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Math... With a Spoon!

Icon: calendar Math... With a Spoon! Session #2

Subevent of Math... With a Spoon!

Computing and Math 355

2026 Mar 28 from 10:20AM to 10:35AM (Central Time (US & Canada))

Abstract:

Stanley Tennenbaum proved the irrationality of $\sqrt{2}$ using Carpets Theorem with square carpets, and others (myself, Conway, and Miller) have tried to generalize this proof by using triangular and pentagonal carpets. Although those families of proofs used simple tools, a.k.a. “spoons,” in this talk, I am going to try to “spoonify” this even more. I’ll prove the irrationality of $\sqrt{3}$ and $\sqrt{5}$ using only square-shaped carpets. This work extends the previous findings for grationality and opens up the possibility of more research into families of irrationality proofs.