2007-02-05 05:53:38 · 10 answers · asked by divoone 014 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Depends...
Ask a toddler what 3 + 2 equals
Ask a 10 year old about exponents
Ask a high school junior about calculus
As a college sophomore about differential equations
Heck, just try this...divide 22 by 7 and let the rest of us know when you get to the point where you have no remainder. Seems simple, right? Wrong. There are computers that are calculating this as we "speak".
"Difficult" is a relative term. Of course, there are mathematics problems that very intelligent, well educated folks have been working on for years. Just last week a new prime number was found.
2007-02-05 06:03:39 · answer #1 · answered by Amber 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Quoted from above:
"Heck, just try this...divide 22 by 7 and let the rest of us know when you get to the point where you have no remainder. Seems simple, right? Wrong. There are computers that are calculating this as we "speak"."
Uhh... no?
22/7 = 3.142857... with a repeating 6-digit period (142857). All the decimals of this number are known (even if there are an infinite number of them.
If you're talking about pi, on the other hand... yes there are computers looking for the squillionth decimal. No they will never reach a point where there is no remainder because pi is known to be irrational.
2007-02-05 07:10:09 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
In computational complexity, proving whether P = NP or P is not equal to NP.
Anyone who can solve this problem might as well would have won the lottery, because (1) there's a $1000000 prize for it, and (2) people from around the world would want to talk to you.
2007-02-05 06:05:21 · answer #3 · answered by Puggy 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Until recently, proving Fermat's conjecture had eluded mathematicians for centuries. That is:
Prove that X^n + Y^n = Z^n has no integer solutions greater than 2 for the value of n
2007-02-05 06:26:00 · answer #4 · answered by davidosterberg1 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That's an easy question! It is called the Riemann Hypothesis. There might actually be harder problems but none whose solution is more expectantly awaited by the math community.
2007-02-05 06:28:45 · answer #5 · answered by gianlino 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It all depends who you ask and how they think. To me Story Problems are the most difficult.
2007-02-05 06:14:52 · answer #6 · answered by steffyjo5598 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
there are many.. the most difficult ones i guess are the simplest - nobody can give a definition of a dot or of a straight line.
2007-02-05 05:57:48 · answer #7 · answered by Irene D 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'd think it has to be a proof. Like prove that if âa is not a whole number that âa is irrational, or something like that.
2007-02-05 06:00:14 · answer #8 · answered by bequalming 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Dividing pi by any number.
2007-02-05 05:57:08 · answer #9 · answered by mastersciprof 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
there are many,most having to do with theoretical physics.
2007-02-05 05:56:47 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋