Category: Uncategorized
-
The Riddle of the Name In this post we continue with our study of the conic sections. So far we have looked at the circle, the parabola, and the ellipse. Now we turn to the final non-degenerate conic section – the hyperbola. When we hear the word ‘hyperbola’, some of us may think of the…
-
The Riddle of the Name When I was in school, one of my English teachers (unfortunately I do not recall which one) taught us about the punctuation mark known as the ellipsis. An ellipsis is three dots (…) that indicate something is missing. It could a lack of words, such as…, well…, you see…, indicating…
-
Brief Recapitulation In the previous post, titled Mathematical Parables, I introduced us to the parabola. Just to jog your memory, a conic section is a a geometric figure such that, for any point on the conic section, the ratio of its distance from a fixed point, called the focus, to its distance from a fixed…
-
Starting the Parabolic Path Those who know me well, know that I have two main areas of interest. Since you are reading this blog, you probably know or have surmised that mathematics is one of those areas. If you do not yet know, the other area is the exploration of my Christian faith and to…
-
We are in the middle of a series on conic sections. We started with Finding Refreshment in the Desert, in which I introduced us to what a conic section is and demonstrated that the general second degree equation in two variables represents a conic section. After that, in Circular Tangentiality we obtained the general equation of…
-
Brief Recapitulation We are in the middle of a series of posts on conic sections. In the previous post, we derived the equation of a circle centered at the origin and having a radius of r. We also derived the equation of the tangent at a point on the circle. To jog your memory, given…
-
Defining a Circle Three weeks back, I started a series on conic sections. I did not post the last two weeks due to being ill. We continue today with a study of the first conic section – the circle. Just as a reminder about conic sections, take a look at the figure below. As is…
-
Arithmetic Blasphemy In one of the first posts in this blog, My Unbounded Mathematical Trauma, I had shared about my trauma when students says something like, “One divided by zero equals infinity.” Unfortunately, this is something that I have heard repeated by mathematics teachers too. And I shudder when I hear such blasphemy! I say ‘blasphemy’…
-
The Seedbed of Mathematical Fecundity Playing around with numbers is something that many, if not most, people who are fascinated with mathematics engage in. Most of the playing around does not lead to anything ‘productive’ in the sense that the results could find some practical application in real life. However, this does not stop people…
-
Starting the Critique I don’t want you to get the wrong idea either while or after reading this post. At the risk of sounding like I’m blowing my own trumpet, let me just state that I have a really good test taking temperament. I have an excellent memory and am able to think on my…
Acutely Obtuse 