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In the article they state:
Using trigonometry, they had to create a new proof of the Pythagorean theorem, the 2,000-year-old rule that explains the relationship between the lengths of sides on a right triangle. No one told the teenagers that mathematicians had long considered this task “impossible.”
and THEN casually mention:
Two people had previously proved the theorem using trigonometry: Jason Zimba in 2009 and Nuno Luzia in 2015.
WTF?
Well, hate to do this, but all the phrasing is in the past tense.
Considered, long thought, etc.
But, they created a NEW proof. And considering it took 2 thousand years for 2 others to do it…
So there is that.
I wonder if it’s mainly because no one really tried, because it was already proven using two other forms of math that wasn’t trigonometry. Also, I don’t know how long the version of trigonometry they were using (sines) has been around. Before that it couldn’t have been proven, because generally trigonometry uses the pythagoreum theorem as its fundamental base, per the article.
I was just wondering the same. Plus, what kind of high school if high school offers prize money on a bonus assignment that’s THOUGHT TO BE IMPOSSIBLE
I posted this to another thread the other day. If any of you want a better reconstruction if what I believe they accomplished, or to read the paper and see the examples, it’s all in here. If I got anything wrong, please explain, I’m only ok I’m at my math.
By proving Pythagoras’ theorem using trigonometry, but without using the theorem itself, the two young women overcame a failure of logic known as circular reasoning.
Before these young ladies came up with these proofs, the only way people could come up with to balance the equation was to use things that boiled down to the actual thing they were trying to prove. It’s like saying all things are made of atoms, but then people say well what the heck are atoms made of, smartypants?! So these girls found the Higgs-Boson of trigonometry while in high school as a piece of extra credit on a test. That’s my understanding as a low B, high C math student.
Edit: For any of you that are mathy, here is their actual paper.
From the Conclusion of the paper:
The reader may be surprised to learn that the catalyst for us to start this project was a bonus question of a high school math contest. The bonus question was to create a new proof of the Pythagorean theorem. Motivated by the $500 prize, we independently decided to take on this task. It proved to be much harder than we first imagined, and we each spent many long nights trying and failing to create a proof. After roughly a month of mental labor, we each completed and submitted our work. Mr. Rich, a math volunteer at our high school, believed our proofs were novel enough to be presented at a mathematical conference. Neither of us had such confidence in our work at that point, but we decided to go along with it anyway. This is when we began to work together.
For the next two to three months, we spent all of our free time perfecting and polishing our work. We worked both independently and together after school, on weekends, and even during holidays. In the process, with Mr. Rich as our faculty advisor, we created additional proofs. We did all of this not knowing if we would even be allowed to present at the conference, which is usually only done by professional mathematicians, and occasionally college students. To our surprise, our high school work was taken seriously, and we were approved to present at the American Mathematical Society’s Southeastern Sectional conference in March of 2023. Being the youngest people in the room and the youngest presenters was terrifying, but knowing that this was the culmination of all of our previous efforts gave us the confidence to present.
We were then encouraged by the AMS to submit our findings to an academic journal. This proved to be the most daunting task of all, since we had absolutely no experience writing for an academic journal. We were both also dealing with the stressors that come with adjusting to the college environment. Learning how to code in LaTeX is not so simple when you’re also trying to write a 5 page essay with a group, and submit a data analysis for a lab. With the guidance and wisdom of our mentors, and a lot of personal dedication, we were able to craft this paper. The support of our family and later our community helped us to persevere. Our journey to this point was by no means simple or straightforward. There was no road map laid out for us, and there certainly was no guarantee that any of our work would go further than our own heads. There were many times when both of us wanted to abandon this project, but we decided to persevere to finish what we started.
Besides click baits, presenting in a conference and writing a paper sounds like it’s serious enough work. Congrats to them for accomplishing what most people only do after graduating and with lots of effort.
Upvoting but not reading it because I probably won’t even understand.
I read it. Doesn’t talk about the actual proof all too much, but more about how it came to them even attending the proof. It’s an easy read, but you didn’t miss out on anything important.
All the more reason to protect women’s rights in this upcoming election. Senseless to degrade the value of half of society. Especially when they have proven time and time again that they can reach new heights.
