• BlueMagma@sh.itjust.works
      5·
      2 years ago

      Brilliant, now I wonder what ages this works for, I figured only 1 and 2, but then I realised we could write the father’s age in other bases…

      1 = 2^0 (20 b10)

      2 = 2^1 (21 b10)

      3 = 3^1 (31 b7 = 22)

      6 = 6^1 (61 b4 = 25) if they are lucky the grand father will be 61 that year :-D

      8 = 2^3 (23 b12 =27)

      9 = 9^1 (91 b3 = 28)

      14 = 14^1 (141 b4 = 33)

      • aDogCalledSpot@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        You have mistakes in a few of those. The number “61” doesnt exist in b4. 25b10 in b4 is “121”.

        Similar problem with 91b3 and 141b4.

  • blind3rdeye@lemm.ee
    714·
    2 years ago

    Ah yes. How fitting for a young new person in the world. A reminder that 2°C of warming above the pre-industrial mean would be catastrophic, but also is a good lower-limit of what to expect based on current intentions.

    • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
      193·
      2 years ago

      What?! Impossible to start a family at 18 and also enjoy mathematics?

      Not everyone who has unprotected sex at 18 (or with an 18 yr old) is some numbskull just going at it for unscrupulous pleasure.

      (As another reply also pointed out: the pun was crafted by the OP’s dad, not the 1yr-old’s dad; and OP could be the child’s mum or dad)

    • gun@lemmy.ml
      15·
      2 years ago

      He probably didn’t. Her dad (the grandpa) made the balloons.

  • Doctor xNo@r.nfEnglish
    221·
    2 years ago

    Damn, that took me waaay too long to get…

    Not my brightest moment… 😅

  • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
    223·
    2 years ago

    I know I’m bad at math but I don’t understand how 2x0=0 but 2^0=1

    How are they different answers when they’re both essentially multiplying 2 by zero?

    Someone with a bigger brain please explain this

    Edit: I greatly appreciate all the explanations but all they’ve done is solidify the fact that I’ll never be good at math 😭

    • jendrik@discuss.tchncs.de
      313·
      2 years ago

      subtracting one from Exponent means halving (when the base is two):

      2⁴ = 16 2³ = 8 2² = 4 2¹ = 2 2⁰ = 1

      It’s a simple continuation of the pattern and required for mathemarical rules to work.

      • uberrice@feddit.de
        11·
        2 years ago

        This is confidently wrong.

        3^0 is also 1. 2738394728^0 is also 1.

        Edit: just saw that technically you’re correct - sure.

        IF base 2, Exponent reduction equals to halving - dividing by 2.

        For x^y reducing y by one is equal to dividing by x, then we have the proof it always works.

        • Globulart@lemmy.world
          4·
          2 years ago

          But that’s because for 3 the sequence is dividing by 3 not 2.

          81, 27, 9, 3, 1, 1/3, 1/9, etc.

          3^4, 3^3, 3^2, 3^1, 3^0, 3^(-1), 3^(-2), etc.

          You’re not always halving, but the method is the same and it sometimes helps people understand the concept more easily.

    • Globulart@lemmy.world
      15·
      2 years ago

      This isn’t strictly speaking a proof, but it did help me to accept it as it demonstrates the function that makes it 1.

      2^3 = 2x2x2

      2^2 = 2x2

      (23)/(22) = (2x2x2)/(2x2) = 2

      = 2^(3-2)

      In general terms:

      (xa)/(xb) = x^(a-b)

      If a and b are the same number this is x^0 and obviously (xa)/(xa) is one because anything divided by itself is 1.

      Hope that helps

        • Globulart@lemmy.world
          3·
          2 years ago

          2^(a-b) = (2a)/(2b)

          You can see this in the example above but perhaps it’s better to use different powers to make things a bit clearer.

          2^5=2x2x2x2x2

          2^3=2x2x2

          (25)/(23)=(2x2x2x2x2)/(2x2x2)

          You can cancel 3 of the 2s from the top and bottom of the fraction to be left with 2x2, or 2^2.

          I.e. (25)/(23)=2^2

          The quicker way to calculate this is doing 2^(5-3) which when you resolve the bracket is obviously just 2^2 or 2x2.

          If both numbers in the bracket are the same the bracket will always resolve to 0, which is the same as saying a number divided by itself, any number divided by itself is one so it follows that any number to the power 0 is also 1 (because it’s essentially exactly the same calculation).

        • Flumsy@feddit.de
          31·
          2 years ago

          That was pretty complicated, here is a simpler answer I hsve come up with:

          1=(2x2x2)/(2x2x2)=2³/2³=2³⁻³＝2⁰

          If that makes sense to you…

    • DSTGU@lemm.ee
      15·
      2 years ago

      0 is the neutral element for addition. This is why when we have a number then 0 + number = number (0 doesnt change the value in addition) and why 0 x number = 0 (if you add a number 0 times you will have 0). (Multiplication is adding one of the numbers to itself the number of times designated by the second number)

      The same way 1 is the neutral element for multiplication. This is why when you have some number then 1 * number = number. This is also why number^0 = 1 (if you never multiply by a number you are left with the neutral element. It would be weird if powering by 0 left you with 0 for example because of how negative powers work)

      This is the level 1 answer.

      The level 0 answer is that it is this way because all of mathematics is a construct designed to ease problem solving and all people collectively agreed that doing it this way is way more useful (because it is)

      Choose which one you want

    • TokyoMonsterTrucker@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      15·
      2 years ago

      Easiest explanation I can think of using the division law for exponents:

      Since we can use any number for the initial fraction, as long as the denominator is the same as the numerator, any number to the zeroth power is equal to 1. In general terms, then, for any number, x:

    • lugal@lemmy.ml
      8·
      2 years ago

      You can think of 1 as the “empty product” (or the “neutral element of multiplication” if you want to be fancy). 2^x means you have x factors of 2. If you have 0 factors, you have the “empty product”

    • ShaunaTheDead@kbin.social
      8·
      2 years ago

      I see other people have posted good explanations, but I think the simplest explanation has to do with how you break down numbers. Lets take a number, say, 124. We can rewrite it as 100 + 20 + 4 and we can rewrite that as 1 * 10^2 + 2 * 10^1 + 4 * 10^0 and I think you can see why anything raised to the 0th power has to equal 1. Numbers and math wouldn’t work if it didn’t.