03-05-2012, 11:02 PM | #61 |
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I find the squares interesting - that the square of a number ending in 1 or 9 always ends in 1, 2 or 8 in 4, 3 or 7 in 9, 4 or 6 in 6, 0 in 0 and 5 in 5.
There are a lot of other cool properties, and, of course, squares are just special cases of multiplication in general. Maybe we should have a math(s)-specific forum. |
03-06-2012, 12:17 AM | #62 |
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Exactly. isn't it so much more interesting to note that rather than just learning by rote that 6*6 = 36?
And it's fun to note when squares and cubes pop up in the fibonnacci sequence etc...... but rote learning misses all of this
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03-06-2012, 12:28 AM | #63 |
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I once stumbled on this for a sequential series of squares:
Given: B(n) = A(n) squared, and C(n) = B(n) - B(n-1) Then: C(n) = C(n-1) + 2 For example, in rows 5 and 6 below... C = 25 - 16 = 09 C = 36 - 25 = 11 A__B__C 01 01 01 02 04 03 03 09 05 04 16 07 05 25 09 06 36 11 07 49 13 08 64 15 09 81 17 10 100 19 ... ... ... 35 1225 69 36 1296 71 37 1369 73 38 1444 75 39 1521 77 40 1600 79 41 1681 81 ... ... ... etc. |
03-06-2012, 12:34 AM | #64 |
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You people are corrupting my thread about English with Maths!???
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03-06-2012, 03:11 AM | #65 |
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I think you can count on it.
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03-06-2012, 07:12 AM | #66 |
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They're both languages with beauty. I think you'll find we're improving it
I'm a prime number fan, myself.
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The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart |
03-06-2012, 07:47 AM | #67 |
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But I spent grades 9-12 with my 3 closest friends who had gone through 8 years of catholic school. They had memorized their multiplication tables and grammar rules, but couldn't write a poem to save their lives. Nor could they grasp highly conceptual ideas. They learned how though - one was our valedictorian.
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03-06-2012, 08:58 AM | #68 |
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Since there is no math/s forum, we have to math in other forums.
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03-06-2012, 09:22 AM | #69 |
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Ali, will you accept a compromise ?
Mathematical Beauty: A limerick Doesn’t it just gladden your heart to see These games we can play with infinity? How can one stay aloof From the elegance of a proof And remain immune to mathematics’ subtle beauty? Punya Mishra, Jan 27, 2010 |
03-06-2012, 12:02 PM | #70 |
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03-06-2012, 12:27 PM | #71 |
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Penalty for posting maths in a non-math forum should be calculated by dividing the square root of the number of maths posts by the cube root of the number of non-math posts in that thread, then taking the base 10 log of the result and multiplying by the square root of -1.
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03-06-2012, 01:10 PM | #72 |
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42
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The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart |
03-06-2012, 01:20 PM | #73 |
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03-06-2012, 03:44 PM | #74 |
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The times tables have worked perfectly well for hundreds of years. They aren't broke and don't need fixing.
My friend's kids can't multiply or divide 3 digit numbers by paper and pencil, they have to pull out a calculator ... heck, they can't even figure a restaurant bill, tax, and tip without a calculator, not just because it's faster, but because the math is simply beyond them. And they're not dumb kids. But they didn't have to learn their times tables. They had to understand concepts. Which is even further down that road paved with good intentions than the New Math. Calculators are on the elementary school supply lists now, along with paper, pencils, a see through backpack to prevent school shootings, and a nice pencil case (clear also). I wasn't even allowed to touch a calculator until my Junior Year of high school, and then only for trigonometry.
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03-06-2012, 03:47 PM | #75 |
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Not here they're not. No calculators until 7th grade. All my kids can do long division. Thor's doing some right now, as it happens.
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