Your Equation
If you’re like me, your eyes glaze over at the mere mention of the word equation. Hang in there. Read this post; there’s a chance to pick up a free copy of one of our Pulse of the Planet CD’s.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been in California with three of our Kids’ Science Challenge winners. SETI winner Kamau Hamilton and I met with Frank Drake, who came up a famous equation that now bears his name. It tells us how many intelligent civilizations there are probably out there in the universe.
The Drake Equation provides a means of figuring out the number of extraterrestrial civilzations which might exist in our galaxy. You factor in the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets - stuff like that.
This got me thinking about equations and daily life. You could write an equation about just about anything, couldn’t you?
How many people are eating poppy seed bagels in Des Moines IA? What’s the probability of a woman over 50 meeting the guy of her dreams? How many emails will you receive this week offering to deposit substantial portions of Nigeria’s treasury in your bank account? What’s the likelihood that you’ll sit next to a computer programmer on your next flight, or that the airline will misplace your baggage?
We do these calculations all the time, perhaps not with equals signs and constants, but it’s a sure bet that moment to moment we’re going through some kind of risk assessment, doing the numbers, navigating the probability curve unconsciously.
So here’s the pitch. As a comment to this post, send in Your Equation for whatever question or calculation you find yourself confronting in your corner of the microcosm. I’ll pick one based on originality and mathematical prowess, and send you a Pulse of the Planet CD. Now what are the odds that you will respond?
Jim
July 4th, 2009 at 6:34 am
How about this equation:
How many times in a 1 hour period can your computer freeze, and the power go out?
I have the answer for you even - 2 times each occurrence in a 1 hour period and 3 times for computer freeze and 8 times for power outage in a 12 hour period.
Next equation: How many times in a 12 hour period is it ok for you to forcefully reboot your hard drive without doing permanent damage to your computer?
This one I don’t have the answer too yet, and hope never to have!
I must say however, you sure put a completely different twist on the whole concept of equations. I am finishing here before the power goes out again or the computer freezes!!!
I didn’t see any other comments but perhaps now I have got the ball rolling for your competition!
Good luck to all participants and probably I won’t have a working computer to check anything again so I will never find out who wins!
Regards
Adirec
July 4th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Adirec:
Thanks for taking the lead on this. Clearly you are out in front. I’d still love to see the actual equation. So if X = the number of times your computer can freeze, have fun with the variables, which will probably include the average number of thunderstorms - which we have had many of lately in my neck of the woods. My latest equation would be to equate the cost of the cost of any one piece of produce from my garden. The first strawberry cost me about $1000, I figure.
Surely we can find some number crunchers to transform these and other problems into bona fide equations. Have at it, math geeks……
Jim
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:39 am
Equations make my eyes gloss over as well, but I think I may have one here! If I am one of only two people to respond to this post, then I should have a 50% chance of winning a CD, right?
I would also love to see an equation determing how much time is wasted on getting side tracked on the internet. For example, if for every online task that I have, I spend two to three times the necessary time doing other unnecessary things, how much time do I waste each year? So, if I spend 30 minutes on each ten minute task, and I do this 4 times each day, then I think I am spending 40 hours a month getting sidetracked. Wow- did I figure that out correctly? It’s a good thing that computers save us so much time. I better get off to work.
By the way, I have also grown a delicious $50 tomato.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Pamela:
I’m so glad you’re getting into the spirit of this. To earn that CD, someone is going to have to come up with an equation - you know, those things with the “=” signs in
‘em. The cost of each tomato gets cheaper with every one you grow, factoring in the infamous tomato blight, which has played havoc with everyone’s tomato equation this year.
cheers;
jim
April 21st, 2010 at 12:23 pm
What is the likelihood that there will be freshly made organic Ethiopian bean coffee in the campus De Cafe when I wander over there mid-afternoon with hopes of perking my attention level over the unstoppable flood of email?
Not simply X-Y=N, where
X=the number of cups brewed each hour
Y=the number of Ethiopian coffee fans buying coffee each hour
N=the number left available at, say, 3:30 pm
There are far too many factors to consider, perhaps as multinomial coefficients, if I could figure out how and where to sprinkle them in. Such as:
a=attentiveness of the staff brewing coffee
b=bad delivery schedule keeps the inventory low
c=consumption spikes higher during exams
d=diversions such as SUNSHINE, OMG! in Ohio deflates demand
e=exciting new ingredients for smoothies seduces coffee drinkers to fruit
and so on…
Can’t possibly consider any of that without going to get some right now.
April 21st, 2010 at 2:39 pm
As they say in the coffee biz, we are definitely getting warmer. Alison, thank you for posting a bona fide equation. Perhaps someone can take the raw material presented herein and blend us a hearty, robust, even aromatic equation, liberally sprinkled with Alisons coefficients. And a constant.
Jim