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Q: Is there a formula to find the Nth term in the Fibonacci sequence?

Posted on April 8, 2011 by The Physicist

Physicist: Hells yes! It’s f_n \approx \frac{1}{\sqrt{5}} \left(\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2}\right)^{n+1}, where the
“≈” is close enough that you can round to the nearest integer. Astute readers will notice that
\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2} is the golden ratio, and may wonder if this is a coincidence. Yes.

Everything after this is a detailed, math-heavy explanation of where this formula comes from.

The “Fibonacci sequence” is defined as a sequence of numbers f_0, f_1, f_2, \cdots such that you have
the recursion: f_n = f_{n-1}+f_{n-2}, and the restrictions: f_0 = 1 and f_1 = 1.

Explicitly, the Fibonacci sequence is: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, … That is, the recursion says that every term
is the sum of the previous two.

You can also talk about “generalized Fibonacci sequences”, where these restrictions and/or the recursion
are changed. For example: f_n = 2f_{n-1}+3f_{n-2}, with f_0 = 5 and f_1 = 2. This derivation is for the
ordinary sequence, but it can be altered to suit any generalized Fibonacci sequence. Here it is:

Every now and again it’s useful to encode a string of numbers in a “generating function“. For obscure
(and unimportant to this post) reasons, you can write many functions as infinitely long polynomials. For
example: \sin{(x)} = x-\frac{1}{6}x^3+\frac{1}{120}x^5 \cdots. The generating function for a sequence of
numbers f_0, f_1, f_2, f_3, \cdots is g(x) = f_0 + f_1 x + f_2 x^2 + f_3 x^3 + \cdots = \sum_{n=0}^\infty
f_n x^n. So, sin(x) is the generating function for the sequence 0, 1, 0, -\frac{1}{6},0,\frac{1}{120}, \cdots.
If you can find a simple form for this function g, then bully. You’ve got a very straight forward way of
writing an infinite string of numbers. The value of x doesn’t have anything to do with anything. The
powers of x are really just there to keep the numbers straight. Now check this out!

\begin{array}{ll}g(x) = \sum_{n=0}^\infty f_n x^n\\xg(x) = \sum_{n=0}^\infty f_n x^{n+1} =

\sum_{n=1}^\infty f_{n-1} x^n \\x^2 g(x) = \sum_{n=0}^\infty f_n x^{n+2} = \sum_{n=2}^\infty f_{n-2}
x^n\end{array}

You can take the recursion and use it to find a relationship between these three slightly different
functions. Here’s a good first guess: g(x) = xg(x)+x^2g(x)

You can write this out, group by powers of x, and then use the recursion. However (if you look at the
definitions above for g, xg, and x2g), each sum starts at a different value of n. That needs to be dealt
with first:

\begin{array}{ll}i)&\sum_{n=0}^\infty f_nx^n=\sum_{n=1}^\infty f_{n-1}x^n+\sum_{n=2}^\infty f_{n-

2}x^n\\ii)&\Rightarrow f_0+f_1x+\sum_{n=2}^\infty f_n x^n=f_0x+\sum_{n=2}^\infty f_{n-
1}x^n+\sum_{n=2}^\infty f_{n-2}x^n\\iii)&\Rightarrow f_0+f_1x+\sum_{n=2}^\infty
f_nx^n=f_0x+\sum_{n=2}^\infty (f_{n-1}+f_{n-2}) x^n\\iv)&\Rightarrow
f_0+f_1x=f_0x+\sum_{n=2}^\infty (f_{n-1}+f_{n-2}-f_n)x^n\\v)&\Rightarrow f_0+f_1x=f_0x\\vi)
&\Rightarrow 1+x =x\end{array}

ii) pulling out the n=0,1 terms

iii-iv) grouping by powers of x

v) fn = fn-1+fn-2

vi) f0 =1 and f1=1

This doesn’t quite line up, so the guess wasn’t perfect. There should have been an extra “+1” on the
right side of the original equation: g(x) = xg(x)+x^2g(x)+1
Armed with this latest equation we can actually solve for g:

\begin{array}{ll}g(x)=xg(x)+x^2g(x)+1\\\Rightarrow -1=xg(x)+x^2g(x)-g(x)\\\Rightarrow (x^2+x-1)g(x)=-

1\\\Rightarrow g(x)=\frac{-1}{x^2+x-1}\\\Rightarrow g(x)=\frac{-1}{(x-R_+)(x-R_-)}\end{array}

Here R_+ = \frac{-1+\sqrt{5}}{2} and R_- = \frac{-1-\sqrt{5}}{2}. The only reason for writing it this way is
that leaving all those roots and fractions in makes this look like a math blizzard.

So far, using what is known about the Fibonacci sequence, we’ve found a nice closed equation for the
generating function (g), which “encodes” the sequence. Hopefully, we can use this fancy new equation
to figure out what each fn must be. Again, the function (g) itself does nothing. The only reason it’s
around is so that we can look at the coefficients when it’s written in the form of a (Taylor) polynomial.

Now using “partial fractions” you can pull this one kinda-complicated fraction into two not-so-
complicated fractions (that’s where the “\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}” comes from):

\begin{array}{ll} g(x)=\frac{-1}{(x-R_+)(x-R_-)}\\=\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left[\frac{-1}{x-R_+}+\frac{1}{x-R_-}
\right]\\=\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left[\frac{1}{R_+-x}-\frac{1}{R_--x} \right]\\=\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left[\frac{1}
{R_+}\frac{1}{1-\frac{x}{R_+}}-\frac{1}{R_-}\frac{1}{1-\frac{x}{R_-}} \right]\end{array}

It so happens (and this is the point of the entire excercise) that functions of the form “\frac{1}
{1-\square}” can be written as: \frac{1}{1-\square} = \sum_{n=0}^\infty \square^n =
1+\square+\square^2+\square^3+\cdots. This is called a “geometric series“. For example: 1+\frac{1}
{2}+\frac{1}{4}+\frac{1}{8}+\cdots = \sum_{n=0}^\infty \left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^n = \frac{1}{1-\frac{1}{2}} =
2.

So, with that in mind:

\begin{array}{ll} g(x)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left[\frac{1}{R_+}\frac{1}{1-\frac{x}{R_+}}-\frac{1}{R_-}\frac{1}
{1-\frac{x}{R_-}} \right]\\=\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left[\frac{1}{R_+}\sum_{n=0}^\infty \left(\frac{x}
{R_+}\right)^n -\frac{1}{R_-}\sum_{n=0}^\infty \left(\frac{x}{R_-}\right)^n \right]\\=\frac{1}
{\sqrt{5}}\left[\sum_{n=0}^\infty \left(\frac{1}{R_+}\right)^{n+1}x^n -\sum_{n=0}^\infty \left(\frac{1}
{R_-}\right)^{n+1}x^n \right]\\=\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{1}{R_+}\right)^{n+1}x^n
-\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{1}{R_-}\right)^{n+1}x^n\\=\sum_{n=0}^\infty
\left[\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{1}{R_+}\right)^{n+1}-\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{1}
{R_-}\right)^{n+1}\right]x^n\\\end{array}

But g was originally defined as g(x) = \sum_{n=0}^\infty f_n x^n. These fn in front of each power of x
must be the same as these weird things above.

\begin{array}{ll}f_n = \frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{1}{R_+}\right)^{n+1}-\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{1}
{R_-}\right)^{n+1}\\= \frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{2}{-1+\sqrt{5}}\right)^{n+1}-\frac{1}
{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{2}{-1-\sqrt{5}}\right)^{n+1}\\= \frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{2}{-
1+\sqrt{5}}\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{1+\sqrt{5}}\right)^{n+1}-\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{-2}
{1+\sqrt{5}}\frac{1-\sqrt{5}}{1-\sqrt{5}}\right)^{n+1}\\= \frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}
{2}\right)^{n+1}-\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\frac{1-\sqrt{5}}{2}\right)^{n+1}\end{array}

Notice: 1) \frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2} = \phi is the golden ratio (not that it matters), and 2) \left|\frac{1-\sqrt{5}}
{2}\right| \approx 0.6. This means that the second term is smaller than one, and each successive power
is progressively smaller. So, rather than calculate it, ignore it!

Were you so inclined you could take any initial conditions (the f0 and f1) and any recursion (of the form
fn = Afn-1+Bfn-2) and, using the method above, find a closed form for it as well. The only problem you
may run into is finding yourself with a polynomial that can’t be factored (x2+x-1 had factors, but it
needn’t have). If that happens, that’s bad…

Don’t know what to tell you.

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17 Responses to Q: Is there a formula to find the Nth term in the Fibonacci sequence?

OhMyEinstein says:

April 8, 2011 at 3:41 am

Ah a lot of maths!! too bad i’m still 15 and I’m not ready for this kind of math level : (

Why “≈”?
why fn = fn-1+fn-2?

fn = Afn-1+Bfn-2? why : /

Why Why Why Why?

The Physicist The Physicist says:

April 8, 2011 at 11:49 am

-“Round to the nearest integer”

-By definition

-It’s just an example

Ron Ball says:

April 9, 2011 at 6:32 pm

Is there truly nothing? E.G., what does the universe exist in, or, stated another way, if the universe
disappeared, what would you have left? Nothing? Something, (called nothing, which isn’t nothing if it’s
something)? Does there exist a nothing which isn’t itself a subset of a larger nothingness?

Pingback: Third Xamuel.com Linkfest

Johnny says:

June 6, 2011 at 6:16 pm

Well, if nothing is something, then it is not nothing but something…

Therefore in my opinion nothing must be nothing, and not something.

So the subset of nothing is not something because nothing is not something…

But to entertain the idea, that exist different kinds of nothingness, could be fun — like the idea that
there are different cardinalities of infinity.

And whether there truly exist (as in the physical reality) something that is nothing, I cannot imagine.
Every time I imagine nothing, it can be black or empty space… I know it is not nothing but something,
therefore I cannot imagine how nothing would exist.

But then again, if nothing exist it is not nothing but something, and therefore I can conclude in my own
mind that nothing does not truly exist.

Nevertheless I think it is important, that mathematically nothing is defined, even though it may not exist
in reality.

Chris Hoare says:

July 6, 2011 at 8:44 am

I may have missed this in the explanation, but the formula I learned is as follows:

fib n = [((1+√5)/2)ⁿ- ((1-√5)/2)ⁿ]/√5

I just tested it in a spreadsheet and it is correct.

I hope it displays as intended. I created superscript and radical symbols in Linux.

The Physicist The Physicist says:

July 6, 2011 at 9:54 am

Your formula (starting at n=0) produces: 0,1,1,2,…

The formula from the post (starting at n=0) produces: 1,1,2,3,…

The only differences are in where they start, and the whole “rounding” thing.

Chris Hoare says:

July 7, 2011 at 4:55 am

I take your point completely. My answer was based on the original question, “Is there a formula to find
the nth term in the Fibonacci sequence?” My bad.

Rounding shouldn’t be an issue , should it?

The Physicist The Physicist says:

July 7, 2011 at 8:13 am

It ain’t!

The second term in the formula is a number smaller than 1 raised to the Nth power which, (for powers
of 2 and higher) is less than 0.5. Since the total formula always gives the correct answer, the first term is
within 0.5 of the correct answer, and rounding just fixes the error.

The only reason for ignoring the second term is to make the math easier to do by hand, and the behavior
of the function easier to understand.

Freya says:

April 27, 2013 at 7:51 pm

Hey, check this out! With this formula, if you are given a Fibonacci number F, you can determine its
position in the sequence with this formula:

n = log_((1+√5)/2)((F√5 + √(5F^2 ± 4)) / 2)

Whether you use +4 or −4 is determined by whether the result is a perfect square, or more accurately
whether the Fibonacci number has an even or odd position in the sequence. More accurately,
n = log_((1+√5)/2)((F√5 + √(5F^2 + 4(−1)^n)) / 2)

But that just won’t do, because we have n on both sides of the equation. We might be able to derive a
general formula (from now on, (1 + √5) / 2 is represented by ϕ):

ϕ^n = (F√5 + √(5F^2 + 4(−1)^n)) / 2

2ϕ^n = F√5 + √(5F^2 + 4(−1)^n)

2ϕ^n − F√5 = √(5F^2 + 4(−1)^n)

4ϕ^n − 4F(√5)ϕ^n + 5F^2 = 5F^2 + 4(−1)^n

4ϕ^n − 4F(√5)ϕ^n = 4(−1)^n

ϕ^n − F(√5)ϕ^n = (−1)^n

That’s as far as I can get. Would the mathematician please shed some light on how to isolate n?

Octopus says:

May 8, 2014 at 4:21 pm

A coincidence you say? I would think it is no more a coincidence than the fact 1 and 1 just happen to
make 2. It is a natural law, is it not? The fibonacci sequence is very much related to the golden ratio as
your formula shows.

Quentin says:

May 23, 2015 at 3:31 pm

I would like to observe that I do not believe we know enough to say that phi (the golden ratio) being in
the expression for the nth Fibonacci number is a coincidence. Especially considering the limiting case,
where F[n] represents the nth Fibonacci number, the ratio of F[n]/F[n-1] approaches phi as n approaches
infinity.
That is only one place you notice Fibonacci numbers being related to the golden ratio. There are more,
for example the definition of the golden ratio is that the ratio of the larger part to the smaller part be
equal to the ratio of the sum of the larger part and smaller part, divided by the larger part. Put in
mathematical terms that means:

x/a = (x+a)/x, where ‘x’ would be the “bigger part” and ‘a’ would be the smaller part. However, notice if
you continue with this and take ‘x+a’ to be the larger part and x to be the smaller part. Now you get:

(x+a)/x = (2x+a)/(x+a) …………… continuing the process, what’s next is

(3x+2a)/(2x+a) and so on.

In general one can say that the golden ratio, or phi, is equal to:

(F[n+2]*x + F[n+1]*a)/(F[n+1]*x + F[n]*a) ————– n > 1, a > 0 where F[n] is the nth Fibonacci number.

So before anyone tells the fifteen year old not to wonder about the golden ratio and how it might relate
to the Fibonacci sequence and what that means, we may want to reconsider.

A good scientist is not aware of what they know, but what they don’t know.

Also, our astute first poster neglected to observe that 1/2 – sqrt(5)/2 is actually 1/phi, or the inverse of
the golden ratio… hmmmm.

I apologize for the lack of super/subscripts. Hope it is readable.

Manfred Muschiol says:

September 17, 2015 at 7:32 am

I supose, that the power 1+n should be n-1 in the formula. With that change, the nearest integer is
according the Fibonacci sequence. e.g. n=10 is nearly 34 and n=11 Will be 55

Co says:

December 24, 2015 at 3:39 pm

as mathematicians we like to be very precise. When you say you are 15 it would be helpful to have a date
to this. After a year you will be a year older. I have often thought the date info is created or broadcast is
helpful. Sometimes full sense of information cant be made without a date

Elizabeth Leonard says:

November 28, 2016 at 5:54 pm

Is there a way to find the integral of the formula for the nth term of the fibonacci sequence?

Ya boiiiiiiiii says:

August 28, 2017 at 11:08 pm

I’m twelve and going like WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?

Bruh

Make it easier

=D

bork says:

December 10, 2017 at 7:11 am

(n(n-1))/2

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enough, would it become a black hole?

Q: How do we know that atomic clocks are accurate?

Q: “i” had to be made up to solve the square root of negative one. But doesn’t something new need to
be made up for the square root of i?

Q: Could the tidal forces of the Sun and Moon be used to generate power directly?

Q: What would it be like if another planet just barely missed colliding with the Earth?

Q: What are “delayed choice experiments”? Can “wave function collapse” be used to send information?

Q: Why can some creatures walk on water yet I (a human) can’t?

Q: What fair dice can be simulated by adding up other dice?

Q: How do I encrypt/hide/protect my email?

Q: Where do the weird rules for rational numbers come from? (Dealing with fractions)

Dragon*Con 2013

Q: Why doesn’t the air “sit still” while the Earth turns under it?

Q: Can resonance be used to destroy anything? Is the “brown note” possible?

Q: Are there examples of quantum mechanics that can be seen in every-day life, or do they only show up
in the lab?
Q: Why does it take thousands of years for light to escape the Sun?

Q: What does it mean for light to be stopped or stored?

Q: What are quasi-particles? Why do phonons and photons have such similar names?

The nuptial effect

Q: How do you prove that the spacetime interval is always the same?

Q: Are numbers real?

Q: If time were reversed would things fall up?

Q: Why don’t “cheats” ever work on the uncertainty principle? What’s uncertain in the uncertainty
principle?

Q: Do the past and future exist? If they do, is the future determined and what does that mean for
quantum randomness?

Basic math with infinity

Q: What is the Planck length? What is its relevance?

Q: What causes friction? (and some other friction questions)

Q: Is fire a plasma? What is plasma?

Q: Why are determinants defined the weird way they are?

Q: Are white holes real?

Q: If a photon doesn’t experience time, then how can it travel?

Q: What is energy? What is “pure energy” like?

Q: Why is Schrodinger’s cat both dead and alive? Is this not a paradox?

Q: What kind of telescope would be needed to see a person on a planet in a different solar system?

Q: Is Murphy’s law real?

Q: Why doesn’t life and evolution violate the second law of thermodynamics? Don’t living things reverse
entropy?

Q: Does quantum mechanics really say that there’s some probability that objects will suddenly start
moving or that things can suddenly “shift” to the other side of the universe?
Q: Using modern technology, are we any closer to turning lead into gold than alchemists were hundreds
of years ago?

Q: How do you turn/change directions in space?

Q: If a man hangs on an un-insulated wire using both his hands what will happen and why?

Learning intro number theory

Q: Is the Alcubierre warp drive really possible? How close are we to actually building one and going
faster than light?

Q: Is darkness a wave the way light is a wave? What is the speed of dark?

Q: Is it a coincidence that a circles circumference is the derivative of its area, as well as the volume of a
sphere being the antiderivative of its surface area? What is the explanation for this?

Q: If hot air rises, why is it generally colder at higher elevations?

Q: What is quantum teleportation? Why can’t we use it to communicate faster than light?

Q: Since all particles display wave-like characteristics, does that imply that one could use destructive
wave interference to destroy or at least drastically change a particle?

Q: How does the Oberth Effect work, and where does the extra energy come from? Why is it better for a
rocket to fire at the lowest point in its orbit?

Q: How do lenses that concentrate light not violate the second law of thermodynamics? If you use a
magnifying glass to burn ants, aren’t you making a point hotter than the ambient temperature without
losing energy?

Q: What makes natural logarithms natural? What’s so special about the number e?

Q: If the world were to stop spinning, would the people and everything on it be considered ‘lighter’ or
‘heavier’? Would any change take place? And does centrifugal force have an effect on gravity?

Q: Two entangled particles approach a black hole, one falls in and the other escapes. Do they remain
entangled? What about after the black hole evaporates?

Q: If there are 10 dimensions, then why don’t we notice them?

Q: Will the world end tomorrow?

Q: In an infinite universe, does everything that’s possible have to happen somewhere?

Q: Which of Earth’s life forms could survive on each planet of the Solar System?

Q: What are fractional dimensions? Can space have a fractional dimension?

Q: Are shadows 2-dimensional? Are there any real examples of 2-dimensional things in the universe?

Q: Is it possible to experience different rates of time? If time were to speed up, slow down, or stop, what
would you experience?

Q: How many theorems are there?

Q: How much of a direct effect do planets and stars have on us? Is astrology reasonable or plausable?

Q: Why are scientists looking for life in space by looking for water? How can they be sure that all life uses
water?

Q: If energy is neither created nor destroyed, what happens to the energy within our bodies and brains
when we die?

Q: Could Kurt Vonnegut’s “Ice-9 catastrophe” happen?

Q: How accurately do we need to know π? Is there a reason to know it out to billions of digits?

My bad: If fusion in the Sun suddenly stopped, what would happen?

Q: If fusion in the Sun suddenly stopped, what would happen?

Q: Does opening a refrigerator cool down the room?

Q: What is the probability of an outcome after it’s already happened?

Q: How do you answer a question scientifically?

Q: Why are the days still longer than nights, until a few days after the fall equinox?

Q: What is a Fourier transform? What is it used for?

Q: What are singularities? Do they exist in nature?

Q: Is it likely that there are atoms in my body that have traveled from the other side of the planet, solar
system, galaxy, or universe?

Q: Is there a number set that is “above” complex numbers?

Q: Are the brain and consciousness quantum mechanical in nature?

Q: How are voltage and current related to battery life? What is the difference between batteries with the
same voltage, but different shapes or sizes? What about capacitors?

Q: What are virtual particles?

Q: Would it be possible to create an antimatter weapon by “harvesting” enough antimatter, containing it

in an electro-magnetic field and placing that in a projectile?
Q: If Earth was flat, would there be a horizon? If so, what would it look like? If the Earth was flat and had
infinite area, would that change the answer?

Q: Is there an experiment which could provide conclusive evidence for either the Many Worlds or
Copenhagen interpretations of quantum physics?

Q: If you could drill a tunnel through the whole planet and then jumped down this tunnel, how would
you fall?

Q: How many people riding bicycle generators would be needed, in an 8-hour working day, to equal or
surpass the energy generated by an average nuclear power plant?

Q: Why is hitting water from a great height like hitting concrete?

Q: How does instantaneous communication violate causality?

Q: What is the “False Vacuum” and are we living in it?

Q: How would the universe be different if π = 3?

Q: Is it possible for an artificial black hole to be created, or something that has the same effects? If so,
how small could it be made?

Q: Do colors exist?

Q: How can we see the early universe and the Big Bang? Shouldn’t the light have already passed us?

Q: Are beautiful, elegant or simple equations more likely to be true?

Q: If quantum mechanics says everything is random, then how can it also be the most accurate theory
ever?

Q: Why do wet stones look darker, more colorful, and polished?

Q: What would the universe be like with additional temporal dimensions?

The 2012 Venus transit

Q: Why haven’t we discovered Earth-like planets yet?

Q: Is quantum randomness ever large enough to be noticed?

Q: How is radiometric dating reliable? Why is it that one random thing is unpredictable, but many
random things together are predictable?

Q: Is the final step in evolution an ascension into an energy-based lifeform?

Q: What would life be like in higher dimensions?

Q: How much does fire weigh?

Q: Since the real-world does all kinds of crazy calculations in no time, can we use physics to calculate
stuff?

Q: Is there some way to actually play quidditch?

Q: Can you poke something that’s far away with a stick faster than it would take light to get there?

Q: Does how you deal cards affect how random they are?

Q: Will CERN awaken the Elder Gods?

Q: The information contained in a big system isn’t the same as the amount of information in its parts.
Why?

Q: Is the quantum zeno effect a real thing?

π day!

Q: Is there an intuitive proof for the chain rule?

Q: How do you write algorithms to enycrypt things?

Q: Satellites experience less time because they’re moving fast, but more time because they’re so high. Is
there an orbit where the effects cancel out? Is that useful?

Q: Is it possible to objectively quantify the amount of information a sentence contains?

Q: What would happen if a black hole passed through our solar system?

Q: If you are talking to a distant alien, how would you tell them which way is left and which way is right?

Q: Would it be possible in the distant future to directly convert matter into energy?

Q: What’s the difference between anti-matter and negative-matter?

Q: Why does gravity make some things orbit and some things fall?

Q: Do you need faith to believe in science?

Q: What keeps spinning tops upright?

Q: Do time and distance exist in a completely empty universe?

Q: Why is it that photographs of wire mesh things, like window screens and grates, have waves in them?

Q: How does quantum physics affect electron configurations and spectral lines?
Q: Is it possible for an atomic orbital to exist beyond the s, p, f and d orbitals they taught about in
school? Like could there be a (other letter) orbital beyond that?

Q: Will the world end in 2012?

Q: How do you find the height of a rocket using trigonometry?

Q: What are chaos and chaos theory? How can you talk about chaos?

Q: What is the Riemann Hypothesis? Why is it so important?

Twitter

Q: Why does the entropy of the universe always increase, and what is the heat death of the universe?

Q: Could God have existed forever? Is it actually feasibly possibly for some ‘being’ to have just existed,
infinitely?

Q: How can wormholes be used for time travel?

Q: If gravity suddenly increased would airplanes fall out of the sky, or would it compress the air in such a
way that airplanes could keep flying?

Entanglement omnibus!

Q: How are imaginary exponents defined?

Q: Why do nuclear weapons cause EMPs (electromagnetic pulses)?

Q: How does the expansion of space affect the things that inhabit that space? Are atoms, people, stars,
and everything else getting bigger too?

Q: What would Earth be like if it didn’t turn?

Q: According to the Many Worlds Interpretation, every event creates new universes. Where does the
energy and matter for the new universes come from?

Q: Can wind chill make things “feel” colder than absolute zero?

Q: What is “spin” in particle physics? Why is it different from just ordinary rotation?

Q: What is Bayes’ rule and how do I use it to improve my life?

Q: Are there universal truths?

Q: What’s the difference between black holes and worm holes? Could black holes take you to other
universes?
Q: Is there an equation that determines whether a question gets answered on ask a
mathematician/physicist?

Q: If you could hear through space as though it were filled with air, what would you hear?

Q: What is the three body problem?

Q: How are fractals made?

Q: CERN’s faster than light neutrino thing: WTF?

Q: What’s the point of purely theoretical research?

Q: Why does lightning flash, but thunder rolls?

Q: Hyperspace, warp drives, and faster than light travel: why not?

Burning Man 2011

Q: If light slows down in different materials, then how can it be a universal speed?

Q: What is mass?

Q: How much of physics can be deduced from previous equations/axioms?

Q: If God were all-seeing and all-knowing, the double-slit experiment wouldn’t work, would it? Wouldn’t
God’s observation of the location of the photon collapse its probability wave function?

Q: How do those “executive ball clicker” things work?

Q: Why is cold fusion so difficult?

Q: Why does light choose the “path of least time”?

Q: Does light experience time?

Q: Would it be possible for humans to terraform mars?

Q: Can light be used to transfer energy instead of power lines?

Particle physics, neutrinos, and chirality too!

Q: What are integral transforms and how do they work?

Q: How does reflection work?

Q: What does a measurement in quantum mechanics do?

Q: If you stood in the beam of a particle accelerator, what would happen?

Q: What exactly is the vacuum catastrophe and what effects does this have upon our understanding of
the universe?

Q: What is a “measurement” in quantum mechanics?

Q: How close is Jupiter to being a star? What would happen to us if it were?

Q: Can you fix the “1/0 problem” by defining 1/0 as a new number?

Q: How can we have any idea what a 4D hypercube or any n-D object “looks like”? What is the process of
developing a picture of a higher dimensional object?

Q: Is it possible to destroy a black hole?

Q: Why does the Earth orbit the Sun?

Q: If you suddenly replaced all the water drops in a rainbow with same-sized spheres of polished
diamond, what would happen to the rainbow? How do you calculate the size of a rainbow?

Q: If we meet aliens, will they have the same math and physics that we do?

Q: Is 0.9999… repeating really equal to 1?

Q: What would Earth be like to us if it were a cube instead of spherical? Is this even possible?

Q: How do velocities add? If I’m riding a beam of light and I throw a ball, why doesn’t the ball go faster
than light?

Q: What is the universe expanding into? What’s outside the universe?

Cheap experiments and demonstrations for kids.

Q: How do I estimate the probability that God exists?

Q: How do you calculate 6/2(1+2) or 48/2(9+3)? What’s the deal with this orders of operation business?

Q: Is there a single equation that proves black holes are real?

Q: Is the edge of a circle with an infinite radius curved or straight?

Q: As a consequence of relativity, objects becomes more massive when they’re moving fast. What is it
about matter that causes that to happen?

Q: What is the evidence for the Big Bang?

Q: Is there a formula to find the Nth term in the Fibonacci sequence?

Q: Why is the integral/antiderivative the area under a function?

Thank you!

Mathematical proof of the existence of God.

Video: Getting Computers to Learn

Q: What is going on in a nuclear reactor, and what happens during a meltdown?

Q: How do I find the love of my life? (a Mathematician’s perspective)

Q: Are all atoms radioactive?

Q: How do you talk about the size of infinity? How can one infinity be bigger than another?

Q: Why does E=MC2 ?

Q: What are the equations of electromagnetism? What all do they describe to us?

Q: What is the entropy of nothing?

Q: How can quantum computers break encryption?

Q: How does quantum computing work?

Q: What causes buoyancy?

My bad: If atoms are mostly made up of empty space, why do things feel solid?

Q: How many mathematicians/physicists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Q: Why is it that (if you exclude 2 & 3) the difference between the squares of any two prime numbers is
divisible by 12?

Q: Why does relativistic length contraction (Lorentz contraction) happen?

Q: Why does Lorentz contraction only act in the direction of motion?

Q: If atoms are mostly made up of empty space, why do things feel solid?

Q: Can we build a planet?

Q: π = 4?

Q: How does a scientist turn ideas into math?

Q: Is Santa real?

Q: Why isn’t the shortest day of the year also the day with the earliest sunset?

Q: Why does “curved space-time” cause gravity?: A better answer.

Q: According to relativity, two moving observers always see the other moving through time slower. Isn’t
that a contradiction? Doesn’t one have to be faster?

Q: What does 0^0 (zero raised to the zeroth power) equal? Why do mathematicians and high school
teachers disagree?

Q: Can you do the double slit experiment with a cat cannon?

Q: How is the “Weak nuclear force” a force? What does it do?

Q: Does Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem imply that it’s impossible to be logical?

Q: If accelerating charges radiate, and everything is full of charges, then why don’t I radiate every time I
move?

Q: If you zoom in far enough, what do particles look like?

Q: What would you experience if you were going the speed of light?

Q: Why is pi not a definite number?

Q: What came before the big bang?

Q: How do “Numerology Math Tricks” work? (adding digits and tricks with nines)

Q: What is a magnetic field?

Q: What is the probability that two randomly chosen people will have been born on the same day?

Q: Which is a better approach to quantum mechanics: Copenhagen or Many Worlds?

Q: Why is our vision blurred underwater?

Q: In the NEC “faster than light” experiment, did they really make something go faster than light?

Q: How does a Tesla coil work?

Q: What are Feynman diagrams, how are they used (theoretically & practically), and are there
alternative/competing diagrams to Feynman’s?

Q: Does the 2nd law of thermodynamics imply that everything must eventually die, regardless of the
ultimate fate of the universe?

Q: What is The Golden Ratio? How is it used in Mathematics?

Q: Why can’t you have an atom made entirely out of neutrons?

Q: What is the physical meaning of “symmetries”? Why is there one-to-one correspondence between
laws of conservation and symmetries? Why is it important that there is such correspondence?
Q: Why does energy have to be positive (and real)?

Q: How does the Twin Paradox work?

Q: How can photons have energy and momentum, but no mass?

Q: If you were on the inside of the Sun falling in, the matter closer to the surface doesn’t affect your
acceleration, but the matter closer to the core does. Why is that?

Q: How do surge protectors work?

Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: the elevator pitch

Q: Why are orbits elliptical? Why is the Sun in one focus, and what’s in the other?

Q: What would happen if everyone in the world jumped at the same time?

Q: How can electrons “jump” between places without covering the intervening distance?

Q: Why do we only see one rainbow at a time?

Q: Why does putting spin on a ball change how it moves through the air?

Quantum mech, choices, and time travel too!

Q: Why is the speed of light finite?

Q: Why is the speed of light the fastest speed? Why is light so special?

Q: Will we ever overcome the Heisenberg uncertainty principle?

Q: If gravity is the reaction matter has on space, in that it warps space, why do physicist’s look for a
gravity particle? Wouldn’t gravity be just a bi-product of what matter does to space?

Q: Is it possible to beat the laws of physics?

Q: What’s the chance of getting a run of K or more successes (heads) in a row in N Bernoulli trials (coin
flips)? Why use approximations when the exact answer is known?

Q: Aren’t physicists just doing experiments to confirm their theories? Couldn’t they “prove” anything
they want?

Q: What’s up with that “bowling ball creates a dip in a sheet” analogy of spacetime? Isn’t it gravity that
makes the dip in the first place?

Q: If we find a “Theory of Everything” will we be done?

Q: Is it possible to say if the Earth is moving or sitting still without going into space?
Q: Will there always be things that will not or cannot be known?

Q: If you could see through the Earth, how big would Australia look from the other side?

Q: How is it that Bell’s Theorem proves that there are no “hidden variables” in quantum mechanics? How
do we know that God really does play dice with the universe?

Q: Does an electric field have mass? Does it take energy to move an electric field?

Q: What would the consequenses for our universe be if the speed of light was only about one hundred
miles per hour?

Q: Do virtual particles violate the laws that energy can be created or destroyed? Have virtual particles
ever been observed? In any other instance can energy ever be destroyed or created?

Video: How do we know that 1+1=2? A journey into the foundations of math.

Q: Would it be possible to generate power from artificial lightning?

Q: What is the optimum spectrum to visualize things with? Theoretically, which type of vision would be
the best to see things with?

Q: What causes iron, nickel, and cobalt to be attracted to magnets, but not other metals?

Q: Is it possible to fill a black hole? If you were to continuously throw galaxies worth of matter into a
black hole, would it ever fill up? And what would theoretically happen if all the matter in the universe
was thrown into a single black hole?

Q: Can math and science make you better at gambling?

Q: Spectroscopy?

Q: Is it possible to breach the center of a nebula?

Q: How does a gravitational sling shot actually speed things up?

Q: If energy is quantized, what is the least amount of energy possible? And how did they measure it?

Q: How did Lord Kelvin come up with the absolute temperature? I mean, how could he say surely that it
was 273.15 C below zero?

Q: What do complex numbers really mean or represent?

Q: Is it odd that the universe’s constants are all so perfectly conducive to life?

Q: How/when will the world end?

Q: What would happen if an unstoppable force met with an unmovable, impenetrable object?
My bad: Have aliens ever visited Earth?

Q: How do Bell pairs (entangled particles) behave experimentally?

Video: What your Spiritual Guru Never Told you about Quantum Mechanics

Q: How big does an object have to be to gravitationally attract a Human or have a molten core?

Video: The Scientific Investigation of Aliens – Evidence Examined

Q: How do I count the number of ways of picking/choosing/taking k items from a list/group/set of n

items when order does/doesn’t matter?

Q: Who would win in a fight: Gödel or Feynman?

Q: How hard would it be to make a list of products of primes that could beat public key encryption?

Q: What are complex numbers used for?

Q: Can one truly create something from nothing? If matter formed from energy (as in the Big Bang
expansion), where did the energy come from?

Q: Why does wind make you colder, but re-entry makes you hotter?

Q: Are explosions more or less powerful in space?

Q: What is infinity? (A brief introduction to infinite sets, infinite limits, and infinite numbers)

Q: Are there physical limits in the universe other than the speed of light?

Q: Is it of any coincidence that mathematics is able to describe physical reality – given that both are
inventions of the human mind?

Q: If you were to break down an average human body into its individual atoms, and then laid the atoms
out in a single straight line, how far would it stretch?

Q: What’s it like when you travel at the speed of light?

Q: Is there a real life example where two negatives make a positive?

Q: Do the “laws” of physics and math exist? If so, where? Are they discovered or invented/created by
humans?

Q: Do we have free will?

Q: How did mathematicians calculate trig functions and numbers like pi before calculators?

Q: How can planes fly upside-down?

Q: A flurry of blackhole questions!

Q: Why does going fast or being lower make time slow down?

Q: What’s so special about the Gaussian distribution (i.e. the normal distribution / bell curve)??

Q: Is the universe infinitely old?

Q: Have aliens ever visited Earth?

Q: Why is the sky blue?

Q: Is there a formula for how much water will splash, most importantly how high, and in what direction
from the toilet bowl when you *ehem* take a dump in it ?

Q: What is the meaning of the term “random”? Can thinking affect the future?

Q: Is it possible to choose an item from an infinite set of items such that each one has an equal chance of
being selected?

Q: Do aliens exist?

Q: Is it true that all matter is simply condensed energy?

Q: Which is better: Math or Physics?

Q: Why is the number 1 not considered a prime number?

Q: If the universe is expanding and all the galaxies are moving away from one another, how is it possible
for galaxies to collide?

Q: What happens when you fall into a blackhole?

Q: Is the total complexity of the universe growing, shrinking or staying the same?

Q: If two trains move towards each other at certain velocities, and a fly flies between them at a certain
constant speed, how much distance will the fly cover before they crash?

Q: Why does oxygen necessarily indicate the presence of life?

Q: What’s the relationship between entropy in the information-theory sense and the thermodynamics
sense?

Q: Would it be possible to kill ALL of Earth’s life with nuclear bombs?

Q: Will black holes ever release their energy and will we be able to tell what had gone into them?

Q: What are the Intersecting Chord and Power of a Point Theorems?

Q: How far away is the edge of the universe?

Q: Why do superconductors have to be cold?

Q: Why does the leading digit 1 appear more often than other digits in all sorts of numbers? What’s the
deal with Benford’s Law?

Q: How does the Monty Hall Problem work?

Q: How/Why are Quantum Mechanics and Relativity incompatible?

Q: What the heck are imaginary numbers, how are they useful, and do they really exist?

Q: What’s that third hole in electrical outlets for?

Q: Do physicists really believe in true randomness?

Q: Could a simple cup of coffee be heated by a hand held device designed to not only mix but heat the
water through friction, and is that more efficient than heating on a stove and then mixing?

Q: What did Einstein mean by: “Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you
mine are still greater.”

Q: Why does saliva boil in the vacuum of space?

Q: Can things really be in two places at the same time?

Q: Why do weird things happen so much?

Q: Why?

Q: Will CERN create a black hole?

Q: What’s the highest population growth rate that the Earth can support?

Q: What is time?

Q: What is “Dark Matter”?

Q: Why do heavy objects bend space and what is it they are bending?

Q: Why does math work so well at modeling the world around us?

Q: Why is it that when you multiply a positive number with a negative number you get a negative
number?

Q: What is the best way to understand relativity theory? Why is it so counter intuitive?

Q: Will we ever go faster than light?

Q: If you were on a space station, would you be able to tell the difference between centrifugal force and
normal gravity?

Q: Is teleportation possible?

Q: If black holes are “rips” in the fabric of our universe, does it mean they lead to other universes? If so,
then did time begin in that universe at the inception of the black hole? Could we be in a black hole?

Q: Since pi is infinite, do its digits contain all finite sequences of numbers?

Q: What is the connection between quantum physics and consciousness?

Q: What is the probability that in a group of 31 people, none of them have birthdays in February or
August?

Q: What is the meaning of life?

Q: Why is e to the i pi equal to -1?

Q: How does a refrigerator work?

Q: How do I find the love of my life?

Q: Why does “curved space-time” cause gravity?

Q: What is monotony?

Q: How do we know if science is right?

Q: How plausible is it that the laws of physics may actually function differently in other parts of the
universe?

Q: Are there an infinite number of prime numbers?

Q: How can we prove that 2+2 always equals 4?

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