The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher,
Hi Pat,Reading Polya's quote, I thought: hey, there something weird in it! I would prefer to find an easy problem that I can solve.
Yes, what Polya said was "If there is a problem you can't solve, then there is an easier problem you can solve: find it."
"[251] is the smallest integer that can be the sum of three cubes in two different ways. 251 = 23+33+63 = 13+53+53" These both sum to 119 and none of them are cubes. Am I missing something?
Hi Pat,
ReplyDeleteReading Polya's quote, I thought: hey, there something weird in it! I would prefer to find an easy problem that I can solve.
Yes, what Polya said was "If there is a problem you can't solve,
ReplyDeletethen there is an easier problem you can solve: find it."
"[251] is the smallest integer that can be the sum of three cubes in two different ways. 251 = 23+33+63 = 13+53+53" These both sum to 119 and none of them are cubes. Am I missing something?
ReplyDelete