friendship games Twilight and Shimmer put WAY to much thought into this.

[Eternity Ending 86]

We also put way to much thought into this.

I thought this would be complex algebra, but it just turned out to be simple geometry.

I have known how to do this since 6th grade.

[immblueversion 331]

They were probably required to take the long route to make it more competitive.

[superdogz1999 551]

They did not know that 180-70-60=50 and 180-50=130. So the place where DHX placed the 10° is supposed to be the 130°

I would like to tell them to reanimate that scene to get the mathematics of it right.

[Evil_Emperor 176]

Just enjoy the cartoon, it's aimed primarily at young girls, not adult mathematicians. Nobody buffs the Batmobiles tires, either.

[PROJECT: Simon 3,954]

This is hilarious~!! xDD <3 >3< 

[KatonRyu 1,033]

Thank you for this, I had already guessed from their answers and the image it was simple trigonometry, but this confirms it. And these girls are supposed to be geniuses. Shame on Sunset for getting it wrong, too.

 

EDIT: So they're horrible at simple spelling, and horrible at simple math. No wonder Crystal Prep trounces them every time.

 

Another Edit: Just read a later post explaining the problem wasn't as simple as I thought it was. Well, kudos to them, then.

Edited October 1, 2015 by KatonRyu

[Sunset188 193]

Hahaha I didn't even notice this, didn't really pay too much attention to the board

It seemed like they were all failing at the spelling though.

[cabbage 5]

Eternity Ending: You're assuming x = ∠C, but there are no grounds for assuming that (it turns out to be true, but only by coincidence)

 

This is actually "The World's Hardest Easy Geometry Problem". It really is as complicated to solve as depicted - in fact, the solution depicted in the movie is lifted straight from that page.

[DBG 79]

They did not know that 180-70-60=50 and 180-50=130. So the place where DHX placed the 10° is supposed to be the 130°

I would like to tell them to reanimate that scene to get the mathematics of it right.

...Or the 10 wouldn't be clearly seen if they placed it where it was intended to be.

[J.T. 1,843]

Neeeeeerrrrrddddsss :U

[SasQ 1,376]

Twilight and Shimmer put WAY too much thought into this.

Nope. It's rather that YOU put too FEW thought into this, because your calculations, and even your assumptions are WRONG.

 

The problem was not to find the angle ACB (that would be too easy), but to find the angle DEA, marked as big red X in the diagram. It was not "+1", but "X" labelling the arc of that angle. The actual problem looks like this:

 

 

Or, if you like:

 

GIVEN:

∠CAE = 10°

∠EAB = 70°

∠CBD = 20°

∠DBA = 60°

 

FIND:

∠DEA = ∠x

 

I thought this would be complex algebra, but it just turned out to be simple geometry.

Well, it is simple geometry, but not that simple.

 

I have known how to do this since 6th grade.

Then try your 6th grade geometry with the actual problem instead of your simplified one. I wonder how far you will go with that My guess is that you will be stuck at this point:

 

 

because this is how far the simple angle calculations can let you go.

Then you will be stuck, because there is nothing which could tell you the other angle which together with the angle X adds up to that 150° angle, unless you know some other tricks ;>

 

We also put way to much thought into this.

I'm glad I put more thought into this, because this is quite an interesting geometry problem and it took me a while to figure out how to crack it (my approach was a bit different than in the movie, but quite similar). This is why I like "Friendship is Magic" and "Equestria Girls": it makes me think, and I can always learn something new from it.

 

I also checked Twilight's and Sunset's solution from the blackboard in the movie. They're both identical, and they're both correct (though not rigorous), except for the final result (X=30° vs. X=20°), so it was really the case that Sunset was very close to winning.

 

The only thing which I would consider unnecessary is repeating the calculations for some of the angles instead of doing it once and for all (as I did).

 

If you want me to explain their solution, I can write a follow-up (I planned to do it anyway), with nice pictures like the ones above, and in-detail explanations.

 

But first I would like to see if you're really smarter than Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle ;>

 

Just enjoy the cartoon, it's aimed primarily at young girls, not adult mathematicians.

You would be surprised. (If you put some more thought into it, that is.) I already found many examples of correct scientific knowledge in "Friendship is Magic", including space-time diagrams of the twin paradox from Special Relativity, or a correct derivation of the time dilation formula (also from Special Relativity). For little girls? Well, then I guess every little girl just waits to spot an error in Special Relativity equations and make Einstein cry ;J

 

For more details, see my other post "Symbolism and Hidden Knowledge in MLP:FiM". You can find the link in my profile page.

Edited October 18, 2015 by SasQ

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

They did better with it than I would have, I really suck at math problems.

[LHfunk 422]

Simple! The answer is 7. (It's not, that's just what I say anytime I'm asked a math problem). It does look complicated, and maybe you could solve it with less chalkboard writing. They probably had to write all of their work though. Or something.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,343]

They took 'showing your work' to the next level of EXTREME. 

 

 

Also, this thread reminds me how much I absolutely suck at all things mathematical beyond the simple stuff. 

[cmarston1 5,959]

Gotta love threads like this that show us fellow fans analyzing even the most tiny of things from the show/EQG

[SoaringHigh 1]

We also put way to much thought into this.

I thought this would be complex algebra, but it just turned out to be simple geometry.

I have known how to do this since 6th grade.

overthinking bob the phillis.png

It's funny that you're also overthinking this because this equation literally is impossible. Finding C is impossible because a triangle cannot have more than 180 degrees total. I've tried using other spots for the 20 and the 10 but they don't make sense in context with the rest of the problem. Another thing is that the original image was altered so you could clearly see the board and the equations.

 

http://imgur.com/6059Brh

[SilverComet 170]

It's funny that you're also overthinking this because this equation literally is impossible. Finding C is impossible because a triangle cannot have more than 180 degrees total. I've tried using other spots for the 20 and the 10 but they don't make sense in context with the rest of the problem. Another thing is that the original image was altered so you could clearly see the board and the equations.

 

http://imgur.com/6059Brh

 

The angle BDE is bigger than 90º (check SasQ colorfull diagram).

[luftschloss 831]

Well, doing the calculations with Twilight's solution, it would seem that she is actually correct. 

[SunlightShipper 1]

Wait, but the actual problem is done out that complicated, and is explained here:

https://www.duckware.com/tech/worldshardesteasygeometryproblem.html

[Thrond 3,263]

Easy or hard, I'm pretty sure attempting to solve this would cause me to spontaneously combust, so it's a good thing the nerds are dealing with it.