A positive rational is a weird fraction if its value is unchanged by an illegitimate, digit-based reduction. In this article, we prove that each weird fraction is uniquely weird and initiate a discussion of the prevalence of weird fractions.

Given a function defined on a subset of the plane whose partial derivatives never change sign, the signs of the partial derivatives form a two-dimensional pattern. We explore what patterns are possible for various planar domains.

A stochastic matrix is a square matrix with nonnegative entries and row sums 1. The simplest example is a permutation matrix, whose rows permute the rows of an identity matrix. A permutation matrix and its inverse are both stochastic. We prove the converse, that is, if a matrix and its inverse are both stochastic, then it is a permutation matrix.

A visual proof that sin x/x is monotonically increasing on (0, pi/2). For tan x/x, see p. 420 (EJ1017686).

A visual proof that tan x/x is monotonically increasing on (0, pi/2). For sin x/x, see p. 408 (EJ1017684).

A "k"-out-of-"n" system functions as long as at least "k" of its "n" components remain operational. Assuming that component failure times are independent and identically distributed exponential random variables, we find the distribution of system failure time. After some examples, we find the limiting…

A number of papers find the velocity that minimizes the wetness of a traveler caught in the rain. In this capsule we determine, in addition, the necessary amount of forward bend (slouching) so that the traveler stays as dry as possible.

We count the number of group homomorphisms between any two dihedral groups using elementary group theory only.

Combining D'Alembert's ratio test and Cauchy's condensation test, we present a new ratio test for any positive monotone series.

In the popular television show "Survivor", the winner of a million-dollar prize is determined in a final election, where the votes are read aloud as the winner is announced. We hypothesize that the show's producers purposely alter the order of the ballots in order to build audience suspense. We test our hypothesis using the Poisson binomial…

Most quadratic functions are not even, but every parabola has symmetry with respect to some vertical line. Similarly, every cubic has rotational symmetry with respect to some point, though most cubics are not odd. We show that every polynomial has at most one point of symmetry and give conditions under which the polynomial has rotational or…

Reciprocal triangular numbers have appeared in series since the very first infinite series were summed. Here we attack a number of subseries of the reciprocal triangular numbers by methodically expressing them as integrals.

A certain weighted average of the rows (and columns) of a nonnegative matrix yields a surprisingly simple, heuristical approximation to its singular vectors. There are correspondingly good approximations to the singular values. Such rules of thumb provide an intuitive interpretation of the singular vectors that helps explain why the SVD is so…

In this short article, we prove an identity from which a theorem of Katsuura and two conjectures previously posed in this JOURNAL follow directly.

We discuss the motivation for dimension reduction in the context of the modern data revolution and introduce a key result in this field, the Johnson-Lindenstrauss flattening lemma. Then we leap into high-dimensional space for a glimpse of the phenomenon called concentration of measure, and use it to sketch a proof of the lemma. We end by tying…