Category: tasks
-
Why doesn’t Nike+ use math to encourage me to run?
Artifact The Nike+ app, which at the end of my run the other day, looked like this: (editor’s note: yes, I’m slow. Thank you for noticing. Also, along with some encouragement in data format, I had Tim Tebow give me words of encouragement for bettering my pace.) Now, there are a lot of numbers here, but…
-
Red Solo Cup / I Lift You Up / Let’s Find the Volume! / Let’s Find the Volume!
Hat tip to @mathhombre. Artifact The red Solo cup, apparently. Guiding Questions What are those little markings between 12 oz and “Top Me Off, Bro”? Can you use proportions to find it? Similar polygons? Volume? Help me out here. Can I have a ruler? Can I use Geogebra to diagram this? Wait, can’t I just…
-
Underground parking spots cost $30000-$50000 to build in D.C. This smells like a systems problem.
Artifact The Washington City Paper has a (rather lengthy) post on parking in D.C. Fair warning: it’s pretty wonky with zoning rules, ordinances, etc. However, the numbers caught my eye: … An underground parking spot costs between $30,000 and $50,000 to build, and residents pay for it one way or another. … “Let’s say it’s…
-
The FAA wants to “take a fresh look” at rewriting the rules on electronic gadget usage on planes. How many flights equals “a fresh look?”
Artifact Check out this NYTimes article. Apparently there’s some encouraging news for those of us with e-devices, which is everyone: the F.A.A. is going to review the rules for takeoff and landing whilst using particular electronic devices. Surprisingly it appears as if airlines could start allowing electronic devices right away but would have to test…
-
“Equation Ratscrew”
I used to love “Egyptian Ratscrew” (also called “Egyptian Rat Slap” for the more easily offended I suppose). We used to play it all the time in my Physics/Calculus class. It combined the speed of “Speed” with the ferocity of “Spoons” without all the injuries. True, I’m guessing “Equation Ratscrew” won’t engender quite the excitement…
-
Can we make an even “edgier” brownie pan? What about the “perfect” brownie pan?
Artifact This, my friends, is part math, part food, part art, all deliciousness: It’s the all edge brownie pan, which I found from my new Favorite Website of All Time, Reasons to Go Broke. Here’s the description from the Amazon page (perfect 5-star rating): “For corner brownie fans and chewy edge lovers, it’s a dream…
-
Attention Math Teachers: Slate has graciously discovered your next project
Slate.com’s always entertaining “The Explainer” segment runs an always-even-more entertaining year-end segment on the Unanswered Questions of the Year in which readers are prompted to vote on the question to be answered (aside: say, that’s a pretty awesome activity for a classroom. Students in the middle of a Problem vote on the question the teacher…
-
The Energy of a Hurricane: crackpot attempts to mitigate hurricane damage
Here’s a beautiful photo of Hurricane Irene as it makes its way up the East Cost this weekend (tomorrow is Saturday, Sunday comes afterwards). There have been a few hair-brained schemes to mitigate the intensity of a hurricane throughout the years. I say “hair-brained” because it seems highly unlikely that either of these could potentially affect the…
-
How can we measure the egregiousness of gerrymandering? Geometry, Perimeter, and Area
Artifacts This NY Times article/interview conducted by FiveThirtyEight.com’s Nate Silver and David Wasserman, House editor of the Cook Political Report. Particularly this snippet: And/or this slideshow from Slate showing the most gerrymandered congressional districts in the nation. Here’s my favorite from Illinois: It’s worth noting that by federal law, congressional districts have to be “contiguous.” That means…
emergent math 