https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Nuxexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-05-04T00:35:21ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2207:_Math_Work&diff=1804812207: Math Work2019-09-26T15:55:09Z<p>Nux: Rewrote the explanation to better reflect the broader point being made about maths and people</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2207<br />
| date = September 25, 2019<br />
| title = Math Work<br />
| image = math_work.png<br />
| titletext = I could type this into a solver, which MIGHT help, but would also mean I have to get a lot of parentheses right...<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TWO UNKNOWNS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[[White Hat]] is observing a physicist, [[Cueball]], who is staring at some equations and diagrams on a chalkboard. White Hat is neither a physicist nor a mathematician, and seems to glorify those professions. He wishes he understood Cueball's work and "the beauty on display here".<br />
<br />
The joke is that Cueball, the actual physicist, is actually doing something quite simple and relatable: Avoiding hard work. Solving for two unknowns isn't necessarily difficult but can be, depending on how they relate to each other. Cueball clearly thinks it's possible to do but would rather find an easier route. The same could be said about the field of mathematics in general: A proof is beautiful to a mathematician when it's easy to understand and the result is profound when it's useful.<br />
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The title text continues Cueball's thought process, with the possibility of using an equation solver to solve the equations. An equation solver or {{w|computer algebra system}} is a computer program which can be used to solve equations or systems of equations, and is typically not an especially beautiful way to address mathematical problems. Cueball would need to make sure that the equations are entered correctly, with parentheses in the correct places, when inputting them into the solver; again this is an issue far removed from the {{w|mathematical beauty|beauty of mathematics}} and physics.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stands in front of a blackboard full of formulas and diagrams. White Hat is watching him from a couple meters away.]<br />
<br />
:White Hat (thinking): Amazing watching a physicist at work, exploring universes in a symphony of numbers.<br />
:White Hat (thinking): If only I had studied math, I could appreciate the beauty on display here.<br />
<br />
:Cueball (thinking): Oh no. This has '''''two''''' unknowns. That's gonna be really hard.<br />
:Cueball (thinking): Ughhhhhhh.<br />
:Cueball (thinking): '''''Think.''''' There's gotta be a way to avoid doing all that work...<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>Nux