Comment on Brilliant's presentation of certain problems

Some of the problems posed by Brilliant are correctly stated but interpreted incorrectly in terms of the supplied solutions. For example, the problem with the heatloss from penquins assembled in a large huddle, asked if there were any penquins that lost heat at a different rate than others? And I would assume that answer would be given in clear, consise terms. However, the 'solution' seemed to hinge on the fact that in a huddle, every member radiates in a more-or-less 360 deg horizontal plane. Given the picture of the 'huddle' that was presented in the problem statement, it is clear to any 'moderately intelligent' individual that this is not a homogeneous huddle. It has internal members, and 'edge' members. Clearly the ' internal' ones radiate less 'net' heat than the 'edge' members. Why your 'solution' dwelled on the fact that they all radiate indentically, completed missed the correct approach which observes that they are NOT all equivalent. Try to be more careful with your assumptions and you will more respect.

Note by Ted Kooij
4 years, 4 months ago

No vote yet
1 vote

  Easy Math Editor

This discussion board is a place to discuss our Daily Challenges and the math and science related to those challenges. Explanations are more than just a solution — they should explain the steps and thinking strategies that you used to obtain the solution. Comments should further the discussion of math and science.

When posting on Brilliant:

  • Use the emojis to react to an explanation, whether you're congratulating a job well done , or just really confused .
  • Ask specific questions about the challenge or the steps in somebody's explanation. Well-posed questions can add a lot to the discussion, but posting "I don't understand!" doesn't help anyone.
  • Try to contribute something new to the discussion, whether it is an extension, generalization or other idea related to the challenge.
  • Stay on topic — we're all here to learn more about math and science, not to hear about your favorite get-rich-quick scheme or current world events.

MarkdownAppears as
*italics* or _italics_ italics
**bold** or __bold__ bold

- bulleted
- list
  • bulleted
  • list

1. numbered
2. list
  1. numbered
  2. list
Note: you must add a full line of space before and after lists for them to show up correctly
paragraph 1

paragraph 2

paragraph 1

paragraph 2

[example link](https://brilliant.org)example link
> This is a quote
This is a quote
    # I indented these lines
    # 4 spaces, and now they show
    # up as a code block.

    print "hello world"
# I indented these lines
# 4 spaces, and now they show
# up as a code block.

print "hello world"
MathAppears as
Remember to wrap math in \( ... \) or \[ ... \] to ensure proper formatting.
2 \times 3 2×3 2 \times 3
2^{34} 234 2^{34}
a_{i-1} ai−1 a_{i-1}
\frac{2}{3} 23 \frac{2}{3}
\sqrt{2} 2 \sqrt{2}
\sum_{i=1}^3 ∑i=13 \sum_{i=1}^3
\sin \theta sin⁡θ \sin \theta
\boxed{123} 123 \boxed{123}

Comments

Note, this is not the question that I asked:

asked if there were any penquins that lost heat at a different rate than others?

the question that is asked is whether any penguins in the huddle are losing heat more quickly than they would be if they were standing alone.

Josh Silverman Staff - 4 years, 4 months ago

Log in to reply

Point taken. Being trained a chemical engineer I went too deep right away.

Ted Kooij - 4 years, 4 months ago

Log in to reply

No problem. I'm sure you will find some real mistakes :). When you do, you can choose to dispute the problem directly. This puts the dispute into our review process where someone will address it. We don't always see these notes unless we are mentioned, e.g. like this @Ted Kooij

Josh Silverman Staff - 4 years, 4 months ago
×

Problem Loading...

Note Loading...

Set Loading...