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The Cambridge Chat Thread - it's over 90,000!

Take y>x and consider 2^y/2^x. You've obviously gone too long without doing enough maths. :P

I did give a "look at the graph" argument though.

I got that far :p:

Just couldn't satisfy myself that 2^h>1 for all h>0 was definitely going to follow, without using other bits..

Reply 7041

smilepea

Original post by gethsemane342

I know one of the two running for it - she's our current women's officer and I have to say, she's done a better job than the other women's officers I've seen in Christ's. I feel the fact she doesn't just do film nights and nothing else was alredy an improvement but my bf commented that she's the first women's officer he's noticed arranging things (for obvious reasons, he had less to do with the previous women's officers than I did :tongue:

) Not that I know much about the other women's officer who could be just as great for all I know :cool:

Yes I've heard very good things about the other person running (admittedly I roll in leftie circles...)

Reply 7042

Leipzig

Original post by BigFudamental

Intriguing. Could you elaborate?

Well, I've spent the past two summers interning in London, so I think I have a fair - if superficial - impression of working life there. I don't particularly like the long commutes, how crowded it can be, how expensive, etc.

I know that most young professionals start their career in a large city, but I think London is an 'extreme' example of city life. Furthermore as a Scot, I don't have any particular attachment to England as a country. I had always intended to leave after graduation; I had planned to go back to Edinburgh, but personal circumstances (and my degree!) have persuaded me that Berlin is a better choice. The accommodation is cheaper and the lifestyle is slightly less hectic than in London...

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7043

harr

15

Original post by Slumpy

I got that far :p:

Just couldn't satisfy myself that 2^h>1 for all h>0 was definitely going to follow, without using other bits..

If 2^h=1 and h=/=0 then 2=1^1/h. If (0<)2^h<1 then 2^nh -> 0 as n -> infinity. This certainly doesn't make sense if h is rational since we can make nh an arbitrarily large integer. Assuming continuity we're done. (You could argue that continuity needs to be proved, but it would be a stupid function if it weren't continuous.)

Reply 7044

around

13

Original post by harr

If 2^h=1 and h=/=0 then 2=1^1/h. If (0<)2^h<1 then 2^nh -> 0 as n -> infinity. This certainly doesn't make sense if h is rational since we can make nh an arbitrarily large integer. Assuming continuity we're done. (You could argue that continuity needs to be proved, but it would be a stupid function if it weren't continuous.)

I think you guys are overthinking this (if it's aimed at GCSE)...

I'd have just said 'it's obvious, you're multiplying more 2's together' when I was GCSE age.

Reply 7045

Supermerp

2

Original post by around

I think you guys are overthinking this (if it's aimed at GCSE)...

I'd have just said 'it's obvious, you're multiplying more 2's together' when I was GCSE age.

PRSOM. Speaking as someone with multiple degrees from the university of Cambridge :holmes:

, this is what I'd say now (and I would've done if you hadn't beaten me).

Reply 7046

visesh

17

Original post by Zoedotdot

Ooh, I've actually done Robinson as well! You've been to loads though. I don't think I'll ever get to King's, seeing as neither of my friends there have been to formal in over a year!

Heh, I haven't been to formal there since 2007/8 as far as I can remember, and I was a student there until 2011!!

Reply 7047

harr

15

Original post by around

I think you guys are overthinking this (if it's aimed at GCSE)...

I'd have just said 'it's obvious, you're multiplying more 2's together' when I was GCSE age.

I don't think the topic is that intuitive. 2^2.5 is like multiplying two and a bit two together, but 0.5^2.5 is like multiplying two 0.5s and a bit more than a 0.5. Negative powers can be explained in terms of division, but it's not that easy to see why negative powers should act like division.

I'll admit that if I were to present the proof to a GCSE student I would take the 2^h<1 case and say that it's obvious because the h^th root needs to be 2.

As it is, the question can be done more directly with 2^{3m-m^2}=1, or just by saying that it's obviously monotonic. While I have a tendency to go for stuff that's too advanced, these are essentially the first two explanations that I gave.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7048

Y__

13

Original post by Supermerp

Speaking as someone with multiple degrees from the university of Cambridge :holmes:

...

I'll be able to say this in July...
Have you tried this line elsewhere? Does it go down well outside CamChat :biggrin:

?

Reply 7049

Slumpy

16

Original post by harr

If 2^h=1 and h=/=0 then 2=1^1/h. If (0<)2^h<1 then 2^nh -> 0 as n -> infinity. This certainly doesn't make sense if h is rational since we can make nh an arbitrarily large integer. Assuming continuity we're done. (You could argue that continuity needs to be proved, but it would be a stupid function if it weren't continuous.)

Ah yes, of course. Assuming h rational and continuity should've been more obvious, clearly it has been too long since I've done proper maths!

Reply 7050

Supermerp

2

Original post by Y__

I'll be able to say this in July...
Have you tried this line elsewhere? Does it go down well outside CamChat :biggrin:

?

I think until now I've only ever used it as an expression of dismay at my failure to accomplish ~~any~~something, with people who have the same level of qualification. I can't imagine it would go down brilliantly in other contexts.

Reply 7051

Craghyrax

17

Original post by Y__

I'll be able to say this in July...
Have you tried this line elsewhere? Does it go down well outside CamChat :biggrin:

?

Merely saying things like 'when I was doing my MPhil' puts some peoples' backs up here, because they think that I'm trying to draw attention to the fact that my course was an MPhil rather than an MA, where they see the Cambridge MPhil as actually being an MA.

:sigh:

Reply 7052

jjarvis

14

Original post by Zoedotdot

How many colleges has everyone managed to formal at? I was counting the other day and the actual number I've made it to isn't very impressive - I've done Emma, Clare, Trinity Hall, Catz, Trinity, John's, Churchill, Girton, Homerton, Magdalene, Robinson and Downing I think. I've also had places at Murray Edwards and Jesus but was ill so couldn't go :frown:

I felt like I'd been to loads, but then counting it up made it seem like not actually that many!

Caius, Christ's, Clare (law dinner, though, so not regular formal), Emma, Hughes, Jesus, Pembroke, Trinity, Wolfson.

I have a lot of catching up to do, but seems unlikely I'll get to go to many more before I finish... :frown:

Original post by The West Wing

Just drinks with colleagues. I am getting the impression that I need to learn to hold my alcohol if I want any chance of a successful career though...

My impression is that learning to hold one's alcohol is more about being able to know how much one can drink and remain upstanding/professional, rather than being able to drink some specific amount. I think it's more important to know your limits than to be able to handle some obscene quantity of booze.

Reply 7053

It could be lupus

12

Original post by Supermerp

PRSOM. Speaking as someone with multiple degrees from the university of Cambridge :holmes:

, this is what I'd say now (and I would've done if you hadn't beaten me).

Which degrees?

Reply 7054

Supermerp

2

Original post by It could be lupus

Which degrees?

If you do a 4 year course you get the BA as well as your 4-year thing. So I had a BA and an MSci. But now I've got an MA (which I think replaces the BA but I'm not really sure).

Reply 7055

It could be lupus

12

Original post by Supermerp

If you do a 4 year course you get the BA as well as your 4-year thing. So I had a BA and an MSci. But now I've got an MA (which I think replaces the BA but I'm not really sure).

True, never thought of that. I was thinking of 2 different undergrad courses

Reply 7056

ukebert

13

Original post by Craghyrax

Merely saying things like 'when I was doing my MPhil' puts some peoples' backs up here, because they think that I'm trying to draw attention to the fact that my course was an MPhil rather than an MA, where they see the Cambridge MPhil as actually being an MA.

:sigh: