Packet 6: Tossup 18
Description Required. Stanley Tennenbaum proved this fact using a diagram where 2 squares overlap to create the [read slowly] quantity two b minus a squared. Because this fact is true, the formula for half-companion Pell numbers includes a plus or minus one in the numerator. This fact can be shown by stating that [read slowly] a squared is equal to two b squared and then finding a (*) contradiction because a and b must be coprime. Applying the rational root test to the equation x squared minus two equals zero can be used to prove this fact. Angry Pythagoreans legendarily murdered Hippasus for proving, for 10 points, what fact that says a number beginning with 1.414 is not a ratio of integers? ■END■
ANSWER: the square root of two is irrational [accept descriptions of the square root of two not being a ratio of integers; prompt on answers generally describing the existence of irrational numbers]
<Science - Math, Vikram Narasimhan> | VAULT II Packet 06
= Average correct buzzpoint
Buzzes
Summary
| Tournament | Edition | Match | Heard | Conv. % | Power % | Neg % | Avg. Buzz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAULT II at Georgia Tech | 2026-01-24 | ✓ | 6 | 83% | 17% | 33% | 84.00 |
| Triangle Cup | 2026-03-13 | ✓ | 3 | 67% | 0% | 33% | 82.00 |
| VAULT II at Eden Prairie HS | 2026-03-13 | ✓ | 3 | 100% | 0% | 33% | 90.67 |
| VAULT II at McGill | 2026-03-13 | ✓ | 4 | 75% | 0% | 0% | 82.67 |
| VAULT II at UCSB | 2026-03-13 | ✓ | 5 | 100% | 20% | 20% | 65.80 |
| VAULT II Northern UK | 2026-04-24 | ✓ | 3 | 100% | 33% | 0% | 79.33 |
| VAULT II Southern UK | 2026-04-24 | ✓ | 4 | 100% | 0% | 25% | 79.75 |
| VAULT II at Harvard | 2026-04-30 | ✓ | 3 | 100% | 0% | 33% | 92.00 |
| VAULT II at MINT | 2026-06-19 | ✓ | 5 | 80% | 20% | 40% | 92.50 |
| VAULT II Stanford Online | 2026-07-17 | ✓ | 8 | 100% | 0% | 25% | 79.75 |