cp's mathem-o-blog http://checkmyworking.com aka CheckMyWorking.com Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:40:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Newcastle MathsJam February 2012 Recap http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/newcastle-mathsjam-february-2012-recap/ http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/newcastle-mathsjam-february-2012-recap/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:40:31 +0000 Christian Perfect http://checkmyworking.com/?p=706 February’s MathsJam was loads of fun! We had a record attendance of 14 cheery people who just about managed to fit around the biggest table in the Charles Grey.

After last month’s puzzlocalypse, which left me for over a week …

]]> http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/newcastle-mathsjam-february-2012-recap/feed/ 0 Interesting Esoterica Summation http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/interesting-esoterica-summation-2/ http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/interesting-esoterica-summation-2/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:31:47 +0000 Christian Perfect http://checkmyworking.com/?p=690 I feel like it’s time to do another summary of my recent additions to the Interesting Esoterica collection.

A reminder of what it’s all about: every now and then I encounter a paper or a book or an article that …

]]> http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/interesting-esoterica-summation-2/feed/ 0 MATH PROBLEMS? http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/math-problems/ http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/math-problems/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:39:10 +0000 Christian Perfect http://checkmyworking.com/?p=677 Maths in the City posted this on twitter:

In order to make a number we can call, we need both of \[n=(10x)(13i^2)\] and \[m=\frac{\sin(xy)}{2.362x}\] to be integers.

Multiply out the first one:

\[(10x)(13i)^2 = -1690x \]

So $x$ needs to …

]]> http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/math-problems/feed/ 0 Putting all the world’s water in buckets http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/putting-all-the-worlds-water-in-buckets/ http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/putting-all-the-worlds-water-in-buckets/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:28:35 +0000 Christian Perfect http://checkmyworking.com/?p=662 Following this pair of tweets about water:

]]> http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/putting-all-the-worlds-water-in-buckets/feed/ 1 Newcastle MathsJam January 2012 Recap http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/newcastle-mathsjam-january-2012-recap/ http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/newcastle-mathsjam-january-2012-recap/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:57:15 +0000 Christian Perfect http://checkmyworking.com/?p=622 January’s MathsJam was a bit massive. It’s now a week later and I’ve only just gathered enough thoughts together to do this writeup.

There were nine of us this month, all but one of whom either maths students or lecturers. …

]]> http://checkmyworking.com/2012/02/newcastle-mathsjam-january-2012-recap/feed/ 5 How to get beautifully typeset maths on your blog http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/how-to-get-beautifully-typeset-maths-on-your-blog/ http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/how-to-get-beautifully-typeset-maths-on-your-blog/#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:06:44 +0000 Christian Perfect http://checkmyworking.com/?p=626 Lots of people have blogs where they talk about maths. Lots of these people just use plain text for mathematical notation which, while it gets the point across, isn’t as easy to read or as visually appealing as it could …

]]> http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/how-to-get-beautifully-typeset-maths-on-your-blog/feed/ 1 Testing MathJax http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/testing-mathjax/ http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/testing-mathjax/#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:50:25 +0000 Christian Perfect http://checkmyworking.com/?p=635 Maths between dollars is inline: $\sum_{k=1}^n k = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}$.

Maths between slash-square-brackets is display: \[\sum_{k=1}^n k = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}\]…

]]> http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/testing-mathjax/feed/ 1 Interesting Esoterica Summation http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/interesting-esoterica-summation/ http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/interesting-esoterica-summation/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:39:35 +0000 Christian Perfect http://checkmyworking.com/?p=603 I’m going to try collecting additions to my Interesting Esoterica collection in let’s-say-weekly posts. I’ll link to each item, maybe paste its abstract, and write a sentence or two about it. Let’s see if it catches on. I’m not sure …

]]> http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/interesting-esoterica-summation/feed/ 3 The sign on my office door http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/the-sign-on-my-office-door/ http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/the-sign-on-my-office-door/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:57:33 +0000 Christian Perfect http://checkmyworking.com/?p=591 Recently, someone left my office at Newcastle University and a new person took their place, so we needed a new sign on our front door. I wanted to do something clever with it, but it needed to be instantly legible …

]]> http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/the-sign-on-my-office-door/feed/ 0 Newcastle MathsJam December 2011 Recap http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/newcastle-mathsjam-december-2011-recap/ http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/newcastle-mathsjam-december-2011-recap/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:42:56 +0000 Christian Perfect http://checkmyworking.com/?p=524 Amazingly, December’s MathsJam had a non-trivial attendance of six whole people. And not just any people! Puzzling heavyweight David Cushing had yet more Renaissance-era riddles to test us all, and the other regulars were in similarly bamboozling form.

I balanced …

]]> http://checkmyworking.com/2012/01/newcastle-mathsjam-december-2011-recap/feed/ 14