• Welcome to the new Internet Infidels Discussion Board, formerly Talk Freethought.

Beat Unknown Soldier at his own game of math.

:eating_popcorn:

Juvenal,

Periodically people appear on the forum claiming math and science have it all wrong and try to prove it. Usually Christians defending creationism but not always.

Quantum mechanics proves there is life after deatg.
A theoretical mathematical infinite decimal number line proves the universe is infinite.

Trying to make a rational logical argument never works.

Those who think logically, mathematical nd scientifically are a small minority.

I spent most of my as adult life around people who spoke science and math. Way back when I joined the forum it was a bit of a wake up call.

Keep the faith professor.

First of all, I owe you an apology. I somehow completely forgot about the use of Laplace transforms in solving IVPs in differential equations, something I should surely have looked up before responding off the cuff.

In my defense, I had limited time.

More haste, less speed.

My bad, sorry.

It's not just the bizarre topics that spark controversy, though. It's amazing what folks will find to argue about. One of the most heated infidel threads I can recall from back in the day was an argument about whether \(0.999 \ldots = 1\). There is literally no difference. \( 1-0.999 \ldots = 0.000 \ldots = 0\).

The identity is so well established in mathematics that in showing the diagonal proof that \( \aleph_0 \ne c \), that is, that the real numbers are not countable, my topology professor found it necessary for completeness to identify the two representations in constructing the standard 1-1 correspondence between \(R\) and binary representations in \((0,1)\). Because you can't have a single real number mapped to two representations if the relation needs to be 1-1.

And yet the flames continued for page after page.

The \(2+2\) thread was similar. Yes, \(2+2\) can be equal to something other than \(4\). But no, that doesn't mean it's not still equal to \(4\). Yes, \(2+2 \equiv 1 \pmod{3}\), not least because \(4 \equiv 1 \pmod{3}\)

/thread

In a sane, rational world.

Alas.
 
Discovered, not invented, or made up.
You asserted it. Now prove that assertion. You'll need to demonstrate that math exists prior to its discovery.

That "mathematics is discovered" is not a proposition.
"Mathematics is discovered" is a statement of fact that goes unsupported by reason or evidence.
It's not something to be proven true or false. It's a heuristic intended to reveal the underlying philosophical commitments of pure mathematicians.
How does asserting that math is discovered a heuristic? I learn just fine by recognizing that math is invented.
So long as you look at mathematics as something that's created or invented, you're blinding yourself to how pure mathematicians approach their subject.
Only if math is truly "discovered," whatever that might mean. I'm as "true" a mathematician as anybody, and I approach my studies by learning what other mathematicians have invented hoping I can come up with inventions of my own. It's known as "creativity," and it's an indispensable cognitive tool used to advance knowledge. To assert that math is discovered is irrational, intellectually lazy, denies credit to math's inventors, and discourages people seeking to advance mathematics.
Mathematicians do create descriptions and invent methods, but that's not the mathematics itself. The math is the thing that was out there, self-existent before someone came along to notice it.
Out where? You just stumbled over the huge block that demonstrates that to say math is discovered is nonsensical: There is no place for math to be while it waits to be discovered.
I'd say that math is essentially invented. Laplace Transforms were invented by Laplace, and the Cartesian Coordinate System was invented by Descartes. We can see math being invented throughout the history of mathematics by many different people. All that math wasn't just lying around waiting to be dug up. So the knowledge that math is invented is based in the practice of basing mathematics in axioms. Axioms are arbitrary rules that people make up. As such, they are the product of human ingenuity and creativity (i.e. inventions). I've proved the role of arbitrary axioms in mathematics in my What proof is there that 2 + 2 = 4? thread.

That said, there is a discovery of sorts in math in which once some idea is invented, later on that idea leads to unforeseen conclusions. Circles, for example, were invented but later on the number π was found to be the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the measure of its diameter. Nobody including the inventors of circles expected π.

Kinda, but you're getting it all bass ackwards. Nobody invented a circle.
There are no circles in nature or at least there are no circles outside of the human nature to conceive of abstract shapes.
A circle is the locus of points equidistant from a chosen center. It's not something that exists more than approximately in the real world. It didn't come into existence the first time some primate rounded off a rock to help it roll better. It always existed. And even that's too restrictive. Its existence lies outside the bounds of space and time, independent of any potential or conceivable universe.
You're not going to find any locus of points equidistant from a chosen center unless you have something with a brain that can dream up that idea. "Points" and "centers" never existed until we came up with those ideas.
That's the math you're missing by insisting that math depends on its applications. This is the divide between pure and applied mathematics.
I never said that math depends on it applications.
The descriptions codified by Laplace, and later Heaviside, and Descartes are indeed their own inventions. But the relationships described by Laplace and Descartes must have existed before they created those descriptions or there'd be nothing for them to describe. And those relationships would still exist if Laplace or Descartes were never born.
Something doesn't need to have already existed to be described. Just read any Tolkien novel to see what I mean.
Yes, just lying around waiting to be dug up.
If you ever find that magical, mathematical realm, then please let us all know.

By the way, this math is discovered idea is actually based on the philosophy of Plato. It's an idea that's been intellectually dead for centuries.
And again, mathematicians don't care if the mathematics they discover is useful.
That's flat-out false. Newton, for example, did some major work in developing calculus because he needed it to do his work in physics.

Perhaps not the best example. There's a reason we use Leibniz notation, and no committee secretly chaired by Newton granting him priority is going to change that.

In the sense that even the purest of mathematicians has to eat, yes, we care if somebody's willing to pay us to pursue our research. But pure math is abstract art for geeks. It's paradoxically described as the search for transuniversal truths that some physicist or other scientist won't someday sully with an application.

The search is hopeless, by the way. When algebraic number theory was found to have applications in cybersecurity, for many of us, the last of our dreams were crushed. George Boole had a great run, by the way.
How does any of this support your claiming that mathematicians don't care if the mathematics they discover is useful? Contrary to what you say, Newton's work in mathematics is an excellent example of making good use of math to solve real-world problems.
Because your proofs are nonsense.
What proofs?
I do like to share my knowledge, that's true.

And you also share your beliefs that a representations of the number two using positional notation is the number itself. Which is nonsense.
Where did I say that? You really should post direct quotations of what I say. I can see you paraphrases are not to be trusted.
It's one thing to claim something is true. It's another thing to support that claim. Congratulations on the former.
But I do support my claims. By contrast, your earlier claim that math is discovered is completely unsupported. The kettle calls the pot black!
If only you'd stopped when you were ahead.
I can understand why you want me to stop.

Ice cream has no bones. That's a true statement that supports no theorem in mathematics.
It depends on how you define "ice cream." So that statement might not be true. Math, of course, works the same way in that its truths are true by definition.
The digit 2 doesn't exist in binary representations.
Who said that the symbol "2" exists in binary? When binary was invented, its creators chose to exclude that symbol and decided arbitrarily to use inly the symbols 1 and 0.
Neither is it true that 2 + 2 isn't 4 because the digit 2 doesn't exist in binary representations.
OK, prove it. I will bet any money that any such proof will rest on arbitrary rules.
As for me, I can live with invented, subjective, and relative math. It's still elegant, fun, and very challenging. Heck, I study it hours a day--every day. And I've been learning it in school and through self-study for decades. After all that hard work, I can go online to see what others think of it. And no surprise--I see they've made it into an idol.

Read all the books you like. I commend autodidactism.
I'll keep reading books. I recommend you read some books too.

What is the point of comments like this?
My point is that I'm seeing a woeful lack of math comprehension on this thread. Books tend to help in that regard.
But no, that's not you.
What's not I?

You're not an audidact.
What is an "audidact"? Is that an acronym for "Audi Dissimilar Air Combat Training"?
There's no benefit in reading a book you can't understand, and less than no benefit when your lack of comprehension causes you to learn things that are not true.
I'll let you know if that ever happens!

Only if you discover it, and probably not then, either.
Discover what? Something I can't understand?
But honestly, many of the books I study can be hard for me to understand. But I would be an idiot to take your advice and stop studying them for that reason! As I see it, if I study ten new concepts, and I only understand one of those concepts, then I've learned one concept.

First of all, no, that's not what I'm saying. Yes, read books. But once you've read them, engage in the critical examination necessary to ensure comprehension.
In other words, you're telling me to believe whatever you tell me.
The former without the latter leads to the garbled miscomprehensions evident in your posts here.
I'm not aware of any of those.
If the book is a math or science text, it will have exercises listed after every topic. And answers to even problems listed in an appendix, generally, for the benefit of informal students like yourself.
Yes. Answers to exercises in an appendix. I'm glad you told me.
Use the questions to critically examine whether you've actually learned the concepts. Or ask someone who's already mastered the concept to go over it with you. Or ask the professor who wrote the book. You'd be amazed how open they are to responding to correspondence.
Seriously, I'm very good at finding errors and correcting them. I'm doing so right now.
Hell, I've got correspondence from Neil deGrasse Tyson in my email. Because I wrote him out of the blue with no introduction, and he wrote me back.
That's good. I've corresponded with Richard Carrier.
In any case, self-study has been very beneficial for me. When I was in college I prepared for many of my courses by studying beforehand. I ended up with a four-year degree and a 4.0 GPA.

The scary thing is that that's actually possible.
My point is that when it comes to the standards set by accredited educational institutions, I show superb understanding. A 4.0 GPA is the highest possible GPA. It's only those anonymous people on internet discussion boards who assert that I supposedly don't understand the material under discussion.
That's the time to seek help from reliable sources who can steer you away from some of the bizarre claims you've been making.
You're making one of the biggest goofs in mathematics here: You are relying on intuition and rejecting whatever seems strange to you. Many truths in mathematics as well as science are often counterintuitive. Truth doesn't care if it makes sense to us.

And those "bizarre claims" you mention are all based in conventional mathematics and logic. I'm not making up anything.

And it's also possible that your miscomprehensions are not original.
More garbage.
That's not personal. It's something that happens to all of us. I had a whole chapter of my dissertation wiped because one member of my committee noticed I'd headed off on a bridge to nowhere. The point being that without independent critical examination, there are no guard rails, and without guard rails, running off the cliff is a question of when, not if.
I can only wonder what they would think of your latest post.

That I'm wasting my time, probably.
Now there you might be right!
I've got plenty of other students to keep me busy.
Send them my way. I've worked as a math tutor. They may well need one.

Yes, they do need tutors, often enough, but no, that's not you, either. We have a budget for tutors. The applicants must at minimum be enrolled in a graduate program.
When I was earning that 4.0 GPA I tutored finance, accounting, economics, environmental science, and so many other courses I cannot remember.
A great video to watch that explains my position on mathematics is Philosophical Failures of Christian Apologetics, Part 4: Word Games. Note that Christian apologists see mathematics in a way that is similar to the way you see it.

Because closing with insults is just how you roll, right?
Uh uh--we didn't do our homework. What about that video I linked to? You need not fear it. It makes an excellent case for what I argue.

And how did I insult you? You have an abiding faith in math being discovered. That's a fact. I can see the parallels between you and Christian apologists who try to argue that math is some profound cosmic truth.
Your position on mathematics lacks the relevance of a mathematician's position on mathematics. Something you can only learn by asking mathematicians about their positions.
Well--I know what the credentialed mathematicians and logicians say who author the books I study. They don't say math is discovered. They write that math and its underlying logic is based on axioms. In case you don't know, axioms are rules that people make up, and that's why math is invented and not discovered.
And something you will never learn so long as you strive to impose your own limitations on others.
I'd recommend you take your own advice here.
Where are your solutions to the questions you posed in the o/p?
I can see that you'll need them. I will post them in about a week.
 
:eating_popcorn:

Juvenal,

Periodically people appear on the forum claiming math and science have it all wrong and try to prove it. Usually Christians defending creationism but not always.

Quantum mechanics proves there is life after deatg.
A theoretical mathematical infinite decimal number line proves the universe is infinite.

Trying to make a rational logical argument never works.

Those who think logically, mathematical nd scientifically are a small minority.

I spent most of my as adult life around people who spoke science and math. Way back when I joined the forum it was a bit of a wake up call.

Keep the faith professor.

First of all, I owe you an apology. I somehow completely forgot about the use of Laplace transforms in solving IVPs in differential equations, something I should surely have looked up before responding off the cuff.

In my defense, I had limited time.

More haste, less speed.

My bad, sorry.

It's not just the bizarre topics that spark controversy, though. It's amazing what folks will find to argue about. One of the most heated infidel threads I can recall from back in the day was an argument about whether \(0.999 \ldots = 1\). There is literally no difference. \( 1-0.999 \ldots = 0.000 \ldots = 0\).

The identity is so well established in mathematics that in showing the diagonal proof that \( \aleph_0 \ne c \), that is, that the real numbers are not countable, my topology professor found it necessary for completeness to identify the two representations in constructing the standard 1-1 correspondence between \(R\) and binary representations in \((0,1)\). Because you can't have a single real number mapped to two representations if the relation needs to be 1-1.

And yet the flames continued for page after page.

The \(2+2\) thread was similar. Yes, \(2+2\) can be equal to something other than \(4\). But no, that doesn't mean it's not still equal to \(4\). Yes, \(2+2 \equiv 1 \pmod{3}\), not least because \(4 \equiv 1 \pmod{3}\)

/thread

In a sane, rational world.

Alas.

FYI. A mathematical impulse and step are physically impossible. However if the time width of a pulse is very short compared to the system time response then it acts like an impulse. Same with the rise time of a step voltage. If I put a voltage step into an amplifier the time response tells me something about the amplifier characteristics.

The utility of the impulse is that the ttrasform is a flat frequency spectrum. Convolving an impulse with a system is analogous to sweeping a sine signal into a system.

Beyond simple problems I used software tools. SPICE which came out of Berkely is the widely used electrical simulator. I know how it works but I am not an expert in solving non linear systems of equations.

Theoretical math is important. I know there are proofs that guarantee the uniqueness of transform pairs, but I don't need to know them. I trust that gnerally peer reviewed mathematics is reliable.


One thing I learned is that no matter how much knowledge and experience people have nobody has all te answers all the time. No apology is necessary.

I think you can comsider your classromm a tiny island of order in a vast sea of chaos.
 
Maps may be invented too not discovered but I do find a map of the Earth extremely more useful to my everyday life getting around than a map of Middle Earth.
 
Maps may be invented too not discovered but I do find a map of the Earth extremely more useful to my everyday life getting around than a map of Middle Earth.
Math is like cartography--it can help you get your work done, but sometimes it's just fun.

By the way, does anybody here want to see the answers to the problems posed in the OP?
 
By the way, does anybody here want to see the answers to the problems posed in the OP?

I had a minimal interest in seeing if he could solve them himself, but I think that question has been adequately answered. He can't.
Oh but I can! Here are the answers:

Which makes the o/p itself essentially fraudulent.
I. Lets set A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} and set B = {4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}. Find the symmetric difference A ∆ B.
Answer: A ∆ B = {1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10}

II. You poll ten people who drink cola asking each if they like Pepsi and dislike Coke, like Coke and dislike Pepsi, and possibly like both Pepsi and Coke. If 3 people like Pepsi and dislike Coke, and 4 people like Coke and dislike Pepsi, then how many of the ten people like Coke and Pepsi?
Answer: Three people like Coke and Pepsi.

III. If x is any real number and a, b, and c are real numbers where f(x) = ax2+ bx + c and f(1) = 1, f(2) = 1, and f(4) = 3, then find the values of a, b, and c.
Answer: a = 1/3, b = -1, and c = 5/3

IV. If x is any real number, and g(x) = 2sin(3x), then find the area under the curve of g(x) and above the x-axis over the interval 0 ≤ x ≤ π. Also, find the equation of the tangent line to the curve of g(x) when x = π/6.
Answer: The are under the curve and above the x-axis over the interval 0 ≤ x ≤ π when g(x) = 2sin(3x) =4/3, and the line tangent to the curve when x = π/6 is y = 2.

V. Let A be the square matrix
y 2
3 x
What real values of x and y will result in matrix A having a determinant equal to 4?
Answer: yx = 10.

VI. If a and b are both positive real numbers, then prove that a/b + b/a ≥ 2.
Answer:
Let a and b be positive real numbers. Then
(a – b)^2 ≥ 0 and so
(a – b)(a – b) ≥ 0 and so
a^2 – 2ab + b^2 ≥ 0 and so
a^2 + b^2 ≥ 2ab and so
(a^2 + b^2)/(ab) ≥ 2 and therefore
a/b + b/a ≥ 2. □


VII. Prove if arbitrary n ∈ N = {0, 1, 2, ... }, then 2 | n^2+ n.
Answer: Using mathematical induction, the proof is
Base Case: If n = 0, then 2 | 02 + 0 which is true.

Inductive Step:
Suppose it is true that 2 | n^2 + n. Then it follows that 2 | (n + 1)^2 + (n + 1).
To see why, observe that (n + 1)^2 + (n + 1) = n^2 + 2n + 1 + n + 1 = n^2 + 3n + 2 = (n^2 + n) + 2(n + 1). Because it is assumed that 2 | n^2 + n, then there is an integer k such that n^2 + n = 2k. Substituting 2k for n^2 + n in
(n^2 + n) + 2(n + 1), the result is 2k + 2n + 2 which is divisible by 2.
So whenever 2 | n^2 + n, then it follows that 2 | (n + 1)^2 + (n + 1).

Therefore, by mathematical induction it is proved that if arbitrary n ∈ N, then 2 | n^2 + n. □
 
You poll ten people who drink cola asking each if they like Pepsi and dislike Coke, like Coke and dislike Pepsi, and possibly like both Pepsi and Coke. If 3 people like Pepsi and dislike Coke, and 4 people like Coke and dislike Pepsi, then how many of the ten people like Coke and Pepsi?
Answer: Three people like Coke and Pepsi.

I think your premise is faulty. The sample space is 'people who drink cola', so a possible answer is they like neither Coke nor Pepsi. There are other colas.

Sample space:
3 - Like only Pepsi
4 - Like only Coke
? - Like Coke and Pepsi
? - Like neither Coke nor Pepsi

(Like Coke And Pepsi) + (like neither Coke nor Pepsi) = 3

If you said 'ten people who drink only Coke or Pepsi or both' then 3 would be correct.

An exercise in grade school arithmetic.

One difficulty for polling organizations in drawing conclusions is correctly bounding the sample space. I usually do not accept polls at face value unless I see the actual questions as asked.
 
You poll ten people who drink cola asking each if they like Pepsi and dislike Coke, like Coke and dislike Pepsi, and possibly like both Pepsi and Coke. If 3 people like Pepsi and dislike Coke, and 4 people like Coke and dislike Pepsi, then how many of the ten people like Coke and Pepsi?
Answer: Three people like Coke and Pepsi.

I think your premise is faulty. The sample space is 'people who drink cola', so a possible answer is they like neither Coke nor Pepsi. There are other colas.

Sample space:
3 - Like only Pepsi
4 - Like only Coke
? - Like Coke and Pepsi
? - Like neither Coke nor Pepsi
The way the problem is stated, there are only two major categories the ten people can fall into:
  1. Those Who Like Coke
  2. Those Who Like Pepsi
You have this information from the three possible answers they gave:
  1. I like Pepsi and dislike Coke.
  2. I like Coke and dislike Pepsi.
  3. I like both Pepsi and Coke.
So obviously none of the ten people polled like neither Pepsi nor Coke.

I will admit, though, that I should have stated explicitly that the ten people polled liked either Pepsi, Coke or both.
If you said 'ten people who drink only Coke or Pepsi or both'
Again, the problem implies what the people polled said.
...then 3 would be correct.
Yes. Why didn't you just give that answer earlier?
An exercise in grade school arithmetic.
Actually, this problem involves concepts that generally are only taught at the college level. See the attached graphic which illustrates this problem with a Venn diagram.
One difficulty for polling organizations in drawing conclusions is correctly bounding the sample space. I usually do not accept polls at face value unless I see the actual questions as asked.
If you know the questions asked, then you should be able to infer the associated categories.
 

Attachments

  • Coke Pepsi Venn Diagram.png
    Coke Pepsi Venn Diagram.png
    42.6 KB · Views: 3
A sublime problem in mathematics and logic for Unknown Soldier.

You have:

3 – Silver Dollars
13 – Quarters
17 – Dimes

What combinations of pennies and nickles will make the total $13.21?

Imagine you are applying for a job working a cash register.
 
A sublime problem in mathematics and logic for Unknown Soldier.

You have:

3 – Silver Dollars
13 – Quarters
17 – Dimes

What combinations of pennies and nickles will make the total $13.21?

Imagine you are applying for a job working a cash register.
I'm confused: If I you want a combination of nickels and pennies that equal $13.21, then why did you tell me I have the silver dollars, quarters, and dimes?

Anyway, 1,321 pennies and 0 nickels will total $13.21. Generally, if p and n are nonnegative integers representing pennies and nickels respectively, then .01p + .05n = 13.21.
 
No.

I know you are confused. You may be confusing yourself by trying to appear mathematical by using extraneous mathematical jargon. Like 'generically p and n are non negative integers', of course they are.

Again.

Given you have the specified number of silver dollars, quarters, and dimes in hand what combinations of nickels and pennies added to the quarters, dimes, and silver dollars you already have to equal $!3.21?

Drop the matematcal posturing and solve the problem, if you can.
 
No.

I know you are confused. You may be confusing yourself by trying to appear mathematical by using extraneous mathematical jargon. Like 'generically p and n are non negative integers', of course they are.

Again.

Given you have the specified number of silver dollars, quarters, and dimes in hand what combinations of nickels and pennies added to the quarters, dimes, and silver dollars you already have to equal $!3.21?

Drop the matematcal posturing and solve the problem, if you can.
OK. Now you're making sense. You omitted the "added to" part earlier. The money on hand equals $7.95. To get the total of $13.21, you need an additional $5.26. 526 pennies and zero nickels will give you the $5.26. Another combination that will work is 100 nickels and 26 pennies. Generally, the combination is
0.05 * # of nickels + 0.01 * # of pennies = $5.26.

This problem is really easy assuming you explain it properly.
 
It should have been freaking obvious as originally stated.

Still wrong and you are still not reading the problem. The question is the possible combinations. I made it intentionally nickles and pennies with 1 penny on the total, not divisible by 5.

quarters + silver dollars + dimes = 795
1321 – 795 = 526

One of the first steps in practical mathematical problem solving is bounding the solutions. For me that goes back to high school algebra, given f(x) what are the domain and range.Your'generally' does not work for all Nnickels or Npennies.

The possible combinations of nickels and pennies are bounded.
Max number of nickels = integer(526/5) = 105

Nnickels = 0,1,2 ...105
Npennies = 526 – (Nnickels*5)

A calculus teacher I had said to get good at calculus you had to work problems.

One of my reference books when I was working was this one, periodically I'd work problems to keep fresh. Get a copy and test yourself. I never played video games. I'd rather pick up a book and work problems.

 
It should have been freaking obvious as originally stated.

Still wrong and you are still not reading the problem. The question is the possible combinations. I made it intentionally nickles and pennies with 1 penny on the total, not divisible by 5.

quarters + silver dollars + dimes = 795
1321 – 795 = 526

One of the first steps in practical mathematical problem solving is bounding the solutions. For me that goes back to high school algebra, given f(x) what are the domain and range.Your'generally' does not work for all Nnickels or Npennies.

The possible combinations of nickels and pennies are bounded.
Max number of nickels = integer(526/5) = 105

Nnickels = 0,1,2 ...105
Npennies = 526 – (Nnickels*5)

A calculus teacher I had said to get good at calculus you had to work problems.

One of my reference books when I was working was this one, periodically I'd work problems to keep fresh. Get a copy and test yourself. I never played video games. I'd rather pick up a book and work problems.

You merely asked for combinations of nickels and pennies. I posted two combinations that equal the required amount.

Are you sure that you understand what you're asking?
 
Yadda Yadda...

You are the once claiming to be an expert mathematician.

So far the problems you post as challenging are simple arithmetic.

You appear to have had trouble comprehending the problem I presented to you and had to explain it in detail. Which is why I posted as I did., to see your overall response.

The time repomse of 2nd order system is a damped ossification with an exponential decay envelope with a tine constant tau. The period of 1 cycle of the oscillation is t in seconds.

What is the differential equation for the system? What is the S domain equation?

We can play this game ad nauseam.
 
Yadda Yadda...

You are the once claiming to be an expert mathematician.

So far the problems you post as challenging are simple arithmetic.

You appear to have had trouble comprehending the problem I presented to you and had to explain it in detail. Which is why I posted as I did., to see your overall response.

The time repomse of 2nd order system is a damped ossification with an exponential decay envelope with a tine constant tau. The period of 1 cycle of the oscillation is t in seconds.

What is the differential equation for the system? What is the S domain equation?

We can play this game ad nauseam.
I don't know because I haven't studied the material you're referring to.
 
By the way, does anybody here want to see the answers to the problems posed in the OP?

I had a minimal interest in seeing if he could solve them himself, but I think that question has been adequately answered. He can't.
Oh but I can! Here are the answers:

The point was to see your answers.

As in not the answers you're copying and pasting from someone else, but your answers — answers showing you can play the game you were asking others to join.

Doubling down on proof that you can't isn't helping you much.

Which makes the o/p itself essentially fraudulent.
I. Lets set A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} and set B = {4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}. Find the symmetric difference A ∆ B.
Answer: A ∆ B = {1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10}

Answers, by themselves, don't show mastery. That's why I ask my students to submit their work even with online exams. it's why the work is mandatory, but the online submissions are not.

In this case, work could consist of calculating the differences ...

\( A \setminus B = \{1,2,3\}, B \setminus A = \{8, 9, 10\}\)

... and then joining them as a union to create the symmetric difference ...

\( A \oplus B = \{1,2,3\} \cup B \setminus \{8, 9, 10\}=\{1,2,3,8,9,10\}\)

... showing the student has mastered the concept of a symmetric difference.

Recall that the \(\Delta\) is no longer used for set difference conventionally as it conflicts with its usage for the Laplacian.

II. You poll ten people who drink cola asking each if they like Pepsi and dislike Coke, like Coke and dislike Pepsi, and possibly like both Pepsi and Coke. If 3 people like Pepsi and dislike Coke, and 4 people like Coke and dislike Pepsi, then how many of the ten people like Coke and Pepsi?
Answer: Three people like Coke and Pepsi.

This is incorrect as noted by myself, twice, and by SB as well ...

Sample space:
3 - Like only Pepsi
4 - Like only Coke
? - Like Coke and Pepsi
? - Like neither Coke nor Pepsi

(Like Coke And Pepsi) + (like neither Coke nor Pepsi) = 3

The universe (or sample space in SB's less precise terminology) is "cola drinkers," which obviously includes people who drink Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola, but also includes all of the other colas, like Royal Crown Cola, Jolt Cola, and some real oddballs like Mecca Cola I ran into once in west Africa.

For a mathematician, the first task when presented with any question is to check to see if it's well-defined. It was obvious from the way the question was stated that the question intended to restrict itself to just those two. But it didn't. So Steve's answer is correct and the one you provided — which is obviously not your own answer — is not correct.

III. If x is any real number and a, b, and c are real numbers where f(x) = ax2+ bx + c and f(1) = 1, f(2) = 1, and f(4) = 3, then find the values of a, b, and c.
Answer: a = 1/3, b = -1, and c = 5/3

The answers, in context, are clearly not your own. Everything else here is copied from someone else.

How did you solve it? Double-elimination with back-sub from the original equations you couldn't figure how to write? Do you even know what that means? Earlier, you showed you couldn't understand where the equations came from well enough to spot an obvious included error.

This answer could have come from anywhere.

IV. If x is any real number, and g(x) = 2sin(3x), then find the area under the curve of g(x) and above the x-axis over the interval 0 ≤ x ≤ π. Also, find the equation of the tangent line to the curve of g(x) when x = π/6.
Answer: The are under the curve and above the x-axis over the interval 0 ≤ x ≤ π when g(x) = 2sin(3x) =4/3,

Now this is just precious. I'd answered it previously, with an included deliberate error.

Area = G(pi)-G(0) with G(x)=-2 cos 3x / 3

\(\displaystyle G(\pi) = -\frac{2\cos(3\pi)}{3} = \frac{2}{3}, G(0) = -\frac{2\cos(0)}{3} = -\frac{2}{3} \to G(\pi)-G(0) = \frac{4}{3}\)

That being the answer you said — and I agreed — was incorrect.

And here you are, blithely unaware you're posting the exact same wrong answer. "Wrong" for me means incorrect. Wrong for you, as was obvious at the time, means "doesn't look like this answer I'm reading off but can't really understand."

Here's yet another chance to redeem yourself. Why is the actual answer 8/3 rather than 8 as I previously specified?

The best student will see at a glance that tripling the angular speed triples the unscaled domain yielding two full humps above the xxx-axis, recall that each half hump has area 1, take the area of the four half-humps and scale them by 2 to match g(x)g(x)g(x) and give the answer 8 "by inspection."

Other than the obvious reason, that is, because I included yet another error for you or anyone else to spot.

and the line tangent to the curve when x = π/6 is y = 2.

Again, that's not your answer. I'd answered it previously, including a minor issue by failing to substitute \(\pi/6\) into the right-hand side showing the derivative of \(2\sin(3x)\)

(y-2 sin 3pi/6)/(x-pi/6) = 6cos 3x

Plugging in the specified value ...

\(\displaystyle \frac{y-2\sin (\pi/2)}{x-\pi/6} = 6 (\cos \pi/2) = 0 \to y=2\)

... as desired.

V. Let A be the square matrix
y 2
3 x
What real values of x and y will result in matrix A having a determinant equal to 4?
Answer: yx = 10.

And this one, again, isn't your answer, because nobody answering this question themselves would fail to follow the convention of placing variables in their alphabetical order. Copying a doofus, as I mention as gently as possible for my students, makes you look like a doofus, too.

So you should make a habit of only copying from the best students!

VI. If a and b are both positive real numbers, then prove that a/b + b/a ≥ 2.
Answer:
Let a and b be positive real numbers. Then
(a – b)^2 ≥ 0 and so
(a – b)(a – b) ≥ 0 and so
a^2 – 2ab + b^2 ≥ 0 and so
a^2 + b^2 ≥ 2ab and so
(a^2 + b^2)/(ab) ≥ 2 and therefore
a/b + b/a ≥ 2. □

Just why? Everyone recognizes the sum of reciprocals here which leads immediately to a quadratic inequality. This is the hard way.

VII. Prove if arbitrary n ∈ N = {0, 1, 2, ... }, then 2 | n^2+ n.
Answer: Using mathematical induction, the proof is
Base Case: If n = 0, then 2 | 02 + 0 which is true.

Inductive Step:
Suppose it is true that 2 | n^2 + n. Then it follows that 2 | (n + 1)^2 + (n + 1).
To see why, observe that (n + 1)^2 + (n + 1) = n^2 + 2n + 1 + n + 1 = n^2 + 3n + 2 = (n^2 + n) + 2(n + 1). Because it is assumed that 2 | n^2 + n, then there is an integer k such that n^2 + n = 2k. Substituting 2k for n^2 + n in
(n^2 + n) + 2(n + 1), the result is 2k + 2n + 2 which is divisible by 2.
So whenever 2 | n^2 + n, then it follows that 2 | (n + 1)^2 + (n + 1).

Therefore, by mathematical induction it is proved that if arbitrary n ∈ N, then 2 | n^2 + n. □

And speaking of the hard way, dayum.

Induction is great when you can't solve a problem by inspection. As in, not for this problem. The dividend here factors as \(n(n+1)\), two sequential numbers, one of which must be even. That is ...

If \(n\) is even, you're done.

If \(n\) is not even, then it's odd, and \(n+1\) must be even.

And the only reason I'm expanding the proof out that far is because you've failed to recognize it even after two attempts.

Now it's possible to pose this question, or any question for that matter, by including a required method of solution to assess mastery of that method. But if the method is not specified, and if as usual, there are myriad ways to solve the problem, it's assessing how the answer was found.

\(9,999,999,999\cdot 10,000,000,001 - 9,999,999,997 \cdot 10,000,000,003\)

... can be answered by finding the two products and their difference — by hand, because it's deliberately set to be beyond the display abilities of any handheld calculator — but if the best student recognizes the pattern, the answer is immediate.

It's awesome that you're interested in math, but if you want to get good at it, you're going to have to stop pretending you're better than you are, because an inability to correct errors cements them in place, created a roadblock to learning.
 
Copying a doofus, as I mention as gently as possible for my students, makes you look like a doofus, too.
What, exactly, is your problem? I'm not going to reply to garbage full of kiddy insults other than to say that this board really needs to clean up its act. It's full of insults, name-calling, cursing and even threats that should not be allowed.
 
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