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Reversing the direction of an inequality. |
1999-03-06 |
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Mallory White pose la question : If the Problem was -4a plus -5 is less than or equal to 14, why would you change the sign to greater than or equal to? Jack LeSage and Harley Weston lui répond. |
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Enlarging a Rink |
1999-03-06 |
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Jennifer Rudd pose la question : I've been having difficulty with this one question involving area. The level of the question is Grade 11/12. Here it is! A rink is 40 m long by 20 m wide. There are plans to enlarge it by 700m2 by adding a strip at one end and a strip of the same width along one side. Find the width of the strip. (Let the width of the strip by x meters.) Jack LeSage lui répond. |
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The square root of two is never supposed to end |
1999-03-06 |
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a wondering student pose la question : i am algebra II and am in the 9th grade. today we were talking about rational and irrational numbers. When we were talking about square roots my friend and i were talking and we thought of something. if you have a square with sides of length one then the diagonal of the square is the square root of 2. Now the square root of two is never supposed to end. But the diagonal of the square ends so therefore doesn't the square root of 2 end. our math teacher did not really answer our question because it was not in the lesson plan and not to many people would see where we were coming from. the answer is really bugging me and i would like to have your input. Jack LeSage and Penny Nom lui répond. |
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Quotients |
1999-02-25 |
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Brian Healey pose la question : what is a quotient? what is a divisor? what is a divident? Jack LeSage lui répond. |
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Converting mm's to inches |
1999-02-22 |
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Paul White pose la question : It has been a long time since high school and I do not remember how to convert mm to inches. Could you please tell me what this would convert to in inches? 210 X 254 mm. Chris Fisher lui répond. |
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Divisibility by 9 |
1999-02-21 |
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Razzi pose la question : I've been having a hard time trying to solve the following problem and I was wondering if you could help me. For any positive integer a let S(a) be the sum of its digits. Prove that a is divisible by 9 if and only if there exist a positive integer b such that S(a)=S(b)=S(a+b). Chris Fisher and Harley Weston lui répond. |
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Finding a rule for a sequence |
1999-02-17 |
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Lindsey Masters pose la question : I'm doing a maths investigation and i have a sequence which goes:- 13,16,25,32,45,56,73. Our teacher told us we have to find a rule by looking at the differences of the terms until we find a constant. The first differences are:- 3,9,7,13,11,17. The differences of these are:- ...... Please could you tell me how to work it out so that I could work out the rules of similar sequences. Penny Nom lui répond. |
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A palindrome |
1999-02-16 |
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panajoti pose la question : Find the smallest number that must be added to 70808 so that the digits would read the same backward or forward. Penny Nom lui répond. |
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Four Corners Maths Problem |
1999-02-16 |
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Helen Williams pose la question : I am currently a student teacher in the UK and I have to write a 1000 word report on the following maths problem which I am completely stuck on! PLease HELP!! Choose and 3 by 3 section of the hundred square. Add the total of the four corners. How many different groups of four numbers can you find that add up to that number? eg, Total of 4 corners add up to 48. Adding 2, 13, 22, 11 also make 48 etc.. How many different groups of 4 numbers would add up to 48? How would these results compare with thoses obtained from a 3 by 3 square in which the numbers are consective? eg, PLEASE HELP AS I AM COMPLETELY STUCK? WHY DO ALL THESE DIFFERENT WAYS ADD UP TO THE SAME NUMBER?? Harley Weston lui répond. |
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Circumference and Area |
1999-02-16 |
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Natalie pose la question : finding the circumference of a circle? formula finding the area of a parallelogram? formula
Penny Nom lui répond. |
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The Board Problem |
1999-02-15 |
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Avery pose la question : Mr. Avery has 3-foot boards and 4-foot boards. If he puts the 3-foot boards in a line, they have the same length as the 4-foot boards put in a line. Altogether he has between 16 and 25 boards. How many 3-foot boards does he have? Jack LeSage and Penny Nom lui répond. |
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Magic Squares |
1999-02-11 |
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Katie Powell pose la question : My name is Katie Powell. I'm in the 7th grade, taking Algebra. I live in Houston, Texas. My problem is this: "Use the numbers 1-9 to fill in the boxes so that you get the same sum when you add vertically, horizontally or diagonally." The boxes are formed like a tic-tac-toe -- with 9 boxes -- 3 rows and 3 columns. Can you help? Jack LeSage lui répond. |
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Dig digs in the garden |
1999-02-11 |
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Katherine Shaw pose la question : A circular garden has an a radius of 8m. Dig, the dog, is tied up to a fence that runs round the outside of the garden. Dig was able to dig up all the garden, apart from an area of 64 square metres, which he couldn't reach. How long was his lead? Chris Fisher and Harley Weston lui répond. |
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Satellite dishes |
1999-02-10 |
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Katherine Shaw pose la question : I have read your information on 'Why are satellite dishes parabolic", and I know the reciever should be placed at the focus of the parabola. Could you test this with lights beams and a parabolic mirror, or would light beams behave differently. Thanks. Jack LeSage and Harley Weston lui répond. |
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Non-Euclidean Geometry |
1999-02-10 |
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Robert Smith pose la question : Is non-euclidean geometry necessary for the college bound student? I have students that are inerested in teaching math one day. My school is restricted to Euclidean Geometry. Walter Whiteley and Jack LeSage lui répond. |
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