Indian teen solves Newton’s 300 year old riddle

Tuesday, 19 June 2012 00:46 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

An Indian-born teenager from Germany has solved a maths riddle – first posed by Sir Isaac Newton – that has puzzled mathematicians for 300 years.

German media has hailed Shouryya Ray, 16, as a genius; but he says the breakthrough was simply thanks to “curiosity and schoolboy naivety.” The riddle, which has baffled maths buffs for three centuries, relates to the ability to perfectly predict the path of a projectile flying through the air.

Thanks to Shouryya, we can now predict a projectile’s path, even taking into account the effects of gravity and air resistance. While he was at it, Shouryya also knocked off a 19th century conundrum related to the impact of a body hitting a wall.

Until now, our best and brightest have only been able to come up with partial solutions to both of these problems. Shouryya’s father is an engineer who began to teach his son calculus at age six, which helped to instill a curious nature in the teenager who says he’s always looking for answers.

“When it was explained to us that the problems had no solutions, I thought to myself: well, there’s no harm in trying,” he told local media.

But don’t worry about Shourrya getting a big head; he only managed second place at the national competition in which he unveiled his breakthrough solution.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.