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The Arithmetic and Geometric Means You’re probably familiar with the arithmetic mean, which is most people mean (heh) when they say “average”: $$\displaystyle A(x_i) = \frac{1}{n}\sum_i x_i $$ where $x_i$ is a set of $n$ real numbers. The arithmetic mean answers the question “If all these numbers were equal, what would they have to be … Read More “Means and Concavity” »
A cyclic quadrilateral is a four-sided polygon whose vertices all lie on a circle, like this one: The center of this circle (the “circumscribed circle” or “circumcircle”) is called the “circumcenter”, marked by a dot in the above figure. Quadrilaterals have many special points that get called centers, such as the circumcenter, but the most … Read More “When is the centroid of a cyclic quadrilateral also its circumcenter?” »
Suppose you have a set $S$ of $N$ numbers: $$\displaystyle S = \{x_1, x_2, x_3, \cdots, x_N\}$$ How many different products can be formed by multiplying at most $F$ members of $S$, allowing repetitions? For example, take $S = \{a,b,c,d\}$. Then the distinct products are: Number of factors Products 1 $$\displaystyle a, b, c, d$$ … Read More “Counting Products When Factors Count” »
1. Introduction One might remember from high-school precalculus class something called the Law of Sines, and might even remember what it is because it has a memorable pattern: $ \displaystyle \frac{\sin{A}}{a} = \frac{\sin{B}}{b} = \frac{\sin{C}}{c} \ \ \ \ \ (1)$ where $a$, $b$, and $c$ (lowercase) are the side lengths and $A$, $B$, and … Read More “Law of Sines for Tetrahedra” »