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Topic: silly romans. (Read 1878 times) |
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Noke Lieu
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silly romans.
« on: Aug 16th, 2010, 6:20pm » |
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Whilst on a dig, I uncovered a bit of old roman homework...
I/C = C
IX-IV = (X/D)/C
CV/(DC - CD) = D
it claimed. Silly Romans, I thought... that can't be right. Can it?
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #1 on: Aug 16th, 2010, 9:08pm » |
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I tried simple 0-9 number substitution (where DC, say, equals 10D + C) but got nowhere.
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MathsForFun
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #2 on: Aug 17th, 2010, 1:39am » |
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on Aug 16th, 2010, 6:20pm, Noke Lieu wrote:
I = C^2
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #3 on: Aug 17th, 2010, 2:21am » |
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on Aug 17th, 2010, 1:39am, MathsForFun wrote:
Did you forget a question mark or a couple of exclamation marks? 
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| « Last Edit: Aug 17th, 2010, 2:32am by ThudnBlunder » |
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MathsForFun
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #4 on: Aug 17th, 2010, 4:20am » |
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on Aug 17th, 2010, 2:21am, ThudanBlunder wrote:
Did you forget a question mark or a couple of exclamation marks? |
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Given that my contribution to the discussion was an equation rather than English language text, a punctuation mark would have made it incorrect. 
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #5 on: Aug 17th, 2010, 5:06am » |
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on Aug 17th, 2010, 4:20am, MathsForFun wrote:
Given that my contribution to the discussion was an equation rather than English language text, a punctuation mark would have made it incorrect. |
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I see. You were merely posting your progress.
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Noke Lieu
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #6 on: Aug 17th, 2010, 5:12pm » |
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on Aug 17th, 2010, 1:39am, MathsForFun wrote:
well, sure, but no. There is no '2'.
I'd have to say that the Romans excelled at many things, but maths wasn't one of them.
IV - IL = L
((MM/C)/C)/C = M
MXC - MCX = (DC-CD)(DC-CD) - CV
XV - XL = sqrt(CV)
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| « Last Edit: Aug 17th, 2010, 11:13pm by Noke Lieu » |
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MathsForFun
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #7 on: Aug 18th, 2010, 2:25am » |
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on Aug 17th, 2010, 5:06am, ThudanBlunder wrote:| I see. You were merely posting your progress. |
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Yes. My name is MathsForFun - not MathsToProveMyself.
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #8 on: Aug 18th, 2010, 2:41am » |
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on Aug 18th, 2010, 2:25am, MathsForFun wrote:
Yes. My name is MathsForFun - not MathsToProveMyself. |
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Sorry if you think I confused you with somebody else, but it looks like your 'equation' required a question mark after all.
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| « Last Edit: Aug 18th, 2010, 2:03pm by ThudnBlunder » |
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Noke Lieu
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #9 on: Aug 18th, 2010, 6:35pm » |
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Do I have to throw a bucket of cold water over you two? It's easy to read less than friendly undertones in this banter- nto that I think either of you intend them to be there. It's just one of the foibles of written communication.
Now,  , but no
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #10 on: Aug 19th, 2010, 9:38am » |
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on Aug 18th, 2010, 6:35pm, Noke Lieu wrote:| Do I have to throw a bucket of cold water over you two? It's easy to read less than friendly undertones in this banter. |
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Dunno what MathsForFun thinks, but I reckon you should have waited another day before breaking cover. 
on Aug 18th, 2010, 6:35pm, Noke Lieu wrote:
Now, , but no |
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What, no tongues? 
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| « Last Edit: Aug 23rd, 2010, 6:46pm by ThudnBlunder » |
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #11 on: Aug 20th, 2010, 10:23am » |
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on Aug 18th, 2010, 6:35pm, Noke Lieu wrote:. It's just one of the foibles of written communication.
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For more foibles check your messages.
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Noke Lieu
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #12 on: Aug 22nd, 2010, 9:37pm » |
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perhaps I should have called it "Love divine, all loves..."
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #13 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 2:57am » |
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on Aug 22nd, 2010, 9:37pm, Noke Lieu wrote:
perhaps I should have called it "Love divine, all loves..." |
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This hint deserves its own thread.
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TenaliRaman
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #14 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 7:53am » |
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I guess each equation translates into some line like I/C becomes "I oversee" ??
-- AI
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Noke Lieu
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #15 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 4:05pm » |
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EXCELent guess... but no... (he said, getting paranoid he's stuffed it!)
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #16 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 4:31pm » |
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on Aug 22nd, 2010, 9:37pm, Noke Lieu wrote:
perhaps I should have called it "Love divine, all loves..." |
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What have you been smoking and where can I get some?
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THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.....................................................................er, if that's all right with the rest of you.
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Noke Lieu
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #17 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 6:08pm » |
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on Aug 23rd, 2010, 4:31pm, ThudanBlunder wrote:
What have you been smoking and where can I get some? |
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A mixture of kippers, chicken breast, and paprika. I once tried a smoked beer, but it tasted like someone had put cheese and bacon balls in it.
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=love+divine+all+love+
It's interesting how badly this puzzle has fared.
Your gut feelings -all of you- were right. Accordingly, I needed to add one layer of complexity, and it not all that difficult.
What's the 256th column in Excel labelled?
That's what prompted the question. I wanted to make some larger examples, but I leave that to you.
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #18 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 6:28pm » |
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on Aug 23rd, 2010, 6:08pm, Noke Lieu wrote:
It's interesting how badly this puzzle has fared.
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But as an experiment in paranormal phenomena it was quite good, demonstrating as it did the current limitations of telepathy.
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| « Last Edit: Aug 24th, 2010, 4:44pm by ThudnBlunder » |
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #19 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 7:17pm » |
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However, contrary to what you posted earlier, according to your EXCELlent system, I does equal C2. 
Perhaps you are unaware that C^2 is slothful shorthand for C2?
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| « Last Edit: Aug 23rd, 2010, 7:23pm by ThudnBlunder » |
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Noke Lieu
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #20 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 7:27pm » |
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But as an experiment in paranormal phenomena it was quite good.
that's the spirit
I = C^2...
Well, yes, and no, as previously offered. Allow me to elucidate.
There is no '2'. There would be B instead, except there is no B, as the Romans didn't use it to represent numbers.
Hence, the only 'legal' glyphs are C, D, I, L, M, V, X
representing [in decimal] 2, 3, 4, 9, 12, 13, 22, 24.
(WHOOPS! Thanks Thud)
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| « Last Edit: Aug 23rd, 2010, 8:33pm by Noke Lieu » |
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #21 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 8:18pm » |
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on Aug 23rd, 2010, 7:27pm, Noke Lieu wrote:[i]
Hence, the only 'legal' glyphs are C, D, I, L, M, V, X
representing [in decimal] 2, 3, 9, 12, 13, 22, 24.
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MMM...IC
on Aug 23rd, 2010, 6:08pm, Noke Lieu wrote:
I wanted to make some larger examples, but I leave that to you.
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I can't wait to reveal the secrets of my excess.
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THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.....................................................................er, if that's all right with the rest of you.
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ThudnBlunder
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #22 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 8:20pm » |
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on Aug 23rd, 2010, 7:27pm, Noke Lieu wrote:[i]
Hence, the only 'legal' glyphs are C, D, I, L, M, V, X
representing [in decimal] 2, 3, 9, 12, 13, 22, 24.
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NOT...
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Noke Lieu
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #23 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 9:40pm » |
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Thanks for the constructive feedback there. It's moments like these that help new puzzlers get the confindence to try making something new.
FWIW, MMM in this system means
26*26*13 + 26*13+ 13 = 9139 rather than 3000
Perhaps you could show me how to represent the numbers 1-25 under these constraints? (Only using subtraction or division)
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| « Last Edit: Aug 23rd, 2010, 9:44pm by Noke Lieu » |
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Noke Lieu
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Re: silly romans.
« Reply #24 on: Aug 23rd, 2010, 10:38pm » |
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Don't worry- it'd take a bit more than that to deter me from trying to get nice questions out there. They can't all be pearlers...
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