Two or Three

There are 5 counters in a bag. Three are Argentinean (blue) and two are Brazilian (green). Three counters are randomly picked out of the bag, one by one. They are not returned to the bag.

 

 

What probability is higher?

A. The probability of choosing three Argentinean counters in a row.

B. The probability of choosing two Brazilian counters in a row and then one Argentinean counter.

Find the answer.

Counting Pets

Gerry has several pets at home.

All of them are dogs, except for three.

All of them are cats, except for four.

All of them are tortoises, except for five.

How many dogs does he have?

 

First Woman to Win the Abel Prize

Karen Uhlenbeck to win the most prestigious award in mathematics – the Abel Prize.

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has decided to award the Abel Prize for 2019 to Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck of the University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Her theories have revolutionized our understanding of minimal surfaces, such as those formed by soap bubbles.

Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) was a Norwegian mathematician. In spite of his short life, he made significant contributions to a variety of mathematical fields.

Mathematical Beauty

e^iπ + 1 = 0

Euler’s identity is often cited as an example of deep mathematical beauty.

Constance Reid: Euler’s identity is “the most famous formula in all mathematics”.

Euler’s Identity is a special case of his formula from complex analysis suggested by Swiss mathematician Euler in  1748.

The identity links five fundamental mathematical constants:

• The number 0
• The number 1
• The number π (π = 3.141 . . .)
• The number e (e = 2.718 . . .)
• The number i, the imaginary unit of the complex numbers.

Euler’s Identity “is absolutely paradoxical; we cannot understand it, and we don’t know what it means, but we have proved it, and therefore we know it must be the truth”. – Benjamin Peirce.

We Lack Numeracy Skills

Alan Smith reported amazing statistics of adult numeracy:

2011 England Survey: 49 of 100 adults lacked of numeracy Level 1 skills (fractions, percentage, and decimals).  The figure is only shocking for 51% of population.

OECD reported (PIAACX2012) that forty percent of USA young people aged 16-19 were below Level 2.

This is statistics. Statistics is a part of mathematics and it is about us as a group.

There are two categories of people who can and who cannot do numbers.

Are You in a category of people who are comfortable with numbers? Check / train yourself at the website A+Click

Mystic Number 7

Why we frequently use number 7?

Why there are seven days of week? seven deadly sins? seven wonders? . . . .

Look for the answer in the night sky or at aplusclick.org

Liar’s Math

Pinocchio lies

When Pinocchio lies, his nose gets twice as long. When he tells the truth, his nose gets 1 cm shorter.

Today, his nose was 1 cm long in the morning, and it is 100 cm long in the evening.

What is the least possible number of times he opened his mouth today?

True and Random

Two gods  are called True and Random. True always speaks truly and Random speaks randomly truly or falsely. You don’t know who is who.

Determine the identities of the gods by asking yes-no questions; each question must be put to exactly one god.

Adapted from G. Boolos. ‘The hardest logic puzzle ever’, The Harvard Review of Philosophy (6), 1996.

 

You find the answers to the questions in Grade 12 questions at www.aplusclick.com

Mathematical Intelligence

WHAT IS IT?

Mathematical reasoning is an essential part of literacy.

Literacy is “an individual’s ability to read, write and speak in English, and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society to achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge and potential.”  – American National Literacy Act of 1991

HOW TO GET IT?

Mary Matthews of Blitz Games Studio, UK says ” Exploration, experimentation, team building, problem-solving and independent, personalized, differentiated experiences [will tap into] the full potential games can offer for learning.”

SOURCE:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/suren-ramasubbu/using-technology-to-improve-mathematical-intelligence_b_6907886.html

Mathematical Problems of Love

Are there math problems of Love. Certainly, there are many of them. The theme is very important for teenagers.

• What are chances of being chosen?
• How long do gentlemen wait ladies?
• How many roses are needed?
• How much do I spend for a present?
• How Gerry must to play so that Jane always wins?
• How to share the family income?
• How to manage family projects?

There are many examples of such simple questions and answers at the page www.aplusclick.com/love.htm

Gerry Geek’s love story in form of math problems is passionately described in his book at Amazon.

Hannah Fry’s TED Talk on the subject:

The Great Pyramid Math

What is number of cubes in a the Great Pyramid, 100-cube high?

http://www.aplusclick.com

http://www.egyptorigins.org/numberofstones.htm