Pit your wits against young minds!

This column is a place for those bits of contagious mathematics that travel from person to person in the community, because they are so elegant, suprising, or appealing that one has an urge to pass them on. Contributions are most welcome.     

Clathrate formation in the tetraisoamylammonium propionate-water system

In this paper we examine clathrate formation in the tetraisoamylammonium propionate-water binary system. We have found formation of four polyhydrates, two of which are metastable over the whole temperature range studied. All polyhydrate crystals were isolated and their compositions and densities determined; for (i-C₅H₁₁)₄NC₂H₅COO·36.5H₂O, unit cell parameters were additionally found. The results are compared with data for tetra-n-butylammonium carboxylate polyhydrates, and the structure of the title compounds is suggested. It is confirmed that the isoamyl radical stabilizes the tetradecahedral void of the clathrate hydrate framework better than the n-butyl radical. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 67–71, May–June, 1994. Translated by L. Smolina     

(NH4)2MoS4在活性炭上浸渍过程的研究:Ⅱ.干燥机理及模型

（ＮＨ＿４）＿２ＭｏＳ＿４在活性炭上浸渍过程的研究Ⅱ．干燥机理及模型秦慧芳，张成芳，陆岗，俞丰，朱子彬（华东理工大学无机化工研究所，上海２００２３７）２３７）关键词硫代钼酸铵，活性炭，干燥，钼分布，干燥模型负载型催化剂的活性组分在载体上的分布，受浸渍...     

Periodic solutions of second-order quasilinear hyperbolic equations

We study a periodic boundary-value problem for a quasilinear equation with the d'Alembert operator on the left-hand side and a nonlinear operator on the right-hand side and establish conditions under which the solution of the indicated problem is unique.Translated from Ukrainskii Matematicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 47, No. 10, pp. 1370–1375, October, 1995.     

Application of the variation principle for the problem of buckling of a nonlinearly elastic ring nonuniform along its thickness

There has been considerable recent attention given to the stressed and buckled states of items with complicated configuration made of different nonlinearly elastic materials joined by complete adhesion. However, effective analytical solutions for such problems have been hindered by mathematical difficulties. Approximate methods have thus been developed for such problems. A variational combined principle has been formulated in this communication. A nonlinear geometrical approach has been used for formulating a mixed-type functional with physical relationships given by Euler equations, nonlinear equilibrium equations, and nonlinear boundary conditions for a piecewise-nonuniform nonlinearly elastic body composed of finite elements (particles). As an example, buckling along the nonuniform thickness of nonlinearly elastic rings was analyzed hypothetically assuming plane cross-sections. Options for two-, three-, four-, five-, and six-layered rings in a periodical structure have been reviewed. The critical buckling forces for an even number of layers have been found to be equal to each other. The ratios of the critical forces, elasticity moduli, and proportionality levels were determined for all five variants by the Runge-Kutta method.Presented at the Ninth International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, October, 1995).Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 262–268, March–April, 1995.