Mathy Facts - Codes and Ciphers

• I was going to call this "Fun Facts", but I guess some people might not find these facts all that fun, so whatever...
• Anyway, as I slightly somewhat sort-of mentioned in an earlier post, one of my events at Mu Alpha Theta this summer is an open topic event on Codes and Ciphers. So here's ten fun facts I learned about the topic from the two books I've been reading on the subject, Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing by Martin Gardner and Cracking Codes and Cryptograms for Dummies by Denise Sutherland and Mark E. Koltko-Rivera.


1. A code is defined as being a kind of "new language", while a cipher is a message with letters that are replaced or rearranged by other symbols. (Ciphers tend to be easier to crack than codes, and most people mistake ciphers as codes.)
2. Plaintext is the secret message and ciphertext is the encrypted message.
3. The most often used letters, in order, are: E, T, A, O, and N.
4. The most frequently used two letter word is OF.
5. The most frequently used three letter word is THE.
6. In English, the letter Q must always be followed by U.
7. The most common double letters, in order, are: LL, EE, SS, OO, and TT.
8. Julius Caesar used two ciphering systems when he was general of the Roman armies, known as "Caesar Shift" and "Caesar Box Codes".
9. The Freemasons use codes to keep information on Masonic ceremonies secret.
10. A transposition cipher is a cipher where the letters in the message are the same, but their positions are changed.


• Isn't it interesting? :D ...no?


• Well, I'll post more interesting information later. I'm getting started on studying integrals next so I'm sure something interesting will turn up there! ;D


Less Than Three,
The Artist

Formula Fun - Sequences and Series

• So today I was at math practice and we were studying sequences and series!!! ^o^ And a teammate of mine showed me a very important formula to remember:

∞ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _

∑ (x^n) / (n!) = e^x

n=0 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _

• This is the Taylor series expansion for e^x. It's very important to know in sequences and series, because Taylor series is good for approximating the value of a function (at a certain value). He had to have this memorized for when he took the BC AP Calculus exam because he is a ninja when it comes to math (and life). I'm not as smart, however, so I only took AB and didn't learn it until today. :c Still, I'm very grateful he pointed this formula out to me. And hopefully posting it on my blog will help me to remember it! :D Isn't it just so awesome and amazing and interesting and useful?!?! yeah, not really unless you're studying sequences i guess...

• But anyway, I hope you enjoy this wonderful formula. c: Until next time!

Less than three,

The Artist