What's the only number...

[Norton Canes]

...where the letters that spell it (in English) are in alphabetical order?

And more importantly, how long before you worked it out, or gave up? I saw the question and answer together yesterday so unfortunately I didn't get a chance to apply my formidable intellect, but I asked half a dozen people, and most of them spent a minute or so thinking about it before going "no idea". Do people get stuck on "there are so many numbers it'll take me ages to go through them all"?

[jobotic]

forty

Took me a minute. I'm the best.

Is it right?

[DistressedArea]

e

Edit: about one second.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

forty.

ETA:  Bollocks.

[Danger Man]

Having Googled the answer I would never have worked it out because I don't know the word.

[Chollis]

Was going to try it but could already see jobotic's answer with my exceptional peripheral vision. Thanks for ruining the thread and my day.

[Norton Canes]

It is forty. You only need to go through 16 numbers to get to it, missing out the ones with duplicate elements - 14-19, 21-29, 31-39. And even if you don't start by counting up from zero, it clearly can't be anything with 'hundred', 'thousand' or 'million/billion' etc. in it.

One of the people I asked said "It's not a complicated number like three hundred and eighty one million or something is it?"

[BlodwynPig]

Aflortyz

[BlodwynPig]

Here's one that should be simple to answer. Tell me how long it took you

For what classes of ODEs (Ordinary Differential Equations), describing dynamical systems, does the Lyapunov's second method formulated in the classical and canonically generalized forms define the necessary and sufficient conditions for the (asymptotical) stability of motion?

[Inspector Norse]

Forty

That's the number of seconds I have been thinking about it and I still can't get the answer!



No actually the answer is "forty" and it took me probably that many seconds. I just went through the numbers zero-twelve and then up all the increments of ten.

[Inspector Norse]

Here's one that should be simple to answer. Tell me how long it took you

For what classes of ODEs (Ordinary Differential Equations), describing dynamical systems, does the Lyapunov's second method formulated in the classical and canonically generalized forms define the necessary and sufficient conditions for the (asymptotical) stability of motion?

Ooh I think I know this one, is it Clark Gable?

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

One of these days, I'll hit you all with "Grey Elephants from Denmark".

[kittens]

well, upon seeing the question i turned my screen off and tried to work it out. i came to the answer 'four' and thought 'good on me for stopping and getting to the bottom of that'. i wasn't far off. u and r are from the far end of the alphabet, where they keep all the freaky letters like x and z- i try not to go that far myself, so makes sense i wouldn't be sure of the order.

[Norton Canes]

I asked half a dozen people, and most of them spent a minute or so thinking about it before going "no idea". Do people get stuck on "there are so many numbers it'll take me ages to go through them all"?

I know the obvious answer is, I'm hanging out with (or related to) the wrong people

[Norton Canes]

Actually... maybe I'm hanging out with the right people

[Inspector Norse]

I could ask the people in my office if you like. Only thing is they're Swedish, and in Swedish it works with the numbers one and two.

[Captain Z]

eghit

[Keebleman]

Here's one that should be simple to answer. Tell me how long it took you

For what classes of ODEs (Ordinary Differential Equations), describing dynamical systems, does the Lyapunov's second method formulated in the classical and canonically generalized forms define the necessary and sufficient conditions for the (asymptotical) stability of motion?

Forty. (Took me a week.)

[paruses]

Here's one that should be simple to answer. Tell me how long it took you

For what classes of ODEs (Ordinary Differential Equations), describing dynamical systems, does the Lyapunov's second method formulated in the classical and canonically generalized forms define the necessary and sufficient conditions for the (asymptotical) stability of motion?

All the classes.

[Edit classical AND canonically generalized forms - didn't see that bit. No idea now.]

[Captain Z]

All the different classes.




































plain...

[Twed]

Here's one that should be simple to answer. Tell me how long it took you

For what classes of ODEs (Ordinary Differential Equations), describing dynamical systems, does the Lyapunov's second method formulated in the classical and canonically generalized forms define the necessary and sufficient conditions for the (asymptotical) stability of motion?

That's not maths, it's Wikipediaing

[alan nagsworth]

Was going to try it but could already see jobotic's answer with my exceptional peripheral vision. Thanks for ruining the thread and my day.

forty/forty vision

fuck, that's awful. might have a nap

[Norton Canes]

forty/forty vision

fuck, that's awful. might have a nap

twenty/twenty would have worked better

[Better Midlands]

Forty. (Took me a week.)

Weeking as I write this

[Icehaven]

So which number has them in reverse alphabetical order? This shouldn't take you long.

[madhair60]

So which number has them in reverse alphabetical order? This shouldn't take you long.

Zyx.

[paruses]

Zro.

That's how I spell it. I don't want to discuss it any further.

[Captain Z]

CBA

[DistressedArea]

So which number has them in reverse alphabetical order? This shouldn't take you long.

Also e.

[Darles Chickens]

Nope - the answer to both questions is 0.  Spelt "O".  As in O-one eight-one-one eight-o-five-five.