Two Cops and a
Drunk Theorem
This is the same theorem which has another funny name, the Sandwich Theorem. The two cops
and a drunk theorem has its applications in calculus where it is helpful when finding limits.
The idea is simple. In a situation where two cops escort a
drunk man it doesn’t matter how much he wobbles back
and forth between them or what path they take, if they
are able to keep him between them and both cops go to
the same jail cell, the drunk man will also go to that same
cell(7).
Mathematically, if a function is squeezed between two
other functions that have the same limit, the function in
the middle will also have that exact limit.
Two cops (C1,C2) accompanying a prisoner (O)
Shoes and Socks
Theorem
This cute theorem stems from group
theory. Mathematically it states that if
two elements a and b belong to the same
group, then the inverse of a*b is inv(b)*-
inv(a) where inv() is the inverse operator(9).
Notice how the order of a and b has interchanged.
This is where the theorem gets
its name from. First, you put your socks
on and then the shoes. But if you want
to inverse this operation, you have to remove
(inverse) your shoes first and then
the socks.
Theorem of the
Unconscious Statistician
This theorem is also known as the Law
of the Unconscious Statistician (LOTUS).
LOTUS stems from the area of probability
and this theorem is used very often in
calculations. As this theorem is used very
often, statistics students have a tendency
to use this theorem as a definition without
regarding it as a theorem. This very
‘unconscious’ nature of students when
applying this theorem has led to its funny
name (11).
Chicken McNugget Theorem
This oddly named theorem which belongs to the number theory states that if there are two numbers
m and n, then the largest number which cannot be written in the form of am+bn is mn-m-n
where a,b,m,n are positive integers. This is relatively an easy theorem to understand. The name
for this theorem has a strange story of origin. In the early days, McDonald’s sold its nuggets in
packs of 9 and 20. Math enthusiasts were curious to find the largest number of nuggets that could
not have been bought with these packs, thus creating the Chicken McNugget Theorem (the answer
worked out to be 151 nuggets) (13).
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University of Peradeniya GAUGE Magazine