In Mathematics
78 is a triangular number, and its factorization makes it a sphenic number. As a multiple of a perfect number, 78 is itself a semiperfect number.
77 and 78 form a Ruth-Aaron pair.
Since it is possible to find sequences of 78 consecutive integers such that each inner member shares a factor with either the first or the last member, 78 is an Erdős–Woods number.
Karl A. Dahlke proved in 1989 that 78 heptominos of this shape ( ), at a minimum, are required to fill a rectangle.
Read more about this topic: 78 (number)
Famous quotes containing the word mathematics:
“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”
—John Adams (1735–1826)
“Mathematics alone make us feel the limits of our intelligence. For we can always suppose in the case of an experiment that it is inexplicable because we don’t happen to have all the data. In mathematics we have all the data ... and yet we don’t understand. We always come back to the contemplation of our human wretchedness. What force is in relation to our will, the impenetrable opacity of mathematics is in relation to our intelligence.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)