A little math problem...

Lord Voldemort

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
492
WCA ID
2009PRAS02
I'm in PreCalculus (as a freshman in high school) at the University of Minnesota, and it's a bit more advanced than schools, so we do have some complex math, but this doesn't seem like it would make sense. anyway, here it is:

Prove by induction

The complex conjugate of the binomial expansion of the harmonic hyperbolic inverse in the partial fraction decomposition for the 18 real factors of the Fundamental Theorem of Signs is equivalent to the Gaussian reduction of the directrix of a nonlinear system exponated across an asymmetric DeMoiyrean polar vector field. Be sure to clearly state the equivalences for 2-cycle occurrences of the trisection of the Maclaurin fixed points as well as the natural logarithmic contraction of compounded interest.

I'm pretty convinced that he just threw every term we covered as well as some other random terms and made it into a problem for the amusement of seeing us struggle. But just out of interest, could anyone good at math perhaps view this and see if it actually makes sense (no need for a poof, unless you want to :D)
 
It's been a while since I've taken math, but even if that does make mathematical sense, I'm pretty sure it's not something you're supposed to be able to do at the pre-calculus level.
 
So, that does indeed actually make sense?

I don't think this is Pre-Calc. I recognize most of the terms, but I don't understand what it's asking. I'm 15, but as I said I go the the University of Minnesota and take math there, so I'm ahead of most people my age (the honors program at my school for freshman is geometry). Obviously it's expected to be more difficult, but this seems like a joke.

@ Watermelon - I think the fundamental rule of signs is DeCartes's rule of signs.
@ qqwref - As I suspected. The professor is a funny guy, so this isn't out of ordinary. Giving this on the review sheet as a bonus question was kind of amusing.
 
Last edited:
lol, everything else was straightforward.
Probably the hardest thing was polar graphing (haven't done it in a while) and matrices (so easy to mess them up....)
 
I think this might be a joke, with a bunch of random names in it. Gaussian is more commonly referred to when talking about curves (gaussian distribution). Gaussian distribution is a normal curve that is symmetric. Maclaurin is more commonly know with series, centered at (x=0). And I would not know why someone would use inverse of partial fractions, because partial fractions is a method to integrate. I had to take an AP calc BC test and some of these terms were on it, but not in the context of your teacher.
 
I know how to do calculus and solve differential equations and I have no clue what the hell you're talking about.
 
Awesome teacher. Not all of it is completely random stuff. But you're not planning to take AP Calc?

Well, I take classes at the University, so I automatically get college and high school credit for passing the class. I'm in a different system is all. It goes like this: year one: Algebra 1 and 2, year two: Geometry and PreCalc, year three-five - various types of Calculus.

The question is clearly BS. :-)

Proof by mathematical induction goes like this: Show the premise hold for x, then solve for x + 1.

Yay for mathematical induction!

After a little bit of work, I think I've solved it-

42

That's exactly what I was thinking when I first saw the question.
Then I realized that i had to prove it's 42 :mad:
 
Back
Top