Find Your Role Model: Who Inspires You?

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Discussion Overview

The thread explores the concept of role models through a playful mathematical exercise that involves selecting a favorite number and performing a series of calculations to arrive at a predetermined list of role models. Participants share their results and engage in discussions about the mathematical properties involved.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express confusion about the mathematical process, particularly regarding why the final result consistently leads to the number 9.
  • Others share their individual results, with some humorously noting unexpected role models, such as Idi Amin or Paris Hilton.
  • A participant provides a detailed algebraic analysis of the steps involved, suggesting that the result is always 9 and attributing it to the calculations performed.
  • Some participants challenge the need for a calculator for simple multiplications, while others joke about unconventional favorite numbers outside the specified range.
  • There are playful exchanges about the absurdity of the exercise, with some participants suggesting that their favorite numbers are irrational or complex.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share a lighthearted approach to the exercise, but there is no consensus on the validity of the mathematical process or the appropriateness of the role models listed. Multiple competing views and humorous takes on the exercise remain present throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the calculations and the implications of using numbers outside the specified range, leading to varying interpretations of the exercise's outcome.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may interest those who enjoy playful mathematical challenges, humor in mathematics, or exploring the concept of role models in a lighthearted context.

BobG
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WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL?
Try it without looking at the answers...
please don't look down until you do it, you'll love it I promise
GET A CALCULATOR (YOUR COMPUTER HAS ONE ON IT)
1) Pick your favorite number between 1-9
2) Multiply by 3 then
3) Add 3, then again Multiply by 3 (I'll wait while you get the
calculator...)
4) You'll get a 2 digit number...
5) Add the digits together
Now Scroll down .....














Now with that number see who your ROLE MODEL is from the list below:
1. Einstein
2. Nelson Mandela
3. Idi Amin
4. Helen Keller
5. Bill Gates
6. Gandhi
7. Paris Hilton
8. Thomas Edison
9. BobG
10. Abraham Lincoln
 
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It's you! :smile:

I never understood why adding all digits from "9(x) - x any positive number" gives 9

10y+z = 9x (x being 0 to 11)

y+z = Ans
10y+z = Ans+9y

Ans+9y = 9x
Ans = 9(x-y)....
makes sense x-y = 1
 
Neat. I got 7) Paris Hilton.
 
Who's your daddy? :smile:
 
How did I manage to get hitler?

...bobG you have some splain to doo!
 
Results

step1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
step2 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27
step3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
step4 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90
step5 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

Algorithm was designed to result 9 regardless of first number.
 
Last edited:
Who would need a calculator to multiply by 3??

But yeah, any number divisible by 9 has its digits add up to a number divisible by 9.
 
OMG, it's right! BobG really is my role model! :!)
 
Since the math was too complicated for me, I did an old school calculus trick, which is... are you ready for this?

The answer is always 1!

And it turned out to really be the right answer. In my case at least :P
 
  • #10
You have to be careful about order of operations (if you used a calulator and it automatically thinks about order of operations, you had an error with step three where you first add 3, THEN multiply the new result by 3): Here's my analysis:

You pick x.
Your result after step three/four is: 3(3x+3), or 9x+9.
Note this is algebraically equivalent to: 10x+9-x.

To get your final result, after step five, you add the ten's place to the one's place:
The ten's place is: x
The one's place is 9-x.
The result is x+9-x = 9 = BobG... he's MY role model.

The rest of you must be somehow including the square of the page number.:biggrin:
 
  • #11
Only Gokul seems to be able to think outside the box. Sometimes so far outside the box that he seems almost invisible. :smile:

For the record, my favorite number between 1 and 9 is [tex]\frac{17}{9}[/tex]

Oh, wait. Jimmy Snyder's favorite number might be 16/9 and who knows what Cyrus's favorite number is.
 
Last edited:
  • #12
BobG said:
Jimmy Snyder's favorite number might be 16/9 and who knows what Cyrus's favorite number is.
No, my favorite number between 1-9 is 17. I ran all the operations you recommended and after much work, three broken crayons and dozens of crumbled up sheets of paper I came up with the answer 7. And amazingly, Paris Hilton is my role model. How does it work?
 
  • #13
17 is a bad one, jimmy.

1) Pick your favorite number between 1-9 (17)
2) Multiply by 3 then (51)
3) Add 3, then again Multiply by 3 (I'll wait while you get the
calculator...) (54x3=162)
4) You'll get a 2 digit number...(maybe a 3 digit number)
5) Add the digits together (9)

and who's your daddy? BobG!
 
  • #14
turbo-1 said:
17 is a bad one, jimmy.

1) Pick your favorite number between 1-9 (17)
2) Multiply by 3 then (51)
3) Add 3, then again Multiply by 3 (I'll wait while you get the
calculator...) (54x3=162)
4) You'll get a 2 digit number...(maybe a 3 digit number)
5) Add the digits together (9)

and who's your daddy? BobG!
Wow! Your role model must be a real dufus. I tried it again and got 7 again. Did you remember to carry the hypoteneuse and cancel the subscripts?
 
  • #15
1. [tex]\frac{38}{9}[/tex]

Hmm. We have a problem...
 
  • #16
turbo-1 said:
Who's your daddy? :smile:
Idi Amin Dada! Papa!
 
  • #17
Im waiting for the people who say their favorite number between 1-9 is the golden ratio, e, or pi.
 
  • #18
moose said:
Im waiting for the people who say their favorite number between 1-9 is the golden ratio, e, or pi.

missed imaginary numbers?

mine's - epi*j

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=-e^(pi*i)&btnG=Search&meta=
wow, even google calculator knows that :)
mine gives MATH ERROR :(
 
  • #19
my's [tex]\frac{\sqrt{5}+1}{2}[/tex]

there you go moose
 
  • #20
Julius Cesar
 

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