Question: what was the hardest equation you have ever done

Edward Hughes answered on 24 Jun 2014:

Good question – that really made me think! The hardest equation I’ve come across recently is a particular way of writing down what happens when particles smash together, using a mathematical tool called a rational map. It was pretty long, but I worked out what it meant in the end!

Actually, it’s not always the equations that are difficult! The bigger issue is working out what you need to do to try and solve a problem. I often have to prove that something is true, so I need to be creative and think up an argument. Getting started on the right track can be tough.

Here’s an example. Suppose you are in a class of 23 people. Then there’s more than a 50% chance that two people have the same birthday! Sounds weird right, and probably tricky to prove. But it’s much easier to work out if you realise that you should instead calculate the chance everyone has a different birthday, then take it away from 100%. I’ll leave that down to you!