Wednesday, June 14, 2006

The Simpson's and Fermat's Last Theorem

Since I'm a big Simpson's fan, I love this. Here's a recent article written about the mathematics of the Simpson's:

Apparently, the Simpson's TV show has included a throw away joke on Fermat's Last Theorem.

Basically, enter the following numbers into any standard calculator:

1782^12

1841^12

1922^12

And you will find that according to a standard calculator:

178212 + 184112 = 192212

What's up?

Well, the answer comes down to a calculator's rounding error since these numbers are too large for the calculator. After all, an even number + odd number = odd number and yet in this equation, an even number + odd number = even number.

-Larry

6 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Pl.comment on 'A simple and short analytical proof of Fermat's last theorem' March 2011,Vol.2,No.3,CMNSEM,57-63

9:16 PM  
Blogger MrDayton said...

if you work in modulo 2, the LHS is 0^12 + 1^12 = 0 + 1 = 1, the RHS is 0^12 = 0

or in other words the left is odd and the right is even - they can't be equal (without a calculator or a 500 page proof of Fermat's last theorem)

12:22 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Pl.Point out the place in my paper the proof is wrong.
Piyadasa Ranawaka

12:28 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Forget about this 500 page long and this and that.high school level and very short proofs are with us.I must tell you that if you point out the place where the parity upset,it may shorten the proof a lot.
Pl. note that the two experts who read the proof have not noticed the error what you say.I will check and correct it soon.
Thank you again for your comment.

7:51 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I do not think that you, Andrew Deighton, is an intelligent researcher.If you are not a Riffraff pl.show me where the mistake is.
Piyadasa Ranawaka(D.Sc)

10:29 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I am sorry,I understand that you are talking about my paper,but something else.
RAD Piyadasa

12:55 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home