts
      @ChocoHearts 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      It leads to Dennis, of course.

    • @trueriver1950
      @trueriver1950 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Clue: This was filmed just before lockdown, when Covid-awareness was rising.
      It's the emergency escape in case the other person coughed unexpectedly.
      Hold breath while outclimbing the viral aerosols and on exit breathe out before inhaling.
      Luckily we subsequently thought of using masks.

  • @DouglasZwick
    @DouglasZwick 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    At 11:20, I was really hoping he was going to circle the number on his screen with that marker.

    • @stevejobs5488
      @stevejobs5488 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That moment made me go 😬

  • @AdamBomb5794
    @AdamBomb5794 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    That one 3Blue1Brown video of which coordinates are on a circle just popped into my mind.

    • @zackszekely6618
      @zackszekely6618 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Because you can't have an odd number of threes 😃

    • @programmingpi314
      @programmingpi314 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      also that video hints at another way of finding if a square is possible or not.

    • @RajSingh-qp9st
      @RajSingh-qp9st 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      8837666846

  • @stefanjoeres7149
    @stefanjoeres7149 4 ปีที่แล้ว +598

    Is area 51 possible?

    • @stydras3380
      @stydras3380 4 ปีที่แล้ว +166

      51 is 3*17 and the power of 3 is odd, so no :0

    • @MattiaConti
      @MattiaConti 4 ปีที่แล้ว +102

      President send me a message to eliminate this comment as soon as possible

    • @brokenwave6125
      @brokenwave6125 4 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      Area 51 was an inside job

    • @Jivvi
      @Jivvi 4 ปีที่แล้ว +62

      @@brokenwave6125 if it was an outside job, it would be area ∞-51.

    • @robo3007
      @robo3007 4 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      @@stydras3380 Proof that mathematics was invented by the government to cover up their secrets!

  • @MrCreeper20k
    @MrCreeper20k 4 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    I’d be interested to see this extended into 3D. Might be a little more tedious than insightful though

    • @HeavyMetalMouse
      @HeavyMetalMouse 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      In 3D... Assume (0,0,0) is a vertex, and lattice point (a,b,c) is a vertex (with integers a,b,c >=0). The other two vertices on the cube 'adjacent' to the origin in the other two directions would need to be of the form (x,y,z) and satisfy
      ax + by + cz = 0 (perpendicular to (a,b,c)
      and
      (x^2) + (y^2) + (z^2) = (a^2) + (b^2) + (c^2)
      and
      x,y,z in the Integers
      At this point, I'm not entirely sure what method to use to show when you can find two suitable lattice points satisfying those conditions. But if you do, then you get the other four for free, as they're just adding together the vectors, and adding integers always yields integers.
      If you want to know what *integer* volumes of the cubes are possible, then you also are restricting your search to cases where sqrt(a^2 + b^2 + c^2)^3 is an integer, which only happens when sqrt(a^2 + b^2 + c^2) is an integer. In which case, your solution set is some subset of the cube numbers.
      However, all cubed integers are, by definition, formable on lattice points (just take the orthogonal points), therefore any solution that could theoretically be formed by a 'tilted' cube must also be formed by a non-tilted cube.
      Therefore, if you only want integer cube volumes, the solution is a trivial "All integers of the form s^3, where s is a positive integer.", as as any tilted cube on the lattice points must have a either a volume in that set, or a non-integer volume.

  • @danjtitchener
    @danjtitchener 4 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Occurs to me that this is similar to the infinite forest problem, when it was asked which trees could you see!

    • @clockworkkirlia7475
      @clockworkkirlia7475 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Oooh, I don't know that one! It sounds interesting.

    • @timh.6872
      @timh.6872 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      If each grid point has a line orthagonal to the plane (representing a tree trunk), and you stood near the origin, can you see the horizon? If so, how much?

    • @anandsuralkar8376
      @anandsuralkar8376 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Right

  • @MarcDittner
    @MarcDittner 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    I agree with Ben, this is also my favourite proof of Pythagoras.

  • @nymalous3428
    @nymalous3428 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    This was unreasonably interesting for me. I find myself compelled to make a spreadsheet with [a,b] possibilities...

  • @Cardgames4children
    @Cardgames4children 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    It's also my favorite proof of the Pythagorean theorem. It's so simple and intuitive.

  • @Bibibosh
    @Bibibosh 4 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    We need part two.
    This guy is awesome!!!!!
    The idea is awesooooooome!!
    This channel is _________!!!!!!!!

    • @dascha78
      @dascha78 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      ...awes(49*o)me

    • @Filipnalepa
      @Filipnalepa 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      ... Numberphile?

  • @Danilego
    @Danilego 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    7:08 Oh man, I wasn't expecting that! It must be the simplest proof of pythagoras

  • @mikedrewson5545
    @mikedrewson5545 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Wow, I did not expect this to be a proof of Pythagoras. This is why math is amazing.

  • @danielstephenson7558
    @danielstephenson7558 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Ben Sparks' videos are some of the most watchable videos. The Mandelbrot videos. the Golden Ratio and the Chaos Game are among my favourites.

  • @raginghobbit3018
    @raginghobbit3018 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    That pythagoras' proof is so smooth and satisfying, I absolutely love it

  • @snowingbook
    @snowingbook 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Klein Bottle in the background : **exists and Ben doesn't mention it**
    Clifford Stoll : YOU HAVE SINNED, MORTAL

  • @ricardovalentin5056
    @ricardovalentin5056 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Thanks Brady, for that great time of pure mathematics.

  • @mr.researcher2736
    @mr.researcher2736 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Numberphile is just incredible, I love this, the best thing is that the best people explain everything

  • @wj11jam78
    @wj11jam78 4 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    This video was excellently done, because in the first few minutes I had essentially watched the whole thing.
    The information was presented in a way which meant that I could easily jump ahead, and figure out the formulas and proofs on my own, without the explanation.
    It made all the math behind the problem jump out at me. As soon as I saw the triangles, I knew Pythagorean theorem was coming, so I tried it out, and the whole thing solved itself.
    I'm not the best at math, especially algebra (though I do love geometry), so props to this guy. Really intuitive way of teaching this.

  • @anantkerur557
    @anantkerur557 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    At 4:03, You can get numbers that are of the form a²+b², so 5 = 2²+1², 9 = 3²+0², and so on, but you can't write three as such.
    Edit: Yes!! I never knew such a simple problem could be so intricate and advanced!

    • @judychurley6623
      @judychurley6623 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      but you cant have a side of 0 units...

    • @tomwakefield1726
      @tomwakefield1726 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@judychurley6623 the two numbers are the sides of the triangles which creates the slant. If you have a 0 it just means that the triangle is just a straight line, so there's no slant

    • @praveenanookala4457
      @praveenanookala4457 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Nice

    • @judychurley6623
      @judychurley6623 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@tomwakefield1726 it's the length of the sides of the triangles that are squared.

    • @renpnal229
      @renpnal229 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Seven-ez5ux The actual proof of the fact that a number can be expressed as a sum of two square if and only if its prime factorization contains no primes of the form 4k + 3 raised to an odd power.

  • @pureza2988
    @pureza2988 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    me: *watches these math/geometry videos*
    my math homework sitting on my desk: [sadness noises]

  • @theblackeagle48
    @theblackeagle48 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Square at 1:41 remembered me the last puzzle of Profesor Layton and the mysterious village lol

  • @pietrocelano23
    @pietrocelano23 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    the animation at 2:50 made me think immediately of the 3b1b video about primes and circles, so i know where this is going!

    • @agr.9410
      @agr.9410 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Pietro Celano I was reminded of the exact same thing!

  • @Lotrfan2004
    @Lotrfan2004 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    One of my favorite hosts. He goes over some of the coolest stuff. Also he seems like a super nice guy

  • @tamirerez2547
    @tamirerez2547 4 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    3= 2^2 + i^2

    • @anantkerur557
      @anantkerur557 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      That leads to a interesting question - what if we allowed Complex numbers?

    • @sergey1519
      @sergey1519 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@anantkerur557 it is easy to see that it is equivalent to just searching
      for a²±b²=c solutions

    • @diogor379
      @diogor379 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@anantkerur557 My intuition would be that instead of a grid of dots we would have a space of dots to work with. The area 3 square would have to be "lifted" in space by one of its corners into the complex axis I think.

    • @alansmithee419
      @alansmithee419 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      You can't travel a distance i on the square grid, making this not applicable.

    • @alfeberlin
      @alfeberlin 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@diogor379 Intuition then fails us because even if we drew the imaginary part in a third dimension, the squares stretching into this would appear to grow with a growing imaginary part, but mathematically they should shrink.

  • @patrickryckman3867
    @patrickryckman3867 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Those squares you drew at the end that created a spiral, I bet the rate that they grow at is some metallic ratio.

  • @sumdumbmick
    @sumdumbmick 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    @9:00
    I love that you describe this as a problem that you personally have no intuition about. So often I see mathematicians and scientists talk about intuition as something that is universal, and so if they don't have a good intuition about something they're highly likely to write the entire human race off as having no intuition about it, which is astoundingly solipsistic really. So it deserves mention and respect that you did not fall into that pattern at all but demonstrated recognition that you are but one of many minds, and just because you lack knowledge or intuition about something does not imply that others necessarily would as well.
    To be perfectly clear, I also have absolutely no intuition about this particular thing, but I quite expect that some people do.

  • @codynatof5901
    @codynatof5901 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks. Cheered me up

  • @ffggddss
    @ffggddss 4 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    "Which numbers are possible?" Ans: All the 2-square numbers; i.e., any number that's a sum of two squares.
    0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 16, etc.
    Not 3, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, etc.
    Reason: once you draw one side of the square, the rest is determined (but allowing reflection across the initial side).
    That side must connect a pair of grid dots, the square of whose separation, s, is always a sum of two squares : s² = ∆x² + ∆y².
    But the square's area *is* just A = s² = ∆x² + ∆y²
    And of course, ∆x & ∆y are always integers.
    PS: The method he uses to prove Pythagoras is, I believe, due to James A. Garfield, when he was schoolteacher, before becoming 20th president of the US.
    PPS: The characterization of the 2-square numbers is based on characterizing primes in the ring of complex integers. [If you don't know what a mathematical ring is, don't pay it any mind - it isn't necessary; it just might help a little if you do know.]
    Warning: This gets a bit heavy, which is probably why it isn't in the video, so proceed at your own risk!
    Real primes can be sorted into 3 classes, modulo 4 [when dividing any integer by 4, the remainder is one of: 0, 1, 2, or 3; equivalently, 0, ±1, or 2]:
    There are no primes that are 0 mod 4. (i.e., no multiples of 4 are prime!)
    There's only 1 prime that's 2 mod 4; 2 itself.
    All others are ±1 mod 4 [I.e., 1 or 3 mod 4].
    2 can trivially be written as a sum of 2 squares: 2 = 1 + 1.
    Any number that is -1 mod 4, cannot, because all squares are 0 or 1 mod 4, so any sum of two of them can only be 0, 1, or 2 mod 4; never 3 == -1 mod 4.
    So among real primes, only 2, and the +1 mod 4 primes, can be written as a sum of 2 squares. It so happens that all +1 primes can be written as a sum of 2 squares - I'm not recalling the proof of that at this time. [I invite anyone who knows how to do that, to show it here!]
    So among the complex integers, the +1 primes are composite, being factorable into a product of 2 complex integers:
    p = a² + b² = (a + bi)(a - bi)
    while the -1 primes remain prime, because any product of 2 complex integers must be a conjugate pair in order for the product to be real; and such a product is necessarily a sum of 2 squares, which in turn, cannot be -1 mod 4.
    Now, the _coup de grace._ For complex numbers, the squared modulus [modulus = its "length"] of a product of them is the product of their squared moduli:
    w = u + vi; z = x + yi; wz = (ux-vy) + (uy+vx)i
    |w|² = u² + v² ; |z|² = x² + y²
    |w|²|z|² = |wz|² ; that is,
    (x² + y²)(u² + v²) = (ux-vy)² + (uy+vx)² . . . [This can be verified by simply expanding both sides.]
    Thus showing that a product of a pair of 2-square numbers is again a 2-square number.
    Now consider the prime factorization of any positive integer, N.
    Factor out any squares; that is, any prime, p, raised to a power ≥ 2, can be factored into p times an even power of p, which is thus p times a square.
    You now have N = one big product of squares, which itself is a square, times a product of single, distinct primes.
    If any of those distinct primes is -1 mod 4, N cannot be written as a sum of 2 squares; if none of them are -1 mod 4, N can be written as a sum of 2 squares.
    Thus, 3, 7, 11, 19, 23 cannot, being -1 primes; but neither can 6, 12, 14, 15, 21, 22, 24, 27, or 28, because of their prime factorizations.
    0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 25, 26, and 29 can each be written as a sum of 2 squares.
    Fred

    • @alexcerullo3143
      @alexcerullo3143 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ffggddss Fred

    • @josevillegas5243
      @josevillegas5243 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Thanks for this! I think I mostly get it, except for the second to last (penultimate) paragraph: "If any of those distinct primes is -1 mod 4..."
      Cam you explain? So far, I get N has been factored into
      N = p*q*...*r*(a*b*...*c)^2
      = pq...rA^2
      where p,q,...r are primes and a,b,...c can be any integers, and A = a*b*...*c. Let pq...r be shorthand for p*q*...*r
      A^2 is a 1-square and is it trivially a 2-square since A^2 = 0^2 + A^2?
      Then using the fact that the product of a pair of 2-square numbers is itself 2-square, pq...rA^2 is a 2-square iff pq ..r is a 2-square?
      I think that's where my confusion arises because I don't know how modular classes behave under multiplication. As you mentioned the primes p,q, ..r have to be +/-1 mod 4. Does your conclusion (the penultimate paragraph) hinge on which mod 4 class the pq...r product is in?
      If you multiply two +1 mod 4 numbers, you get another +1 mod 4 number:
      (4k+1)(4j+1) = 4m+1 for some m
      But also if you multiply two -1 mod 4 numbers, you still get a +1 mod 4 number:
      (4k-1)(4j-1) = 4n+1 for some n
      To be exhaustive, if you multiply a -1 mod 4 number by a +1 mod 4 number, you get a -1 mod 4 number:
      (4k-1)(4j+1) = 4o-1 for some o
      So what would happen if p,q,..r had an even number of -1 mod 4 primes? E.g. if p,q,...r was just 3 and 7. Their product is 21 which is a +1 mod 4.
      Thanks for reading this far! Looking forward to your response and hopefully understanding what's going on. I'm really curious.

    • @mufasao6776
      @mufasao6776 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      The Fred at the end is so funny to me. No QED, no square or symbol, just "Trust me, I'm Fred" lol

  • @5eurosenelsuelo
    @5eurosenelsuelo 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This guy is simply on another level

  • @KayvanAbbasi
    @KayvanAbbasi 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I know James Grimes is people's (probably myself included!) most favorite on this channel, but I also love videos from Ben Sparks. Specifically, I loved his video about the bifurcation. Thank you!

  • @brian23fink
    @brian23fink 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    What about the opposite: slanty squares that bound, instead of being bounded by, a non-slanty square?

  • @oralsahin5099
    @oralsahin5099 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Very well explained. Thanks

  • @matron9936
    @matron9936 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    If you can’t express a number as a^2 +b^2 you can’t get a square of this area. It‘s because of the Pythagorean theorem where you get one size of the square is sqrt(a^2 +b^2 ) squaring which you‘d get the area. So the area is always a^2 +b^2 where a and b are natural numbers.
    Edit: Oh, I didn’t watched the video to the end. You mentioned it. Cool video :D

  • @benzeh4769
    @benzeh4769 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    MORE BEN!!! I LOVE THIS MAN

    • @robertveith6383
      @robertveith6383 9 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Stop yelling in all caps.

  • @bombastik87
    @bombastik87 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Really really nice video :) Thanks!

  • @whatno5090
    @whatno5090 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Another fun way to figure this out, is that you know that for any such "slanty square" lying anywhere in the real plane, you can fix one of the vertices on a lattice point and rotate the square about that point; if (and only if) somewhere along the way, one of the nearest vertices hits another lattice point, then you can do a slanty square of that area. This means that we can reduce the problem to finding lattice points on the circle of radius s, where s is the side length of the square; and s = sqrt(A). But the equation for the circle of radius r is x^2 + y^2 = r^2, so of course, this means we need to find integer solutions x^2 + y^2 = A!

  • @JM-us3fr
    @JM-us3fr 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This is why understanding which primes are sums of two squares is important. 3Blue 1Brown does an excellent video on this, showing why these are the only numbers that can't be expressed in this way.

  • @ThemJazzyBeats
    @ThemJazzyBeats 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is a lot like the "Pi hiding in prime regularities" video of 3b1b, where one of the things he does in that video is check if a number can be expressed by the sum of 2 squares

  • @konstantinkh
    @konstantinkh 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    If you want to draw more square sizes on a dotted grid, all you have to do is place your grid in more dimensions. In 3d, significantly more areas are possible, such as square of area 3. And in 4 dimensions, all integer sizes are possible! (Legendre's Three and Four Square Theorems respectively.)

  • @harmidis
    @harmidis 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    fantastic! thanks 4 making it!

  • @rosiefay7283
    @rosiefay7283 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is beautiful. As you show, it has elements that can appeal to many ages. Once you know how to calculate the area of a right-angled triangle, you can calculate the area of a slanty square, and can at least collect possible and impossible areas. But there's non-trivial number theory there as well.
    Suggestions for further exercises:
    1. Prove that if x and y are possible, so is xy.
    2. Repeat the same exercise with equilateral triangles on a triangle grid. (The triangle whose sides are 1 counts as area 1.)

  • @electraelpindrai1964
    @electraelpindrai1964 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    yay, classic numberphile

  • @jamespalmer2620
    @jamespalmer2620 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    3 videos in a row with Bath professors! Exciting times.

  • @CaptainSpock1701
    @CaptainSpock1701 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I'm looking at this and the whole time I'm thinking hang on guys, why not just use Pythagoras? It's so obvious.
    Then "... do you realise we just prove Pythagoras?" - *Mind = Blown*
    Wow! Simple proof. Going around the complete oposite way as what I was expecting. Great work guys. Always love your videos!

  • @EebstertheGreat
    @EebstertheGreat 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is a direct corollary of Fermat's theorem on the sum of squares, which states that a prime number p is the sum of two integers squared x² + y² if and only if p ≡ 1 (mod 4).

  • @PeterAndWillAnderson
    @PeterAndWillAnderson 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great video!

  • @TeddSpeck
    @TeddSpeck 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Just came from the Periodic Table video on arsenic to this one. First scene in this one? A green wall. Coincidence?

  • @douglasjackson295
    @douglasjackson295 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Trigonometry... You can draw any square in which the size is the sum of two squared integers. In a Square grid if you can draw a long then you can draw that line rotated 90°, that if you can draw a line of a given line you can draw a square of size of the square of the length of the line (line length = c , Square size =c^2). Given the constraints outlined in the video (Lines must be between two points) we can make a right triangle using this line or rather we can create every line using a right triangle and this right triangle for the line to be valid must have legs of integer lengths. Thus All valid lines must be the hypotenuse of a right triangle with integer legs. Thus the length of valid lines (c) must be the square root of The quantity of The sum of the squares of two integers. Thus all squares will have the size of the sum Of the squares of two integers

  • @carltonleboss
    @carltonleboss 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Fascinating, very fascinating

  • @RhejMacTavish
    @RhejMacTavish 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Really well put together video; nice one :)

  • @sevenhundred77_
    @sevenhundred77_ 4 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Impossible challenge: solve the Riemann hypothesis

    • @ayush.kumar.13907
      @ayush.kumar.13907 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      why not try something simpler first like the 3x+1 conjecture.

    • @Unidentifying
      @Unidentifying 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I proved it using the abc conjecture and mock modularity with compact non-hausdorff manifolds on gauge symmetric Fermi propagators tensored with 10 dimensional vertical tangent space in U18, but the comment space is too small to contain it.

    • @themeeman
      @themeeman 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      not with that attitude

    • @trueriver1950
      @trueriver1950 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      If you can prove it's impossible you are a better number theorist than me.
      Or anyone else (yet?)

  • @grandexandi
    @grandexandi 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I asked this question as a comment on a Numberphile video years ago. I'm going to go ahead and presume this video was made in response to that one comment of mine, of course. In which case, thank you! I love it!

  • @tonypiff
    @tonypiff 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    and now i have to watch every ben sparks video.

  • @cerwe8861
    @cerwe8861 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    My favorite proof for the Pythagorean Theorem ist one with a Torus. I saw it on the Dong Video "squaring a Doughnut" from Vsauce Michael.
    My 2. Favorite proof is the one from Garfield (the President) 'cause it's so clever.

    • @jpe1
      @jpe1 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Dbzfan _21 isn’t Garfield’s proof a generalized version of what is shown in this video? He used a trapezoid, more general case than a square. Although he broke the trapezoid down into two isosceles triangles and a scalene, not 4 right triangles and smaller square as done here, so I guess it is different... never mind.

  • @EldergodUK
    @EldergodUK 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Awesome video

  • @SuperYoonHo
    @SuperYoonHo ปีที่แล้ว +1

    thanks so much

  • @Benlucky13
    @Benlucky13 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I got really excited with the first few numbers in the string because they're adding the digits of pi after the initial 3. so 3 to 6 is '3', 6 to 7 is '1', 7 to 11 is '4', and 11 to 12 is '1'. unfortunately the pattern breaks after that, was hoping this would be another one of those odd ball "why the heck does pi show up here" strings. 3141 is still a fun coincidence, though.

    • @timh.6872
      @timh.6872 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Actually, you can get to Pi from this fact! That divisibility rule he shows can be used to count how many grid points are at a distance sqrt(n) from the origin. If you add up all the counts for n from 1 to some large integer R, you approximate the area of a circle of radius R. Using that 4k+1, 4k+3 only if odd rule, you can rearrange the count into the sum 1 - 1/2 + 1/3 - 1/4 + ... times 4 R², which means the alternating sum is equal to π/4. 3Blue1Brown has a more in depth walkthrough, I think it's called "Approximating Pi with Prime Numbers", but I might be wrong there.

  • @zuhail339
    @zuhail339 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Just amazing ♥️

  • @helloofthebeach
    @helloofthebeach 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I stumbled into that Pythagorean proof on my own back when I was just starting calculus and, for all the math I did after, nothing will ever top that moment for me. I peaked early.

  • @MrNacknime
    @MrNacknime 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    It's literally only about which distances of points exist, having squares around just complicates the issue. And because of pythagoras, you can have all distances of the form sqrt(a^2+b^2), a,b>=0. And then your square sizes are just squares of these numbers, so a^2+b^2.

    • @chinareds54
      @chinareds54 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      One small quibble... I would say a>0, b>=0, because a 0x0 is not a square; it's a point.

  • @Hexa1123
    @Hexa1123 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I like the video, and it's awesome to see someone else with a surface book haha

  • @dr.rahulgupta7573
    @dr.rahulgupta7573 ปีที่แล้ว

    Nice presentation. Vow !!

  • @user-ny5hh9wv3l
    @user-ny5hh9wv3l 19 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Looking at the animation at 11:54 I think the answer to Brady's question would be more sparse, because as you go on the angles available becomes more and therefore the numbers.

  • @cmuller1441
    @cmuller1441 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Using the Pythagorean Theorem, the side of square is l with l2=a2+b2 so Area is l2 the sum of 3 square numbers...

  • @macronencer
    @macronencer 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I was asked to prove Pythagoras' Theorem during a university entrance interview for Cambridge in 1982, and this is the way I did it! I think the interviewer liked my approach, because he said he enjoyed geometric proofs. :) I didn't pass the entrance exam so I ended up at Southampton... but I often remember this. Another interview I sat was for Nottingham, oddly enough, where many of Brady's videos are made. In THAT interview, I was asked to integrate e^x.sin(x).cos(x) while they watched, which was WAY harder and made me sweat a bit!

  • @Chalseu___
    @Chalseu___ 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I wish I learnt Pythagoras that way, a lot more natural and intuitive imo

  • @AshishKumar-lh6bg
    @AshishKumar-lh6bg 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The general solution to this is :-
    1) k(m^2-n^2)
    2.)2mn
    3.)k(m^2+n^2).
    K belong to positive integer and m and n also.

  • @Ixcila111
    @Ixcila111 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    When he pointed at the laptop screen with the Sharpie, I gasped involuntarily. Scary stuff.

  • @AshishKumar-lh6bg
    @AshishKumar-lh6bg 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Its amazing 🔥🔥

  • @Fritzafella
    @Fritzafella 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember watching a video by 3blue1brown giving a proof for something where youd draw a circle with its center on the origin, and only with an integer radius and refering to where these circles intercect at an (integer,integer) pair. This is essentially the same question just with a slightly differnet spin but it was different in the way that the proof did not use pythagoran or 4k-1)^(2n-1) where k and n are integers, but used the fact that certain prime numbers can be writen in a+bi form that makes them not prime , for example, 13. 13x1 is the only real number pair but in imaginary there are four related ones. And they are (3+2i)x(3-2i) you get 9+6i-6i-4i^2 or 13 (also cuz 3^2 + 2^2) but 3,7, 11 etc cannot be writen as regular primes or as complex primes either. Ill see if i can find the video cuz if you like numberphile ull like 3blue1brown.

  • @tzisorey
    @tzisorey 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    "And how big is that square?" _16 uni...._ "Don't worry, it's not a trick question" ..... _Well now I'm not sure..._

  • @laurak1545
    @laurak1545 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    These mathematicians are all so nice and funny and entertaining... and most of us would never realise if it wasn't for numberphile :)

  • @notoriouswhitemoth
    @notoriouswhitemoth 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    @7:30 not only does it prove the Pythagorean theorem, it proves it in the same way the Pythagoreans discovered it in the first place.

  • @bucketsaremyfriend
    @bucketsaremyfriend 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Damn, slawnty squahs are more interesting than I ever imagined...

  • @Joe-un1tl
    @Joe-un1tl 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    What an incredible way to show the proof of the Pythagorus theorem. I found a very non rigorous proof of it using similar triangles and an inscribed rectangle.

  • @dewaard3301
    @dewaard3301 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I hope Brilliant will still be around when my boys grow up.

  • @willmunoz1638
    @willmunoz1638 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    13:02
    We spend so much time getting our bodies into shape.
    Me: *laughs while eating second breakfast.*

  • @tapasghosal
    @tapasghosal 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Wonderful 🙏👍👍

  • @cee_jay_0
    @cee_jay_0 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    but lets ask the opposite question: for which integers can you find a pair of multiple solutions, like 0²+5² = 25 and 3²+4²=25.
    up to 1000 there are 6 integers, that can be written as the sum of two squares in 3 different ways, and i haven't found any number above that qith more pairs yet. and i haven't found any pattern in them either. here's the list:
    325
    425
    650
    725
    845
    850

    • @willnewman9783
      @willnewman9783 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      There is a known formula given an "n" that gives how many pairs of a,b have a^2+b^2=n. 3blue1brown derives this formula in his video about pi/4=1-1/3+1/5-...

  • @konstanty8094
    @konstanty8094 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    5:48 that's the long way
    side is sqrt(a^2+b^2) (pytagorean theorm)
    so the square is a^2 + b^2
    7:20 oh so that's why

  • @elvest9
    @elvest9 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Are these related to the Parker Squares?

  • @m.rohwer6989
    @m.rohwer6989 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    This channel is for people that think amazon prime is about numbers. I love it