Is there a forum for weekly engineering math challenges?

AI Thread Summary
This forum hosts weekly math challenges aimed at enhancing problem-solving skills through a point system. Participants earn points by posting unique solutions, with the first correct answer receiving two points and subsequent distinct solutions earning one point each. While points cannot be exchanged for prizes, contributors can submit their own math problems for consideration as challenges. The forum primarily focuses on high school level math and calculus, making it accessible to a broad audience. Discussions also touch on the inclusion of engineering-related topics, particularly in aerodynamics and fluid dynamics.
Office_Shredder
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
Messages
5,702
Reaction score
1,587
What is this place?
This forum is for people to come together and stretch their brains on math puzzles. Each week there will be a new challenge for the forum to try.

What do I get for answering challenges?
We're going to try a point system. The first person to post a solution will be awarded 2 points, and every solution posted after that which is legitimately different from any already posted solutions will be worth one point. I want to see as many different solutions as you guys can think up on each problem, and if you see a problem has already been solved just think of that as an extra challenge to solve it better. Simplify an existing solution, attack it from a different angle, everything's fair game as long as you're doing some new math (maximum one score per person but feel free to post extra solutions). I am the final arbiter on whether a solution counts as new or not in the event of a dispute.

Can I trade in my points for cool Physics Forums prizes?
No, you can't.

[Admin Edit] not yet at least :)

I have a cool question I think you should ask.
Hey, this is frequently asked questions, not frequently stated sentences. If you have a particularly interesting math problem, feel free to PM me! If I think it's appropriate (not too technical, not too obvious, etc.) I'll include it as a challenge and you'll get a point for it.
 
Last edited:
Mathematics news on Phys.org
what happened to the previous threads? I remember there were a few questions posted already
 
When micromass retired as a mentor, they got moved into the general math forum with the closure of his sub-forum (you can find them by searching the general math forum for threads by micromass). Would people prefer to have them collected here in some fashion? (either a post with links to all of the threads, or moving them into this forum).
 
Is it possible for the challenges to include topics which are taught at High school level? I am sure that challenging questions can be made on those topics. I don't know how to express myself. Maybe Olympiad-type problems?
 
Most of the challenges will have solutions which require only high school level math or calculus to solve - even if it's not immediately clear that an such an elementary solution exists.
 
Great activity/Board, this is great guys, keep it up!

is there something like that includes engineering topics as well (preferably in aero/fluids but anything engineering will do)? Or know of a place that does this?
 
Suppose ,instead of the usual x,y coordinate system with an I basis vector along the x -axis and a corresponding j basis vector along the y-axis we instead have a different pair of basis vectors ,call them e and f along their respective axes. I have seen that this is an important subject in maths My question is what physical applications does such a model apply to? I am asking here because I have devoted quite a lot of time in the past to understanding convectors and the dual...
Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. In Dirac’s Principles of Quantum Mechanics published in 1930 he introduced a “convenient notation” he referred to as a “delta function” which he treated as a continuum analog to the discrete Kronecker delta. The Kronecker delta is simply the indexed components of the identity operator in matrix algebra Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/what-exactly-is-diracs-delta-function/ by...

Similar threads

Replies
2
Views
1K
Replies
9
Views
7K
Replies
9
Views
8K
2
Replies
93
Views
15K
2
Replies
93
Views
11K
Replies
12
Views
4K
Replies
4
Views
5K
Back
Top