3 / √3 (confused? - well i am...)

ok seriously - I've had it with this. I'm seething right now - yeargh!

You see the fraction in the title above? I first came across this math problem "anomaly" over a year ago when a certain someone, while studying for the GMATs asked me - "what is 3 /√3 ?" I kid you not - This was a serious question. I passed it off then as a comical lapse. You know, you're studying very hard and sometimes the obvious just slips past you. Fair enough. It can happen to anyone. But that wasn't the last of it. It started originally as a lightly humorous joke. Until Arun and I found ourselves joking about it in front of people - and they didn't get it. Thats when the gravity of the situation hit. I started then - to explore (to-date without a solidified answer). I've posed this question to over 40 people now.

Now, I can imagine that some people hate math. I did -in school. Never liked it. I wasn't horrible at it - but I didn't like it. But thats not an excuse. If 2 + 2 = 4 is a fundamental question for a 3 year old then 3 /√3 is a fundamental question for ANY adult. Honestly, I can't believe this is actually an issue for people. BUT IT IS!

*deep breath*

Ok. Pose this question to the next person you meet. Ask them - "what is 3 /√3?" They may look at you for re-assurance that this is not a trick question. You MAY give them that assurance. I'm curious to know the responses you get. Try different audiences - and don't write it down for them. My current theory is that they're having a problem conceptualizing what three divided by the square root of 3 looks like in their head (which is strenuously dumbfounding on a different level).

I did try it on different people. I tried it on co-workers and friends. I brought it up while sharing a cab with people in D.C. or in casual conversations at hotel lobbies or in the gym. So far only TWO people have given me a straight and correct answer without getting flustered. My brother and Arun. My brother won a medal in his 10th boards for Math - so its safe to say his Math is strong. Arun's math is strong too - take my word for it. But do you have to be a math god to know this? I've asked computer science majors who work in esteemed consulting firms, to private business owners, to salespeople to even co-workers of mine in my group who graduated in Engineering from Ivy League schools. NONE OF THEM GOT IT!?

This is not a rocket science question. Nor is this some childish quest to prove to others how smart I am. I'll put it like this. If you know the answer - good... not GREAT... just good. If you don't know it (sigh)... its time to go back to school.

What is it? Is it the way you were taught math? It can't be. I spread my test population across different ethnicities. (Yes, EVEN the indians who studied Math in India - a subject we are so very proud of our success in - FAILED!)

First of all, I can't believe this is an actual test for me now. The best part is I was telling this story to a co-worker today about how you have to be retarded to not know the answer is to 3 /√3. He was looking at me as if it were the funniest thing I'd ever said.

I knew then that he didn't know. I asked him. He said 9. AND because he couldn't conceptualize it in his head, I had to walk thim through it using the laws of exponents.

What is that turns our minds to mush? Is it solar radiation? The spinning Earth? Britney Spears? What... WHAT!? I haven't pinned down a definitive answer yet... but i'm working on it.

By the way - my "mental-midget**" viewers,

- yeah you know who you are -

You can put away your calculators. The answer is √3.

**"Mental-Midget" - a coined Bahel phrase. If you don't understand the phrase - you fall into its category. Pleasingly self-serving :-)