Hard maths problem for you (Warning: VERY hard!)

[Efour]

how can this make any sense.... i have read this and its complete BS.

 

[Ev0]

Thanks a lot, I was all set for an early night now I've been reading up on this

I'd no hope in hell of getting it right and knowing why, but am very interested in how you are supposed to get the answer

 

[Vonhelmet]

Google it. It's fairly simple, but it's not elegant. You won't read it and think "Oh, that's so obvious".

 

[gambitt]

[jack bauer]I don't see a question.[/jack bauer]

 

[Rameses]

I believe the answer you're looking for is 0.999999999 recurring.

 

[dowie]

I got 4 and 13 too.

Yup.

Unless you're actually going to show your working then your replies merely illustrate that you're capable of using google.

 

[Vonhelmet]

Unless you're actually going to show your working then your replies merely illustrate that you're capable of using google.

It's not even a working as such, it's more a brute force based on the conditions given, and some of the specific wording.

And I unashamedly used Google.

 

[gambitt]

A mysterious stranger (paedo bear maybe?) talks to Sam and Paul. He thinks of two integers between 2 and 99 inclusive.

OK I'm with you so far.

He tells Paul the product of the two numbers, and tells Sam the sum of the two numbers. Paul and Sam then talk to each other, without saying the number that they've been told.

Numbers... check.

They do however, know the nature of the number that the other's been given (ie: Paul knows Sam's been given the sum of the two numbers and visa versa)

Fair enough.

Paul: I don't know what the two numbers are.
Sam: I know you don't know, neither do I.
Paul: AHA! I know what the numbers are now!
Sam: Ah, so do I

Good for the boys. Well I'm glad we got that cleared up.

 

[dowie]

It's not even a working as such, it's more a brute force based on the conditions given, and some of the specific wording.

Well yes, quite. But the lack of either code or (if done manually) a break down of how they eliminated other possibilities is rather telling.

 

[Megahurtz400]

35438643213545446.1r

 

[Beansprout]

I believe the answer you're looking for is 0.999999999 recurring.

Or half a sandwich!

 

[TheCenturion]

The most straightforward proof to this problem is computational (i.e. write a program).

I see the OP has been edited to remove the "what are the two numbers?" part of the question. Does this mean it is indeed impossible to narrow it down further, and we were just meant to explain Peter and Simon's reasoning?

It's entirely possible to do. I asked my head of maths today, and he said that he knew this particular problem. He knew 5 people who'd solved it (including himself) and all had used a different method. One of these people in fact had to write a program and left it overnight to figure out the answer

 

[Burnsy2023]

I'm writing some C++ for it now....

 

[Bennie-Mac]

Both numbers are zero.

 

[Django x2]

Both numbers are zero.

Which bit of this did you miss?

He thinks of two integers between 2 and 99 inclusive

 

[Bennie-Mac]

Which bit of this did you miss?

I missed the whole "I suck at maths and apparantly at reading posts"

 

[Vonhelmet]

One of these people in fact had to write a program and left it overnight to figure out the answer

Either he did it in 1983 or he's a terrible programmer. I found some code while Googling for this, and it's only about 100 lines.

Burnsy - let us know how your code works out.

 

[Inquisitor]

Either he did it in 1983 or he's a terrible programmer. I found some code while Googling for this, and it's only about 100 lines.

How's this for a small but long-running program?

for (;;);

 

[Vonhelmet]

How's this for a small but long-running program?

for (;;);

 

[Inquisitor]