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Distraction: Tupper’s Self-Referential Formula

January 25th, 2007 by

Tupper's Self-Referential Formula is sick, y'all. Tupper was crazy. Any of you hardcore mathematicists (paging Dr. Marain) know what to do with this in a high schoool math class? [via Kottke]

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6 Responses to “Distraction: Tupper’s Self-Referential Formula”

  1. on 25 Jan 2007 at 10:32 pm1 Todd

    That’s to help you with Algebra II standard 18.0, right? Really, that’s waaaaay too hardcore for me. That’s the first half of the equation on the chalkboard in all those movies where the main character first walks into a college classroom, so that the audience feels the heavy intimidation of Harvard or something. Yikes!

  2. on 25 Jan 2007 at 11:43 pm2 dan

    Yeah, I realize the equation looks all hardcore, right, but it’s just a mathematical practical joke. Like, if you graph y = 2x on a graphing calculator, it’s a straight line. But what if you punched in y = 2x and it spelled out y = 2x right there on the screen?! ‘Cause that’s what that scamp Tupper came up with: a function that “spells” itself out when graphed.

    You’re underwhelmed, I can tell.

  3. on 26 Jan 2007 at 4:49 pm3 Todd

    Nnnnnnnow I get it! Well then it would be really cool if that actually was the equation on the chalkboard in all those movies.

  4. on 26 Jan 2007 at 11:15 pm4 mrc

    Magritte on math: Ceci n’est pas une equation.

  5. on 28 Jan 2007 at 3:50 am5 Dave Marain

    that function when graphed spells itself out; the value of n in the expression is beyond my comprehension (200 decimal places? digits?)!
    what i did with my class however was to show them the pizza problem:
    Express the volume of a thin cylindrical pizza with radius z and height ‘a’: V = pi zz a!! The thought that was ‘way cool!’
    dave

  6. on 28 Jan 2007 at 10:36 am6 dan

    Oh I get it … “pizza”!!