Murphy's Law Represented Mathematically

from News.com.au, via Slashdot:

Murphy's law (also known as Sod's Law) states that when things can go wrong, they will, and at the worst possible moment. Thanks to a team commissioned by British Gas, this law has finally been represented mathematically.

((U+C+I) x (10-S))/20 x A x 1/(1-sin(F/10))

where:
U = Urgency
C = Complexity
I = Importance
S = Skill
F = Frequency
A = Aggravation

each variable has a range from 1 to 9 except for A, which was assigned a value of 0.7.

The researchers' give this advice to those seeking to minimize the effects:

"So, if you haven't got the skill to do something important, leave it alone. If something is urgent or complex, find a simple way to do it. If something going wrong will particularly aggravate you, make certain you know how to do it."