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x2 + 10 x + 4·25/4 = 39+25
(x+5)2 = 64
x + 5 = 8
x = 3
Example 2: The Bridges of Königsberg
The problem as such is a problem in recreational math.
Depending on the age of the pupils it can be presented just as
a problem or given as an example of a class of problems
leading to simple concepts of graph theory (and even
introduction to more complicated concepts for gifted
students).
The Bridges of Koenigsberg can also be a good
introduction to applications of mathematics, in this
case graph theory (and group theory) in chemistry:
Pólya – enumeration of isomers (molecules which differ only in the
way the atoms are connected); a benzene molecule consists of 12
atoms: 6 C atoms arranged as vertices of a hexagon, whose edges are
the bonds between the C atoms; the remaining atoms are either H or
Cl atoms, each of which is connected to precisely one of the carbon
atoms. If the vertices of the carbon ring are numbered 1,...,6, then a
benzine molecule may be viewed as a function from the set {1,...,6} to
the set {H, Cl}.
Clearly benzene isomers are invariant under
rotations of the carbon ring, and reflections of
the carbon ring through the axis connecting two
oppposite vertices, or two opposite edges, i.e.,
they are invariant under the group of symmetries
of the hexagon. This group is the dihedral group
Di(6). Therefore two functions from {1,..,6} to {H,
Cl} correspond to the same isomer if and only if
they are Di(6)-equivalent. Polya enumeration
theorem gives there are 13 benzene isomers.
Example 3: Homework problems (possible: group work)
Fibonacci numbers
and nature
Fibonacci’s biography
rabbits, bees, sunflowers,pinecones,...
reasons for seed-arrangement
(mathematical!)
connections to the Golden number,
regular polyhedra, tilings, quasicrystals
Flatland
Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. (1884) by
Edwin A. Abbott (1838-1926).
2(1+2+...+n)=n(n+1) 1+3+5+...+(2n-1)=n2
Connections with other sciences – Example: Chemistry
Polyhedra – Plato and Aristotle - Molecules
What is a football? A polyhedron made up of regular pentagons and
hexagons (made of leather, sewn together and then blouwn up tu a
ball shape). It is one of the Archimedean solids – the solids whose
sides are all regular polygons. There are 18 Archimedean solids, 5 of
which are the Platonic or regular ones (all sides are equal polygons).
There are 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons on the
football so the number of faces is F=32. If we count
the vertices, we’ll obtain the number V=60. And
there are E=90 edges. If we check the number V-
E+F we obtain
V-E+F=60-90+32=2.
This doesn’t seem interesting until connected to the
Euler polyhedron formula which states taht V-E+F=2
for all convex polyhedrons. This implies that if we
know two of the data V,E,F the third can be
calculated from the formula i.e. is uniquely
determined!
In 1985. the football, or officially: truncated icosahedron, came
to a new fame – and application: the chemists H.W.Kroto and
R.E.Smalley discovered a new way how pure carbon appeared. It
was the molecule C60 with 60 carbon atoms, each connected to 3
others. It is the third known appearance of carbon (the first two
beeing graphite and diamond). This molecule belongs to the class
of fullerenes which have molecules shaped like polyhedrons
bounded by regular pentagons and hexagons. They are named
after the architect Buckminster Fuller who is famous for his
domes of thesame shape. The C60 is the only possible fullerene
which has no adjoining pentagons (this has even a chemical
implication: it is the reason of the stability of the molecule!)
Anecdotes
enliven the class
show that math is not a dry subject and
mathematicians are normal human beeings with
emotions, but also some specific ways of thinking
can serve as a good introduction to a topic
Norbert Wiener was walking through a Campus when
he was stopped by a student who wanted to know an
answer to his mathematical question. After
explaining him the answer, Wiener asked: When you
stopped me, did I come from this or from the other
direction? The student told him and Wiener sadi:
Oh, that means I didn’t have my meal yet. So he
walked in the direction to the restaurant...
Georg Pólya told about his famous english colleague Hardy the follow-ing
story: Hardy believed in God, but also thought that God tries to make
his life as hard as possible. When he was once forced to travel from
Norway to England on a small shaky boat during a storm, he wrote a
postcard to a Norwegian colleague saying: “I have proven the Riemann
conjecture”. This was not true, of course, but Hardy reasoned this way:
If the boat sinks, everyone will believe he proved it and that the proof
sank with him. In this way he would become enourmosly famous. But
because he was positive that God wouldn’t allow him to reach this fame
and thus he concluded his boat will safely reach England!
In 1964 B.L. van der Waerden was visiting professor in Göttingen. When
the semester ended he invited his colleagues to a party. One of them,
Carl Ludwig Siegel, a number theorist, was not in the mood to come and,
to avoid lenghty explanations, wrote a short note to van der Waerden
kurz, saying he couldn’t come because he just died. Van der Waerden
replyed sending a telegram expressing his deep sympathy to Siegel
about this stroke of the fate...
It is reported that Hermann Amandus
Schwarz would start an oral examination
as follows:
Schwarz: “Tell me the general equation
of the fifth degree.”
Student: “ax5+bx4+cx3+dx2+ex+f=0”.
Schwarz: “Wrong!”
Student: “...where e is not the base of
natural logarithms.”
Schwarz: “Wrong!”
Student: ““...where e is not necessarily
the base of natural logarithms.”
Quotes from great mathematicians
ideas for discussions or simply for enlivening the class
mathematician, physicist,
astronomer, philosopher, interested
in archaeology and poetry
also from Dubrovnik, educated at
jesuit schools in Italy, later
professor in Rome, Pavia and Milano
from 1773 French citizneship, but
last years of his life spent in Italy
contacts with almost all
contemporary great scientists and
member of several academies of
science
founder of the astronmical opservatorium in Breri.
for a while was an ambassador of the Dubrovnik republic
great achievements in natural philosophy, teoretical
astronomy, mathematics, geophysics, hydrotechnics,
constructions of scientific instruments,...
first to describe how to claculate a planetary orbit from
three observations
main work: Philosophiae naturalis theoria (1758) contains
the theory of natural forces and explanation of the
structure of matter
works in combinatorial analysis, probability theory,
geometry, applied mathematics
mathematical textbook Elementa universae matheseos
(1754) contains complete theory of conics
can be partly considered a predecessor of Dedekinds
axiom of continuity of real numbers and Poncelets
infinitely distant points
Improving the public image
of math using history:
•everything that makes pupils more enthusiastic
about math is good for the public image of
mathematics because most people form their
opinion (not only) about math during their
primary and secondary schooling;