this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2024
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Math Memes

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Kowalski, temperature analysis (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 143 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Fibonacci/Golden ratio = 1.618 Kilometres in 1 mile = 1.609

Conversion is off by less than 1%, not bad at all

[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, it's nice an mysterious the first moment you hear about this but all the romance is gone once you think about how it works.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 9 months ago

By far the most complicated part is the fact that the ratio of successive terms in the Fibonacci sequence approaches a specific number (which happens to be the golden ratio, which happens to be close to the ratio of km/mi).

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Great, now I have two charts to memorize.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago (2 children)

You only have to memorize how the fibbonaci sequence works, which is just addind the previous 2 numbers together to get the next

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But we only get one number to convert. We don't know what the previous number is in the sequence without a chart up to that number.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

The starting numbers are 1 and 1.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You only have to memorize ...

and have a lot of computing power available.

That algorithm ain't running itself.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

you're welcome

[–] [email protected] 45 points 9 months ago (3 children)

“can can”

[–] [email protected] 29 points 9 months ago (1 children)

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Here's the sound missing in that gif.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

That triangle solo, though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

That was fun

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

You rang?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Can you do the

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

I can

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

All I know is I can can the can can the only question is can a can can the can quick enough to can can the can can

[–] [email protected] 42 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Fun fact: If you have a scientific calculator (literal or app) but no other conversion tool available, the conversion factor between miles and kilometres is almost exactly ln 5. Disturbingly close in fact.

That's fewer keypresses than generating the Golden ratio or working out Fibonacci numbers. But if all you have is your head then, yeah, the Fibonacci trick is good enough in a pinch.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

Wow, that's pretty cool. Thanks.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 9 months ago

There are many such ways to memorize conversion ratios. Admittedly, this one is particularly cool, since you can construct it from the fairly trivial fibonacci series. But I still feel, it's no replacement for the actual solution; get rid of imperial and adopt metric.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago

That's actually very useful.