Thursday, January 29, 2009
Something to do on a Snowy Day
School's been postponed for the second day in a row. If you're totally bored by this point, I have a suggestion: find the manual for your calculator. You probably don't know everything that your calculator can do and the manual- well, it is a manual. A few minutes spent learning something new today may save you a lot of time tomorrow.
Monday, January 26, 2009
BRRRRRIIINNNG IT ON!
With all the cold weather we’ve been experiencing recently, I’m sure you’ve been wondering: “Mathman, can you make it any warmer?” Well, the answer is no and yes.
Due to the wonders of modern Math (and some science too) I can make the point at which water freezes feel like 273. 273 what? Rutabagas? Chickens? Steelers? Well, actually 273 Kelvin. How did we arrive at that number? What’s a Kelvin?
First, a Kelvin is a unit of measuring temperature. When you refer to an answer that is measured in Kelvin, you should say “Kelvin”, NOT “degrees Kelvin”. Saying “degrees Kelvin” is like saying “Me and Elvis seen Bigfoot at the mall”. It makes you look like you don’t know what you’re really talking about.
We’re not used to using Kelvin or even degrees Celsius when measuring temperature; we’re used to using degrees Farenheit, so it makes sense that we should start with what we know. We know that water freezes at 32 degrees Farenheit. Our formula sheet (especially for the 8th grade citizens of BJHS) tells us that: C=5/9 (F-32). The C is degrees Celsius, the F is degrees Farenheit, and the (F-32) is being multiplied by 5/9 or approximately .56. I know what you’re saying, Now wait a minute (or 60 seconds) Mathman, that gives me C=5/9 (32-32) which is C=5/9 *0 or C=0. That seems colder than the 32 we started with. Good point, but wait, there’s more.
But first an instant replay (maybe a bit easier to follow along):
C=5/9 * (F-32) when F=32
C=.56 * (32-32) ---(Note, we used .56 for 5/9 in this step)
C=.56 * 0
C=0
When it's 32 degrees Farenheit, it's 0 degrees Celsius.
After we get our answer of C=0, we need to convert the degrees Celsius to Kelvin. This is the bonus of visiting the super somewhat secret blog of Mathman. FREE FORMULA ALERT! To convert Celsius to Kelvin, use the formula K=C+273. For our example that gives us: K=0+273, which becomes K=273. Thus 273K is the temperature at which water freezes.
By using the formulas we have, you could find out that it is 255K when it is 0 degrees Farenheit, or 308K when it is 95 degrees Farenheit.
Cool, huh? Or wait, that seems pretty hot.
Due to the wonders of modern Math (and some science too) I can make the point at which water freezes feel like 273. 273 what? Rutabagas? Chickens? Steelers? Well, actually 273 Kelvin. How did we arrive at that number? What’s a Kelvin?
First, a Kelvin is a unit of measuring temperature. When you refer to an answer that is measured in Kelvin, you should say “Kelvin”, NOT “degrees Kelvin”. Saying “degrees Kelvin” is like saying “Me and Elvis seen Bigfoot at the mall”. It makes you look like you don’t know what you’re really talking about.
We’re not used to using Kelvin or even degrees Celsius when measuring temperature; we’re used to using degrees Farenheit, so it makes sense that we should start with what we know. We know that water freezes at 32 degrees Farenheit. Our formula sheet (especially for the 8th grade citizens of BJHS) tells us that: C=5/9 (F-32). The C is degrees Celsius, the F is degrees Farenheit, and the (F-32) is being multiplied by 5/9 or approximately .56. I know what you’re saying, Now wait a minute (or 60 seconds) Mathman, that gives me C=5/9 (32-32) which is C=5/9 *0 or C=0. That seems colder than the 32 we started with. Good point, but wait, there’s more.
But first an instant replay (maybe a bit easier to follow along):
C=5/9 * (F-32) when F=32
C=.56 * (32-32) ---(Note, we used .56 for 5/9 in this step)
C=.56 * 0
C=0
When it's 32 degrees Farenheit, it's 0 degrees Celsius.
After we get our answer of C=0, we need to convert the degrees Celsius to Kelvin. This is the bonus of visiting the super somewhat secret blog of Mathman. FREE FORMULA ALERT! To convert Celsius to Kelvin, use the formula K=C+273. For our example that gives us: K=0+273, which becomes K=273. Thus 273K is the temperature at which water freezes.
By using the formulas we have, you could find out that it is 255K when it is 0 degrees Farenheit, or 308K when it is 95 degrees Farenheit.
Cool, huh? Or wait, that seems pretty hot.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Mathmaticious
Mathman,
My teacher said that this song would help me learn some terminology for the PSSA.
This kid sure knows a lot of numbers past 3.14. Any chance you can tell me why there are sooooooooo many digits of pi?? Does it REALLY never end??
Purple Pi-man
My teacher said that this song would help me learn some terminology for the PSSA.
This kid sure knows a lot of numbers past 3.14. Any chance you can tell me why there are sooooooooo many digits of pi?? Does it REALLY never end??
Purple Pi-man
Answer for Quotient Man!
Hey Quotient Man,
I just got back from fighting faulty division algorithms, so this is a great time to respond to your post. I have closely viewed the video and you are CORRECT!!!!! Ma and Pa Kettle obviously did not pay attention in math class. Great video!!!! Kids....don't try this at home without an adult!!!
Divide Carefully,
Mathman
I just got back from fighting faulty division algorithms, so this is a great time to respond to your post. I have closely viewed the video and you are CORRECT!!!!! Ma and Pa Kettle obviously did not pay attention in math class. Great video!!!! Kids....don't try this at home without an adult!!!
Divide Carefully,
Mathman
Dividing with Ma and Pa Kettle
Hey Math Man,
I'm having trouble with division in my math classes. I came across this video. Let me know what you think!!!!! I don't think it's right, but I'm not sure! Can you help me?
Sincerely,
Quotient Man
I'm having trouble with division in my math classes. I came across this video. Let me know what you think!!!!! I don't think it's right, but I'm not sure! Can you help me?
Sincerely,
Quotient Man
Thursday, January 22, 2009
A Question for Mathman:
It was just a matter of time. I knew someone would have a question for Mathman. Here's the first:
Dear Mathman,
With the Superbowl rapidly approaching, I was wondering: Do you like the Steelers?
Sincerely,
Lisa
My response:
Dear Lisa,
I'm not quite sure what "Steelers" refers to. Most names refer to some quality or trait that a person or thing possesses like "Pittsburgh Penguins" refers to flightless birds living in a nearby city accustomed to our recent weather patterns, or "Butler Blue Sox" refers to a slightly misspelled article of clothing worn by Butlers. This being said, I'm not sure if "Steelers" is misspelled and was referring to "Stealers" which would imply "likely to steal". If this were the case, Mathman NEVER endorses doing anything illegal or unethical.
So Steelers? I'm not so sure. Now, the "Pi rates" - they are obviously all about circles and the irrational number we approximate as 3.14. You can read more about circles on your FORMULA SHEET. Come to think of it, since pi refers to circles- that may explain why the "Pittsburgh Pi rates" are lousy at baseball. The game is played on what most people refer to as a "diamond" even though the bases are arranged in a pattern forming a regular quadrilateral more commonly known as a square. We can at least hope they get better at math this year.
Thanks for asking,
Mathman
Dear Mathman,
With the Superbowl rapidly approaching, I was wondering: Do you like the Steelers?
Sincerely,
Lisa
My response:
Dear Lisa,
I'm not quite sure what "Steelers" refers to. Most names refer to some quality or trait that a person or thing possesses like "Pittsburgh Penguins" refers to flightless birds living in a nearby city accustomed to our recent weather patterns, or "Butler Blue Sox" refers to a slightly misspelled article of clothing worn by Butlers. This being said, I'm not sure if "Steelers" is misspelled and was referring to "Stealers" which would imply "likely to steal". If this were the case, Mathman NEVER endorses doing anything illegal or unethical.
So Steelers? I'm not so sure. Now, the "Pi rates" - they are obviously all about circles and the irrational number we approximate as 3.14. You can read more about circles on your FORMULA SHEET. Come to think of it, since pi refers to circles- that may explain why the "Pittsburgh Pi rates" are lousy at baseball. The game is played on what most people refer to as a "diamond" even though the bases are arranged in a pattern forming a regular quadrilateral more commonly known as a square. We can at least hope they get better at math this year.
Thanks for asking,
Mathman
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Welcome to the Mathcave
Greetings citizens of the Junior High!
Congratulations on finding the secret hiding spot of the BJHS Mathman. Stay tuned to this corner (or should I say, vertex) of the web for future updates on the adventures of Mathman. I can assure you that 30 second tv spots can't provide enough information on this exciting superhero.
One quick thought for the day: If you rearrange the letters of "PSSA", you get "PASS".
Congratulations on finding the secret hiding spot of the BJHS Mathman. Stay tuned to this corner (or should I say, vertex) of the web for future updates on the adventures of Mathman. I can assure you that 30 second tv spots can't provide enough information on this exciting superhero.
One quick thought for the day: If you rearrange the letters of "PSSA", you get "PASS".
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