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Eureka (word)

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265:, two centuries after it supposedly took place. Some scholars have doubted the accuracy of this tale, on the grounds that the votive crown was a fine item, thus an impure crown would displace water only minutely, compared to a pure one. Precise means needed to measure this minute difference was not available at the time. For the problem posed to Archimedes, though, there is a simple method which requires no precision equipment: using a balance, compare the weight of the crown against pure gold. While they are still suspended from the arms of the balance, simultaneously submerge the crown and the gold in water. If the volumes are the same, the balance remains in equilibrium, meaning that their densities are the same and therefore the crown must be pure gold. But if the density of the crown is less (due to being alloyed with another metal like silver), increased buoyancy of the crown results in imbalance. 283: 182: 22: 373: 245:; he had given his goldsmith the pure gold to be used, and correctly suspected he had been cheated by the goldsmith removing gold and adding the same weight of silver. Equipment for weighing objects with a fair amount of precision already existed, and now that Archimedes could also measure volume, their ratio would give the object's 314:
in 1850; the official text from that time describing the seal states that this word's meaning applies "either to the principle involved in the admission of the State or the success of the miner at work". In 1957 the state legislature attempted to make "In God We Trust" the state motto as part of the
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in 1850. It is the largest of at least eleven remaining US cities and towns named for the exclamation, "eureka!". As a result of the extensive use of the exclamation dating from 1849, there were nearly 40 locales so named by the 1880s in a nation that had none in the 1840s. Many places, works of
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experienced by a body immersed in a fluid.) He then realized that the volume of irregular objects could be measured with precision, a previously intractable problem. He is said to have been so eager to share his discovery that he leapt out of his bathtub and ran naked through the streets of
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was a revolt in 1854 by gold miners against unjust mining license fees and a brutal administration supervising the miners. The rebellion demonstrated the refusal of the workers to be dominated by unfair government and laws. The Eureka Stockade has often been referred to as the "birth of
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himself weighed in on the controversy, suggesting a design for a hydrostatic balance that could be used to compare the dry weight of an object with the weight of the same object submerged in water.
326:, founded in 1850, uses the California State Seal as its official seal. Eureka is a considerable distance from Sutter's Mill, but was the jumping off point of a smaller gold rush in nearby 645: 477: 203:. He reportedly proclaimed "Eureka! Eureka!" after he had stepped into a bath and noticed that the water level rose, whereupon he suddenly understood that the 249:, an important indicator of purity (as gold is nearly twice as dense as silver and therefore has significantly greater weight for the same volume). 797: 641: 154:, because the Ancient Greek rules of accent do not force accent to the penult unless the ultima (last syllable) has a long vowel. 115: 522: 316: 443: 88: 732:
Ono, Ken; Robins, Sinai; Wahl, Patrick T. (1995). "On the representation of integers as sums of triangular numbers".
719: 685: 601: 787: 194: 400: 802: 518: 234: 399:. This result is now known as Gauss's Eureka theorem and is a special case of what later became known as the 52: 29:. In his excitement, he forgets to dress and runs nude in the streets straight out of his bath (drawing by 158: 460: 565: 455: 327: 146:
rules of accent, which require that a penult (next-to-last syllable) must be accented if it contains a
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same post WWII anti-Communist movement that successfully added the term "under God" to the American
734: 421: – Human experience of suddenly understanding a previously incomprehensible problem or concept 216: 332: 792: 43: 591: 671: 169:, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English, but preserved in others, such as 151: 319:
in 1954, but this attempt did not succeed and "Eureka" was made the official motto in 1963.
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must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged. (This relation is
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16th-century illustration of Archimedes in the bath, with Hiero's crown at bottom right
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The expression is also the state motto of California, referring to the momentous
266: 262: 227: 110: 67: 30: 238: 776: 451: 418: 83: 242: 162: 147: 63: 704:(1956). "Gauss, the Prince of Mathematicians". In Newman, James R. (ed.). 519:
Vitruvius on Architecture, IX: Introduction: 9–12, translated into English
391:, "ΕΥΡΗΚΑ! num = Δ + Δ + Δ", referring to his discovery that any positive 282: 424: 70:
of an exclamation attributed to Ancient Greek mathematician and inventor
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The exclamation "Eureka!" is attributed to the ancient Greek scholar
412: 361: 352: 258: 126: 119: 92: 566:"Fact or Fiction?: Archimedes Coined the Term "Eureka!" in the Bath" 21: 344: 221: 139: 392: 291: 246: 181: 372: 331:
culture, and other objects have since been named "Eureka"; see
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Density § Volume vs. density; volume of an irregular shape
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Archimedes' insight led to the solution of a problem posed by
499: 444: 290:, featuring the word "EUREKA" above the spear of the goddess 143: 150:. In the Greek pronunciation, the first syllable has a high 57: 306:
in 1848. The California State Seal has included the word
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used to celebrate a discovery or invention. It is a
165:and in several other European languages, including 379:entry related to sum of triangular numbers (1796) 343:"Eureka" was also associated with a gold rush in 774: 138:The accent of the English word is on the second 395:could be expressed as the sum of at most three 191:Archimedes § Archimedes and the gold crown 660:California Place Names, by Erwin Gudde, p. 105 731: 387:, echoed Archimedes when in 1796 he wrote in 257:This story first appeared in written form in 97:, meaning "I have found (it)", which is the 589: 497: 596:(5th ed.), Macmillan, p. 403, 371: 281: 180: 20: 16:Exclamation for a discovery or invention 775: 610: 563: 427: – Unplanned, fortunate discovery 642:Official state law defining the motto 619:"The Golden Crown: Galileo's Balance" 590:Tipler, Paul A.; Mosca, Gene (2003), 700: 669: 593:Physics for Scientists and Engineers 535:"EXHIBIT: The First Eureka Moment". 33:, engraving by Carlo Orsolini, 1737) 480:. A Star Maths & Physics Tutors 272: 124:"I find". It is closely related to 13: 616: 14: 814: 798:State mottos of the United States 133: 725: 694: 663: 654: 564:Biello, David (December 2006). 401:Fermat polygonal number theorem 252: 644:. Accessed February 26, 2007. 635: 583: 557: 551:10.1126/science.305.5688.1219e 528: 512: 491: 470: 437: 415: – Problem-solving method 367: 1: 431: 310:since its original design by 277: 176: 673:A Brief History of Australia 338: 120: 93: 77: 58: 7: 406: 10: 819: 445: 328:Trinity County, California 188: 114: 87: 47: 670:West, Barbara A. (2010). 735:Aequationes Mathematicae 706:The World of Mathematics 545:: 1219. 27 August 2004. 498:Tom Clegg (2001-04-08). 82:"Eureka" comes from the 788:Greek words and phrases 461:A Greek–English Lexicon 383:Another mathematician, 333:Eureka (disambiguation) 241:of an irregular golden 237:, on how to assess the 648:June 28, 2009, at the 380: 295: 186: 173:, Danish, and German. 34: 25:Archimedes exclaiming 803:Symbols of California 714:Dover reprint, 2000, 523:in the original Latin 452:Liddell, Henry George 375: 285: 263:books of architecture 219:—that deals with the 217:Archimedes' principle 184: 24: 710:Simon & Schuster 385:Carl Friedrich Gauss 317:Pledge of Allegiance 712:. pp. 295–339. 678:Infobase Publishing 570:Scientific American 748:10.1007/BF01831114 680:. pp. 66–67. 397:triangular numbers 381: 324:Eureka, California 296: 288:Seal of California 187: 35: 702:Bell, Eric Temple 623:Drexel University 312:Robert S. Garnett 300:discovery of gold 235:Hiero of Syracuse 215:what is known as 56: 810: 768: 767: 729: 723: 713: 698: 692: 691: 667: 661: 658: 652: 639: 633: 632: 630: 629: 614: 608: 606: 587: 581: 580: 578: 576: 561: 555: 554: 532: 526: 516: 510: 509: 507: 506: 495: 489: 488: 486: 485: 474: 468: 448: 447: 441: 364:" in Australia. 273:Names and mottos 160: 123: 118: 96: 91: 61: 51: 49: 818: 817: 813: 812: 811: 809: 808: 807: 773: 772: 771: 730: 726: 708:. Vol. I. 699: 695: 688: 668: 664: 659: 655: 650:Wayback Machine 640: 636: 627: 625: 617:Rorres, Chris. 615: 611: 604: 588: 584: 574: 572: 562: 558: 534: 533: 529: 517: 513: 504: 502: 496: 492: 483: 481: 476: 475: 471: 466:Perseus Project 442: 438: 434: 409: 370: 357:Eureka Stockade 341: 280: 275: 267:Galileo Galilei 255: 197: 179: 136: 80: 68:transliteration 31:Pietro Scalvini 17: 12: 11: 5: 816: 806: 805: 800: 795: 790: 785: 770: 769: 742:(1–2): 73–94. 724: 693: 686: 662: 653: 634: 609: 602: 582: 556: 527: 511: 490: 469: 435: 433: 430: 429: 428: 422: 416: 408: 405: 369: 366: 340: 337: 279: 276: 274: 271: 254: 251: 178: 175: 161:is dropped in 135: 132: 79: 76: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 815: 804: 801: 799: 796: 794: 793:Interjections 791: 789: 786: 784: 781: 780: 778: 765: 761: 757: 753: 749: 745: 741: 737: 736: 728: 721: 720:0-486-41150-8 717: 711: 707: 703: 697: 689: 687:9780816078851 683: 679: 675: 674: 666: 657: 651: 647: 643: 638: 624: 620: 613: 605: 603:9780716783398 599: 595: 594: 586: 571: 567: 560: 552: 548: 544: 540: 539: 531: 524: 520: 515: 501: 494: 479: 473: 467: 463: 462: 457: 456:Scott, Robert 453: 449: 440: 436: 426: 423: 420: 419:Eureka effect 417: 414: 411: 410: 404: 402: 398: 394: 390: 386: 378: 377:Gauss's diary 374: 365: 363: 358: 354: 350: 346: 336: 334: 329: 325: 320: 318: 313: 309: 305: 304:Sutter's Mill 301: 293: 289: 284: 270: 268: 264: 260: 250: 248: 244: 240: 236: 231: 229: 224: 223: 218: 214: 210: 206: 202: 196: 192: 183: 174: 172: 168: 164: 155: 153: 149: 145: 141: 134:Pronunciation 131: 129: 128: 122: 117: 112: 109: 106: 103: 100: 95: 90: 85: 84:Ancient Greek 75: 73: 69: 65: 60: 54: 45: 44:Ancient Greek 41: 40: 32: 28: 23: 19: 739: 733: 727: 705: 696: 672: 665: 656: 637: 626:. Retrieved 612: 592: 585: 573:. Retrieved 559: 542: 536: 530: 514: 503:. Retrieved 493: 482:. Retrieved 472: 459: 439: 382: 342: 335:for a list. 322:The city of 321: 307: 297: 256: 253:Authenticity 243:votive crown 232: 220: 212: 198: 163:modern Greek 157:The initial 156: 152:pitch accent 142:, following 137: 125: 113:of the verb 99:first person 81: 64:interjection 38: 37: 36: 26: 18: 425:Serendipity 368:Mathematics 294:, from 1870 783:Archimedes 777:Categories 628:2009-03-24 505:2012-06-06 484:2012-06-06 432:References 278:California 201:Archimedes 189:See also: 177:Archimedes 148:long vowel 108:indicative 72:Archimedes 764:122203472 500:"Eureka!" 413:Heuristic 389:his diary 362:democracy 353:Australia 339:Australia 259:Vitruvius 209:displaced 207:of water 127:heuristic 78:Etymology 53:romanized 646:Archived 407:See also 349:Victoria 345:Ballarat 228:Syracuse 222:upthrust 140:syllable 121:heurískō 102:singular 62:) is an 756:1336863 575:4 March 538:Science 464:at the 446:εὑρίσκω 393:integer 292:Minerva 247:density 171:Finnish 167:Catalan 116:εὑρίσκω 105:perfect 94:heúrēka 59:héurēka 55::  762:  754:  718:  684:  600:  355:. The 308:Eureka 239:purity 205:volume 193:, and 111:active 89:εὕρηκα 48:εὕρηκα 39:Eureka 27:Eureka 760:S2CID 302:near 144:Latin 86:word 716:ISBN 682:ISBN 598:ISBN 577:2024 521:and 286:The 744:doi 547:doi 543:305 261:'s 213:not 159:/h/ 779:: 758:. 752:MR 750:. 740:50 738:. 676:. 621:. 568:. 541:. 458:; 454:; 450:. 403:. 351:, 347:, 230:. 74:. 50:, 46:: 766:. 746:: 722:. 690:. 631:. 607:. 579:. 553:. 549:: 525:. 508:. 487:. 42:(

Index


Pietro Scalvini
Ancient Greek
romanized
interjection
transliteration
Archimedes
Ancient Greek
εὕρηκα
first person
singular
perfect
indicative
active
εὑρίσκω
heuristic
syllable
Latin
long vowel
pitch accent
modern Greek
Catalan
Finnish

Archimedes § Archimedes and the gold crown
Density § Volume vs. density; volume of an irregular shape
Archimedes
volume
displaced
Archimedes' principle

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