• copd@lemmy.world
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        20 days ago

        Technically there is a (x - 𝑥) in there. U+1D465 != x so this post is a little meh

        • MBM@lemmings.world
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          20 days ago

          Mathematicians do weird stuff to get more letters, but I’ve never seen anyone use x and 𝑥 for different things

          • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works
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            19 days ago

            I’ve never seen anyone use x and 𝑥 for different things

            Yeah, me neither. I have had situations where I needed to distinguish between u, v, nu, and upsilon though. I had to be very careful with my handwriting that day…

          • joshthewaster@lemmy.world
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            20 days ago

            They also wouldn’t want to be ambiguous. If I was trying to write this problem the a, b, c… would get replaced by something like a_1, a_2,…, a_26 to be clearer. This problem works as a fun gotcha but isn’t something that would come up in the real world.

        • pyre@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          the first variables aren’t roman. they’re italicized as well. idk where you’re getting the x vs x thing.

        • sem
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          12 days ago

          Do do, do do do do do…

      • shastaxc@lemm.ee
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        19 days ago

        Assuming both x represent the same number. There’s no reason to assume the ellipses should include x-x. Why would alphabetic order be involved at all?

        • pyre@lemmy.world
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          19 days ago

          have you never taken math? I’m seriously asking because you’re incredibly wrong in both statements.

            • nyctre@lemmy.world
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              19 days ago

              So your argument is that in the list “a, b, c, …, z” the “…” Bit could be anything and we have no way of knowing what’s there and therefore the problem is unsolvable? Or what are you saying exactly?

              • shastaxc@lemm.ee
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                19 days ago

                Yes. The variables a, b, c, and z must have a stated correlation. Variable names do not implicitly have any relation between them. Ellipses work for numbers because a series of 1, 2, 3 … 100 can be inferred using the rules of mathematics. A series of a, b, c … z cannot; the series can only be inferred using the rules of the English language.

                • pyre@lemmy.world
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                  18 days ago

                  so is the word “simplify”. I guess we’ll never know what they mean by that because if you pretend you don’t speak English, then there’s no way of knowing!

                • nyctre@lemmy.world
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                  19 days ago

                  Right. Well, yeah, I guess your pedantic response is a lot more logical than the intended answer that other people have pointed out. Have a nice day!

                • The variables a, b, c, and z must have a stated correlation

                  They do! a is the pronumeral in the 1st factor, b is the pronumeral in the 2nd factor, c is the pronumeral in the 3rd factor - i.e. the first 3 terms in a sequence - and the nth factor has the pronumeral z, and you think that ISN’T stating a relationship between term t of the sequence and the t-th pronumeral? 😂

                  “the series can only be inferred using the rules of the English language” - well, they haven’t used Greek letters for it, have they?? 😂