What's the question if 2a is the answer?

You've probably never thought about this, but the chances of anything being the answer to a quiz are rather low. Sure, King Henry VIII has probably been immortalised through questions about the number of wives he had, and football stattos are always likely to test people on how many goals someone got. Yet that leaves thousands of nicher concepts to never be tested.

On University Challenge, the answers can be very obscure - indeed, maybe you'll one day be the answer to a quiz question! Anyone or anything could be, provided the questions are heavily skewed in that regard. 

Maybe "2a" will be the answer to a pub quix question. Alright, it probably won't ever be. But if it is, here are some ways 2a can be the answer to a highly specific question.

1. What is the denominator of the quadratic formula?

The quadratic formula is where, for a binomial of the form ax² + bx + c = 0, a ≠ 0,

 

 This is the reason why my blog is called such - I didn't wake up one day and decide 2a was an appropriate thing to stick next to "All Over". I've been told the name could be better.

Either way, why is the quadratic formula so odd-looking? It's because of a series of rearranging and substituting, which can all be done if you completed the square, as in this general formula:

Completing the square is as old as algebra itself, and was used by the man who invented and "coined" the term algebra, Al-Khwarizmi. Over time, people decided to come up with an intuitive formula, such as Brahmagupta, who described the quadratic formula in words - 2a was "twice the coefficient [of the square]", and I can't imagine a world where that's part of the name of this blog.

There's also the unusual citardauq (quadratic backwards) formula, which is not entirely unlike the quadratic formula. This time, however, 2c is on top. 

 

That's enough maths for now.

2. What suffixed South London bus route ran from West Norwood to Stockwell before being withdrawn in 1974?

This one's too specific and geographically limited to likely ever come up. But if it does, thanks to this blogpost, you can confidently state 2A and be correct.

The current 2 bus route is extremely similar to the 2A. The 2 runs from West Norwood to Marylebone, and is nearly identical to the 2A up to Stockwell, barring that the 2A runs via Dulwich Road rather than Railton Road to get to Brixton.

The 2A used to go all the way up to Golders Green, before being cut back in stages to Victoria and eventually to Stockwell, before being replaced by an alteration to route 2B (which either ran to West Norwood or to Crystal Palace - that route has now been renumbered and extended as the 432).

All was fine for fourteen years, when the 2A came back to now run between Crystal Palace and Brixton (and Baker Street in the evenings) to replace part of the 2B, which it did until 1994 when it was absorbed as part of the 2 as part of an approach to delete all suffixes. 

However, the most interesting thing about the 2A route is its southern terminus. You see, West Norwood has three unique bus termini - Norwood Bus Garage, which opened in 1909 and is currently in Arriva hands; the bus stand at Cheviot Road is used by the 315; and Hannen Road, just by the station, once used by the 68. However, the lesser none Myton Road stand is the one that the 2A used, when it went to West Norwood Rosendale - and this somewhat bizarre relic is still listed as a possible stand to be used by the 322 route. 

Yet that's unlikely to be the case, as the stand is outside houses and unsurprisingly is commonly occupied by parked cars. We're in the heart of Dulwich side-roads - not too far from here is West Dulwich, and that's where all the exciting life bubbles, and yes, I've been there. Here, there is a bar - the Rosendale - but otherwise, nothing much else. 

3. What is a very contentious amendment in American politics?

I'm throwing this one in because it's the first result that comes up for 2a. This is, of course, the Second Amendment, which addresses the right to keep and bear arms in the US. It's been around since 1791, and that's all I'm saying on the matter because I have nothing more to say.

I can't think of any more, at least without getting into the very obscure and petty questions, like "name a type of keratin". Yet the fact I could think of three 2a questions, two of which are rather relevant to what I often blog about, is pleasing to say the least. 

This is the 300th blogpost on All Over 2a, in fact, though I started working on this post near the beginning of the blog's history. How pleasing, either way.