floofloofTeens come up with trigonometry proof for Pythagorean Theorem, a problem that stumped math world for centuries
Stumped? This [theorem]en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem) is a contender for most different proofs.
NOT_RICKThe article states nobody has ever found a proof for the Pythagorean theorem utilizing trigonometry before until these young ladies did.
There had been one other documented proof of the theorem using trigonometry by mathematician Jason Zimba in 2009
No it doesn't.
I see that now. Higher up in the article was a bit misleading
What no one told them was there had been more than 300 documented proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem using algebra and geometry, but for 2,000 years a proof using trigonometry was thought to be impossible, … and that was the bonus question facing them.
The 60 Minutes episode is a bit misleading in how they discuss this too. Basically it’s very impressive because they were high school students. A proof of this kind had only been done once before. They each found one independently and worked to find a general method for more proofs. Watch the 60 Minutes episode.
Half the time in these stories it comes out the parents/relatives/friends happen to actually be experts in the field and work at some high level place where the teens in question just happened to have access to cutting edge resources and 'guidance'.
They already went to a cutting edge private school that has a 100% graduation rate. I could see what you mean if it was just one student, but these kids were working independently. The school is the common thread.
What you say might be true if it were an easy accomplishment for an adult. Like those kids who are 10 years old with 2 businesses. Then you find out that their parents have 5 businesses. What are the chances that two students independently have outstanding mathematicians as parents?
Not only that, but they also explained their proofs. Watch the video. It’s not a “kid with a boring online business” story.
Flying SquidAnd they only got $500 for it. Not quite on the level of the Fields Medal… although apparently even that’s only $15,000 CAD (not sure why Wikipedia tells me the amount in Canadian money, but whatever).
Whether that’s true or not, the article transcript explains why this is still a big deal:
Bill Whitaker: Why do you think so many people found what you did to be so impressive?
Ne’Kiya Jackson: Probably because we’re African American, one. And we’re also women. So I think-- oh, and our age. Of course our ages probably played a big part.