Card Trick

Well, this is a "Fun Math" blog. Techincally this post is more on the "fun" side than the "math" side, but if you look at the comments section I do address that. For now, enjoy the trick!



Once you have made your selection click here to continue.

Spirograph Math

In order to create your own math SPIROGRAPH, click on the Mathematics Playground.

Tessellate

A tesselation is a tiling of the plane so that there are no gaps or overlaps - like a tiled countertop. M.C. Escher used tessellations in much of his work. Some were pure tessellations, like the first picture below, others used a tiling that changed into something else, like the second and third pictures below. The following images are his works (for more see the official M.C. Escher site).

Shodor has a great interactive website where you can make your own tessellations with the help of a Java Applet. I used it to make the tessellation at the top of this post. You can change colors and can choose to begin with a triangle, rectangle or hexagon and can alter these shapes using their sides or corners. I started with a hexagon. The computer helps you alter them in ways that will fit together. Have fun!

Gifted?

Looks can be deceiving! Robin's REAL gift is with mathematics rather than with presents.

Click here to see her in action.

Can you figure out how she does this?

If you are in my Math 20 class and doing this for extra credit, see below for directions:

This is the final extra credit project for spring 2009. Try the trick. It should work every time. If you try it, and it isn't working, then you are not following directions correctly, so try again until you are able to follow the directions correctly. Then try it a few times to get a feel for how it works. Try to figure out what is going on. One approach is to look for a pattern. Can you figure out what gift she will say even without doing the math? What is she doing to make it work each time? A deeper question, that you need to answer in order to get all 10 points, is "Why does this work?" This is due on Thursday, April 23 at the beginning of class. Turn it in to my desk as you come in. GOOD LUCK!

Mind Reader 2

Check out the Flash Mindreader Page and see if they really can read your mind!

(At the site, if you scroll down, you'll see they've provided a place for you to do your work so that you don't even have to do it in your head!! How's that for a deal?)

The image at left is a lithograph done in 1935 by artist M.C. Escher, much of whose work uses mathematical ideas.

Mind Reader 1

If you want this guy to read your mind click on http://www.digicc.com/fido/

See if you can stump him. You might want to use your calculator to that you can work quickly and accurately.