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@Siddhartha Srivastava
–
Not going in too different direction , but , once , when this thing came to my mind then , one of my colleagues got up with an idea.
Here's the idea :
Suppose there is a line of massive objects ( perhaps black holes or stars or whatever you may want ) , such that each object touches the adjacent two objects . All objects in the line have a fixed mass, let's say M. And they all are arranged in a straight line. They all are spherical with a fixed diameter d and are touching each other. There are infinite objects arranged in a endless line. Remember , they are in absolute space without any influence of any force . What we have to do is with their gravitational force . A simple question :
What is the total force acting on each of the objects ( in their center of mass , perhaps ) by the gravity of all the infinite objects on one of its side . My approach :
By Law of Gravitation , total force exerted by all the objects :
r2GMM1+(2r)2GMM2+...+(nr)2GMM∞
Where mass of our selected object is M . And r is the distance. Now as mass of all object is the same and the distance is or should be a multiple of d , clearly , it is equal to :
d2GM2(1+221+321...)
And so as we have both discovered the sum of the infinite sequence is finite or has a fixed value , so we can say the force of gravity would be finite , even though it seems to be infinite . If you haven't understood just try to visualize .
Yeah, I've had that , well, the thing is that , you see, my comment to @Siddhartha Srivastava about the gravity and all , is that true ? , this note was created to understand that concept. Any ideas ?
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.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basel_problem
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Thanks , Bro. Well, just asking that have you realised it's implications that it has a fixed value ?
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I don't understand what you mean. I don't see any very obvious implication of this fact.
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Here's the idea : Suppose there is a line of massive objects ( perhaps black holes or stars or whatever you may want ) , such that each object touches the adjacent two objects . All objects in the line have a fixed mass, let's say M. And they all are arranged in a straight line. They all are spherical with a fixed diameter d and are touching each other. There are infinite objects arranged in a endless line. Remember , they are in absolute space without any influence of any force . What we have to do is with their gravitational force . A simple question : What is the total force acting on each of the objects ( in their center of mass , perhaps ) by the gravity of all the infinite objects on one of its side . My approach :
By Law of Gravitation , total force exerted by all the objects : r2GMM1+(2r)2GMM2+...+(nr)2GMM∞ Where mass of our selected object is M . And r is the distance. Now as mass of all object is the same and the distance is or should be a multiple of d , clearly , it is equal to : d2GM2(1+221+321...) And so as we have both discovered the sum of the infinite sequence is finite or has a fixed value , so we can say the force of gravity would be finite , even though it seems to be infinite . If you haven't understood just try to visualize .
@Calvin Lin
@Michael Mendrin , Is my approach correct ?
Pi^2/6. For a solution you can go to plus.mah.org which is a very good website explaining MATHS and PHYSICS.
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Yeah, I've had that , well, the thing is that , you see, my comment to @Siddhartha Srivastava about the gravity and all , is that true ? , this note was created to understand that concept. Any ideas ?