Showing posts with label math and physics freaks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label math and physics freaks. Show all posts

Monday, January 5, 2009

Oxford Univ. math exam question

I came accross this little math problem in a new biography of Lewis Carroll. It was on a math final during the 1850's at Oxford University. I believe that any budding mathematician in the 9th grade should be able to figure it out.

Problem: Let m and n be arbitrary odd integers (m>n). Prove m^2 -n^2 is divisible by 8