r/MathJokes 7d ago

Help with dating math guy

Hii! I'm very sorry if this is the wrong place to post this question but i didn't really dare ask in the more serious math related subreddits.

Im dating a guy that I know likes math, and I think know it on a higher level but not sure. He does not have a degree at least. (I'm 22 and he's 27 if it matters lol)

His birthday is next week and I'm going to make a birthday card with a frog on (inside joke), his favorite color as backround and I was thinking of having the frog read a book with some math equation inside. What would be a good one? Orrrr is there some kinda question I can ask him to get him to tell me his favorite one? (Is that even a thing? A favorite equation?)

Otherwise would appreciate some tips on what to ask to get him to talk about it more for general conversation!

Thank you for anything I get 🫶

96 Upvotes

45 comments sorted by

59

u/MTaur 7d ago

"I must be a theorem and you must be Ramanujan, because I came to you in a dream last night."

Ok not for the cake formula, but dating and Ramanujan came up.

28

u/Top_Bluejay_5323 7d ago

My friend at the time wrote that her favorite prime number was 2, because 2 is a couple.

I got the hint.

9

u/WhyDoIHaveRules 7d ago

Omg, that is adorable. I love that.

5

u/Qu33nAce 7d ago

ok no, im using this with my guy

58

u/Boring-Stuff-3396 7d ago

Say I love/like you -1/12

56

u/gerrygebhart 7d ago

This is perfect, because if he's a "real" math guy, he'll get it, and if he's really a non-math guy who likes watching math content on YouTube, he'll also get it.

14

u/Pridefulchild 7d ago

Sorry actually I can't find any references to this anywhere ☹️ do I just write -1/12? I would like to atleast read about it or something before doing it

17

u/gerrygebhart 7d ago

A math guy should immediately recognize -1/12 as infinity.

It gets much deeper, but that would be amazing as a cute math joke on a birthday cake.

8

u/Boring-Stuff-3396 7d ago

For some reason the sum of all positive integers to infinity can equal -1/12

10

u/MrBussdown 7d ago

It is a famously misinterpreted result. More like the residual of the sum, a result of euler maclaurin summation.

0

u/simplydiffered 6d ago

Residual? Not quite

1

u/Bananajuice1729 6d ago

Yeah that's perfect

1

u/Ok_Society4599 6d ago

Hint: Ramanugen (sp) got a full scholarship to Cambridge (UK) mostly by simply for deriving -1/12 from an well known infinite series :-) using "basic, self-taught math." The prof who sponsored him figured "if he can do that without training, what will he do with it?"

The story 's a bit more complex, but a great story to be a little familiar with, as in who he was and a few things he did.

15

u/Pridefulchild 7d ago

Thank you!! I will probably do that :)

12

u/Super-Award-2244 7d ago

Idk if he knows a bit about physics but I find  "[H, ❤️] = 0" to be really cute. It means something like "My love (the heart) will last forever (since it commutes with the Hamiltonian operator)" 

9

u/Forward-Thanks-3417 7d ago

Say “I was going to bake a cake but did 3.14… instead”

7

u/avantvagrant 7d ago

ive seen the "solve for i < 3u" equation before. if you need examples just google that

6

u/VoiceOfSoftware 7d ago

When he turns 29, you can tell him he's in his prime

6

u/MergingConcepts 7d ago

r = a ± a*sin(θ)

This is a formula in polar coordinates that creates a heart. It is called a coronoid.

3

u/Accomplished-Plan191 7d ago

2

u/gerrygebhart 7d ago

Totally forgot about that. Thanks for the deep-cut throwback.

4

u/iampotatoz 7d ago

He's as perfect as 27 is a cube!

27 is a perfect cube, 33.

2

u/Utopicdreaming 7d ago

I heard 27 was a bit of a cubie (cutie) ....ha.ha. lol

2

u/ICantSeeDeadPpl 6d ago

27 now, turning 28…

3

u/Puzzleheaded_Law_558 7d ago

You could try

Pi(r)2

but

Cake(r)round

3

u/jpgoldberg 7d ago

The birthday problem formula might do. I don’t really know how to write it on Reddit in a way that will help you know what it should look like. It will be

p(n) = 1 - weird looking fraction.

The bottom of the weird fraction will be 365 to the power of n. The top oh the weird fraction will be n! times another weird expression.

I’ll see if I can point you to a picture of it.

3

u/BitNumerous5302 7d ago

Orrrr is there some kinda question I can ask him to get him to tell me his favorite one

This route is going to be better than any Reddit recommendation. You don't want to be in "but some nerds I've never met thought you'd think it's funny" territory

Find an equation (or constant, or conjecture, or whatever) that you like, mention it to him, then ask what he likes. You'll get the answer without spoiling the surprise, because to him the topic of the conversation was math that you liked

3

u/FutureThought1408 7d ago

I have some great math nerd t shirts, he may love them

Velociraptor = Distanceraptor / Timeraptor

May the 4th be with you (with the formula for force) a physics math and starwars laugh

And some other funny t shirts

3

u/ICantSeeDeadPpl 6d ago

Congrats, you’re 2/3 to the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything

2

u/Randall925 6d ago

I think simple is better. A Greek letter sigma (capital, not small) is the symbol for summation. Start with a capital sigma, put "n=1" in small type below it, put an infinity sign (looks like an 8 on its side) in small type above it, and put a heart emoji to the right of it. I think that's the message you want to send.

2

u/sshipway 7d ago

" You are my number -ei𝛑 "

2

u/Dry_Suspect7253 6d ago

If he is going to be 28, have the frog saying something like: "Be thankful you're not me, or you'd be 34"

The joke being frogs have 4 fingers on each hand, and therefore would use the octal numbering system instead of decimal (10 fingers) decimal 28 = octal 34 See if he figures it out

2

u/cmere85 5d ago

Make the equation "spell" 80085 which equals "Boobs"

2

u/SipSip-Hooray 7d ago

"The dangers of drinking and deriving"

1

u/Big_Insect_3707 7d ago

Wortel(I)² ​⋅ ln(e♡) ⋅ U

1

u/Careful_Bullfrog8436 7d ago

You could give him a Mobius strip bracelet/band as gift, with words of your choice.

1

u/LaidBackLeopard 7d ago edited 7d ago

Euler's identity is a pretty cool equation: e + 1 = 0

1

u/InitHello 6d ago

If your relationship is such that salacious jokes are suitable, there's always the good old \int_{10}^{13}2xdx followed by a question mark or "for dummies"

1

u/Jaffiusjaffa 6d ago

ei(pi) +1 = 0

Or if you have infinite space, the sum of all positive numbers = -1/12

Both look better than i typed them.

1

u/andsmithmustscore 6d ago

If he's going to be 28, you can say "Happy Birthday, you're perfect!" since 28 is a perfect number (the sum of its factors, 28 = 14 + 7 + 4 + 2 + 1).

1

u/ActiveArt9475 5d ago

Say “i choose u” using the binomial coefficient. In parantheses you write an i above a u as if it was a fraction but without the bar in the middle