Mathematics Puzzle: Adding Random Numbers
I have no intention of turning this blog into a math blog, but every now and then I run into interesting mathematical puzzles. My two favorite fields are combinatorics and probability, and this puzzle belongs to one of them:
Suppose you start adding up random numbers chosen from the interval [0,1]. How many numbers, on the […]
Physics Puzzle: Newton’s Cradle
We’ve all seen this executive toy somewhere:
As the ball comes down and a collision occurs, it comes to rest while another ball at the other end rises up. This repeats ad infinitum - at least in theory - and illustrates perfectly the principle of conservation of momentum - the momentum of the colliding ball on […]
Wavelets: Analyzing Scale
Physics is littered with transforms: Fourier, Radon, Wavelet, Laplace, Hilbert and many more. The idea behind each transform is - almost exclusively - to represent data in a way which makes it easy to “see” hidden structures. For instance, the Fourier transform allows you to see if there is any periodicity within your signal quite […]