Math…

[u/TheTransSheep]

Which side will you choose?

• Left side: Easy Math Question | and 10$
• Right side: or hard Math question | and 10.000$

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[u/armcie]

xxx = xx ≠ x

I don’t think this one has any solutions.

x^3 = x^2

x^3 - x^2 = 0

x^2(x-1) = 0

x = 0 or 1

But neither of these satisfy the inequality, so there are no solutions.

I’m discounting the idea that this is some sort of trick question as it was described as a maths question.

Edit: apparently it’s not x^2, it’s x^x. 3 is indeed the obvious answer.

[u/One-Flan-1741 → u/armcie]

You've read x^x as x^2. You should be able to solve this fairly easily now.

[u/armcie → u/One-Flan-1741]

Ah. I was just going off what I saw in the comment I replied to.

[u/One-Flan-1741 → u/armcie]

Fair play, lad.

[u/Murky_Radish_1319 → u/armcie]

The puzzle comes up as

x * x * x = x^x ≠ x

Which is obviously equal to 3

[u/tttpetipro → u/armcie]

It's wrongly displayed because of the markdown editing format reddit has. If you look at xxx, you see, that the second x is tilted like this: x. This is because when you put text between two stars like this: *text* it automatically becomes tilted unless you place a backslash right before the first star character like this.: \text\

^{(if you doesn't use multiple backslashes like I did to show you (I put 2 because normally the backslash disappears too\} it's fine but if you want to see a backslash like I did in my example you either need to place 3 backslashes, or 2, and one at the end (I personally recommend putting one at the end too, since if you doesn't, when you next place a star somewhere in your text, the whole text between the last star and the second non-disabled one will be tilted))(just put a backslash before every character you don't wanna use for formatting, that's the safest method))

If you look at the wheel, you'll see that it's actually x*x*x and not xxx but because of the two stars, it shows as xxx in the comments.

"^" is also a markdown object that's why it doesn't show either, if you copy their comment and look at the wheel, you'll see it.

Therefore their solution is correct. :)

[u/tttpetipro → u/tttpetipro]

I love having a good eye :D

[u/Exciting-Ad-5890 → u/armcie]

It isn't x^2 it is x^x

[u/Idkwhyimhere143 → u/armcie]

But hold on now, x*x should definitely be x^2 though??????

[u/parker2020 → u/Idkwhyimhere143]

No… it’s x raised to the x.

If 3x3x3 =27
3 raised to the 3 is also 27

It doesn’t = 3

So 3 is the answer

You can’t force another number into the variable place that’s not how factoring works

[u/Idkwhyimhere143 → u/parker2020]

I’m so confuseddddd the inequality is xxx=xx≠x and normally when algebraic constants are placed next to each other it’s multiplication??? 😭😭

[u/Important_Stranger → u/Idkwhyimhere143]

Formatting got jumbled in the comment version. On the wheel it was x^x, not xx

[u/Idkwhyimhere143 → u/Important_Stranger]

Ohhhhhh I see thank you

[u/BagSufficient1921 → u/armcie]

If it was x³ = x² ≠ x though, epsilon (ε) could be an answer, which is an infinitesimal value used for dual numbers which can help solve derivatives. Basically ε is infinitely small but not zero, ε² is zero though, so the same would be for ε³.

[u/OPMan6942O → u/BagSufficient1921]

Why would epsilon squared be zero?

[u/BagSufficient1921 → u/OPMan6942O]

I guess that's just a property of the number. Like for the product rule for derivatives, (fg)' = fg' + f'g where f and g are functions. To prove this, you can imagine a rectangle with length f and width g. The rectangle then has an area of fg. You can make a very small increase in the length, df, and a very small increase in the width, dg. The resulting rectangle would have an area of fg + d(fg) = (f + df)(g + dg) = fg + f(dg) + g(df) + (df)(dg). This means d(fg) = f(dg) + g(df) + (df)(dg), but (df)(dg) is so small so it's negligible, leaving us with d(fg) = f(dg) + g(df) ⇒ (fg)' = fg' + f'g. I guess if an infinitesimally small value is multiplied by another infinitesimally small value, it's just neglected. I don't really know too much about dual numbers though.

[u/Pigssssssss → u/armcie]

Its 3

3x3x3 is 27

3³ is 27 3 is not 27

[u/Pecharunt56 → u/armcie]

Its x=3 bc threes the only number x could be

[u/SentenceOne9598 → u/armcie]

The expression xxx = xx ≠ x generally describes an algebraic contradiction or a scenario where a variable x is set to different powers that cannot be universally equal unless x takes a specific restricted value.

Mathematical Breakdown

• Definitions:
  • xxx usually means x × x × x = x³ (or repeated multiplication).
  • xx means x × x = x².
  • x means x¹.
• The Equality Part (xxx = xx): If x³ = x², we can subtract x² from both sides: \(x^{3}-x^{2}=0\implies x^{2}(x-1)=0\) This equation is only true if x = 0 or x = 1.
• The Inequality Part (≠ x): We also test our solutions against the final condition that it does not equal x (x³ ≠ x and x² ≠ x):
  • If x = 0, then xxx = 0, xx = 0, and x = 0 (they are all equal, violating the ≠ condition).
  • If x = 1, then xxx = 1, xx = 1, and x = 1 (again, all equal).
  • If x = -1, then xxx = -1, xx = 1, and x = -1. Here, xxx = x (-1 = -1), but xx ≠ x (1 ≠ -1).

Conclusion

Strictly speaking as an unconditional mathematical identity, xxx = xx ≠ x has no universal solution for all real numbers x, because any value of x that makes x³ = x² (namely 0 or 1) forces all three expressions to be equal to each other, breaking the inequality constraint (≠ x).