This isn't a generic "favorite number thread", nor is it a place to have conversations about borderline memetic numbers if they originated from (pop) culture in a way that seems relatively shallow. Please post one number so long as you follow these guidelines:
A) You mention the name (and value, if applicable) of the number.
B) You discuss a constant and/or quantity, like a transcendental number. You can't use combinations of Arabic numerals by themselves, so that means years, dates, coordinates, telephone numbers, fax numbers, addresses, serial codes, bar codes, area codes, etc. don't count.
C) You don't make a post about a numerical sequence or series; each post must elaborate on ONE number only.
D) You type up some information about the number, such as mathematical or scientific importance, cultural relevance, usage, history, or trivia.
E) You avoid reusing a number already mentioned by someone else in this thread.
F) You list all numbers previously referenced in this thread somewhere in your post.
I've chosen to focus on the silver constant, a.k.a. the silver mean, a.k.a. the silver number, a.k.a. the silver ratio, whose value is 1 + √2, or roughly 2.414. (This is not to be confused with the golden ratio conjugate, or the plastic number.) If one removes the two largest possible squares from a silver rectangle (a rectangle whose dimensions have the ratio of 1 + √2:1), one is left with a proportionally smaller silver rectangle.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gold,_silver,_and_bronze_rectangles_vertical.png
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gold,_silver,_and_bronze_rectangles.png
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gold,_silver,_and_bronze_rectangles.svg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_rectangle_repeats.png
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_rectangle.png
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_rectangle.svg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gold,_silver,_bronze,_and_copper_rectangles_vertical.png
This number is also used when manufacturing stop signs. If you take the length of one side of a regular octagon, and you compare it to the distance through the center of the octagon from the middle of one side to the middle of the opposite side, you get the ratio of 1:1 + √2.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Octagon1.png
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_ratio_octagon.png
20 Apr 2017, 3:18 am
