What is the smallest positive integer that cannot be defined in less than twenty-five syllables?
(In reply to
Tentative solution by Penny)
The idea of defining a number in a minimal number of syllables is odd. I had thought of Penny's answer, as well as the smaller number
17,777,777
which also has 25 syllables. However, these numbers can be defined in fewer syllables:
77,777,777=80,000,000-222,223 (20 syllables)
and
17,777,777=18,000,000-222,223 (also 20 syllables)
Since we want a number that cannot be defined with less than 25 syllables, these don't work. I submitt that
17,777,777,777
works. It is initially 31 syllables and subtracting from 18 billion gives 28 syllables. However there may be a tricky way to express this with less than 25 syllables, and there are probably lower numbers which could work without the syllabalic overkill.
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Posted by stan
on 2004-04-15 15:15:22 |
re: Tentative solution
