Mathematics, such an exhilarating and
stressful concept for our fellow
students. Being so wrapped up in the
chaos of modern math theories and
equations, have you ever had time to stop
and cogitate on how mathematics
commenced? In fact, have you ever pondered
who discovered the Pythagorean theorem
that you were forced to learn as a kid? (Not really, no)
Mathematics is such a complex and
elegant topic, so let's look at the Creation
of Mathematics. It is believed that the
origins of mathematics commences in 3200 BCE near the city of Sumer.
Arithmetic at the time only consisted of
rudimentary mathematical concepts such
as counting and simple addition and
subtraction for everyday purposes. Math
at this level barely brushed the tip
of the modern math iceberg. Fun fact,
there's a papyrus held in the Moscow
museum called the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus
That was written around 1800 BC and contains problems focusing on the dimensions
of a truncated pyramid.
Pythagoras. Remember the Pythagorean
theorem we're forced to learn as a child?
The culprit? Pythagoras, who live between
570 to 495 BC. Fun Fact: Hippasus, a
Pythagorean philosopher discovered that
irrational numbers existed. Here's proof.
But wait! What is an irrational number?
The simple answer would be that it is not a rational number.
But was is a rational number? (Sry you have to sit thru all this lol)
It is a real number represented by a fraction or a ratio of two numbers
woop woop woop woop woop woop
Even perpetually repeating decimals like
this one can be represented by a fraction
Hippasus stumbled upon a
number that infringed this rule while
messing with the square with the side length of 1. Using the Pythagorean theorem, we
know that the hypotenuse of the right
triangle should be the square root of 2
Yet, Hippasus couldn't seem to find a
fraction that equates to this number. To
prove that there isn't a ratio that
represents the square root of two.
he used Da Proof of Contradiction. yay
*music overlaps and intensifies*
Let's say we simplified this fraction so that p and q have no common factor.
First, you mulitiply both sides of the equation by q. Then you square both sides.
This meant that p must be an even number,
or in other words has a factor of 2.
Since p has a factor of two you can replace p
with (2a). plug in this term and
simplifying the equation gave 2a^2 = q^2
This also mean that q has a factor of 2. But, wait! (cringe)  If both p and q have a common factor but we
stated earlier that they don't,
this proves that p over q cannot exist. and i oop-
Therefore, the square root of 2 is an
irrational number.
These mathematical breakthroughs and proofs helped shape the modern math we know and love today.
TOODLES!1!!!111
the lucky hat ~
