Math thread

hereโ€™s the quadratic formula
i think itโ€™s hard

fuck its hard

what is f

yes

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Donโ€™t google the quartic formula.

I will do it

Doesnโ€™t look too hard to me

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jatV21B23-cfwpdfO4RSLztNy7XtnDuq/view
how far can you go

The mysticism is kinda cool, but itโ€™s not really that weird and unexpected if you look at it right.

The definition of the golden ratio is that two positive numbers, a and b are in a โ€œgolden ratioโ€ if a/b = (a+b)/a.

This is equivalent to saying that a/b = 1 + b/a, so now we substitute a/b = ๐›—, and get:

๐›— = 1/๐›— + 1
๐›— - 1/๐›— - 1 = 0, now multiply both sides by ๐›—
๐›—2 - ๐›— - 1 = 0

So ๐›— is just the positive solution to the equation, which is (1+โˆš5)/2.

The reason it appears in the fibonacci sequence is a bit more complicated if you want to understand why that is, or easier if you want to just take my word for it because I really didnโ€™t like this part of last years classes and had to open my textbook to find this stuff so Iโ€™m too lazy to properly prove everything.

Kinda long and you have to take a lot for granted

Itโ€™s a case of solving a difference equation, meaning finding an explicit formula for the nth element of a series if youโ€™re given a recursive definition and starting elements.
For the fibonacci sequence the recursive definition is fn+2 = fn+1 + fn, and f1 = f2 = 1.
You can start from 0 or index differently, but this is simplest for the explanation.

How you solve a second order difference equation like this one, where an elements value depends on 2 previous ones, is by first finding a so-called โ€œcharacteristic equationโ€.
When the recursive definition is in the form an+2 = pan+1 + qan, like this one, the equation is:
t2 = pt + q, where t is a parameter that will be needed for the final solution.

Notice how t is the solution to the equation t2 - t - 1 = 0, similar to how ๐›— is the positive solution to ๐›—2 - ๐›— - 1 = 0. However, t can be both of the solutions, and that plays a part in solving the difference equation.

Once you find that t1 = (1+โˆš5)/2, t2 = (1-โˆš5)/2, the solution to the difference equation is (again without proof):

fn = C1t1n + C2t2n

You have to find C1 and C2 in relation to the given starting elements, in this case f1 = f2 = 1, by just substituting t1 and t2 into the recursive definition and solving.

You get that C1 = 1/โˆš5 and C2 = -1/โˆš5.

The explicit formula for the nth element of the fibonacci sequence is:

fn = 1/โˆš5 * [((1+โˆš5)/2)n - ((1-โˆš5)/2)n]

To show that the ratio of two elements approaches ๐›—, find the limit of fn+1 / fn as n approaches infinity, which is best shown with an image because of the big fraction:

2022-01-14_19-27

The ((1-โˆš5)/2)n parts go to 0 because (1-โˆš5)/2 is between -1 and 0, and the 1/โˆš5 parts immediately cancel out, so what remains is equal to ๐›—.

For the last part, itโ€™s clear why thatโ€™s the case when you view ๐›— as the positive solution to ๐›—2 - ๐›— - 1 = 0.

๐›—2 is obviously just ๐›— + 1
๐›—3 is the same as ๐›—(๐›— + 1) which is ๐›—2 + 1 which is ๐›— + 2
๐›—4 is (๐›— + 1)2 which is ๐›—2 + ๐›— + 1 which is 2๐›— + 2

And so on, and so on

For the other way around, when the exponent is negative

๐›—-1 is 1/๐›— which is (๐›—2 - ๐›—) / ๐›— which is ๐›— - 1

You get the idea

Sorry if I ruined it for you. Youโ€™re welcome if this made it more interesting.

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what the fuck

f(x) means the function of x, basically the fancy (and more useful) way of writing y (e.g. y = x + 2)

this guy is talking enchant table language

image
wow and now I have a migraine

I remember someone on the forums telling me that โ€œno formula should face discrimination, except the quartic formulaโ€

Wait, it was you lol