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Johann Bernoulli: 2 puzzles worth knowing

2 puzzles from Johann Bernoulli, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• A ball rolls from a high point to a lower one. What curved path gets there fastest?

  In 1696, Johann Bernoulli challenged the best mathematicians in Europe with this problem: given two points, one higher than the other but not directly above it, what shape of frict…

  — Johann Bernoulli, Problema novum ad cujus solutionem Mathematici invitantur

• What shape does a chain hanging between two posts make? Galileo guessed wrong

  Hang a chain loosely between two fixed points and let it sag under its own weight. Galileo Galilei claimed in 1638 that the resulting curve was a parabola, the same shape as a thro…

  — Johann Bernoulli, Gottfried Leibniz, Christiaan Huygens, Solutio Problematis Funicularii

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