Matt Parker addresses the Society
At our first meeting, we were amazed when Australian-born author, comedian and mathematician Matt Parker sent us a wonderful introductory video, and also our oldest puzzle.
He is best known for writing about the funny side of numbers, particularly his most famous bestselling book, Humble Pi. He also occasionally hosts episodes of the maths-focused YouTube channel, Numberphile.
Matt Parker’s most famous book, Humble Pi
It was wonderful for him to take the time to talk to us, so we decided to honour him with one of our first biographies, which you can find here.
And what was that conundrum? We call it the Matt Parker Conundrum, but it dosen’t really have a name.
Well, every prime number squared, except for 2 and 3 which are too low, is one more than a multiple of 24.
Have a look:
Why? Well, here is our rather complex proof…
Let n be not multiple of 3. Then n=3m±1 for some m.
Let n also be odd. Then 3m is even and m is even. So m=2k for some k.
So n=3∗2k±1=6k±1.
And n^2=36k^2±12k+1
And 36k^2±12k+1=12(3k±1)k+1.
If k is even, Then 12k is divisible by 24 and n^2 is one more than a multiple of 24.
If k is odd, then 3k^2±1 is even. And then 12(3k^2±1) is divisible by 24 and n^2 is one more than a multiple of 24.
Yes. A bit difficult to see, but if you can do the working yourself, you’ll soon understand the beauty of this.
Please do contact us if you can think of a cleaner solution!
Thanks Matt Parker.