Category: Uncategorized
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For today’s post, I wish to briefly two books that delve into mathematical themes. So here goes. Book Review: A Certain Ambiguity by Gaurav Suri and Hartosh Singh Bal Gaurav Suri and Hartosh Singh Bal. A Certain Ambiguity: A Mathematical Novel. (New Delhi: Penguin, 2007). Available on Amazon. Quite out of the blue, a colleague of…
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Some years ago, I came across a puzzle that asked if I could use exactly six ‘4’s and the four common operations (+, -, ×, and ÷) to give the result 24. Of course, the trivial solution is 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 24. But after a little…
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Abjuring Serialization Last week we finished a series on complex numbers. During this series, we took two pit stops to learn about trigonometry and calculus. Quite obviously, I have not exhausted any of these three topics. However, planning these long series is exhausting! So, for a few posts, I will refrain from serialization. Instead, I…
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A Promise Remembered At the end of the previous post, I had announced that I will be starting a series on complex numbers. The name ‘complex numbers’ is unfortunate. Mathematics is already surrounded by an aura of mystery. There was no need to name something that would heighten that mystery and increase the trepidation of…
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The Presenting Problem Recently I came across a video on YouTube that asked the question, “Which is bigger: 99! or 5099?” There are so many such questions on YouTube and I wonder why. After giving it some thought, I realize the truth in the saying, “Give a woman a fish and you feed her for…
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Inane Phrases If you read my motivations page and the previous post, you will realize that my experience of teaching grade 6 students had an immense impact on me. While the previous post focused on BEDMAS (or BODMAS or PEMDAS, etc.), in the motivations page I also reveal that the students came to me with…
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Order! Order! As a mathematics teacher, I primarily teach students in high school, preferring, within this group, to teach grades 11 and 12. There are two reasons for this. First, mathematics taught in grades 11 and 12 is complex enough to allow for interesting nuancing of the ideas and also blending of the various areas…
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Down Memory Lane Just recently, while introducing me for a talk, someone stated that I have two loves – theology and mathematics. This is a reasonably accurate statement and I blog about these two areas regularly. I have been quite open about both of these with my students too. Hence, even though I am their…
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The Presenting Problem In this post, I wish to continue with some geometry along with some insights from sequences and series. Consider the figure below It is given that ∠AOB = 60°. Also, the radius of the largest circle is 1 unit. The successive smaller circles are tangential to the circles on either side. This…
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Recap In the previous post, from two weeks ago, I had addressed a development in Maharashtra, according to which they have lowered the pass mark in mathematics and science from 35 to 20. I had concluded that post with three questions. First, what is the relationship between a pass mark in an exam related to…
Acutely Obtuse 