Interactive Astronomy using 3D Computer Graphics

This is a school project on using 3D Computer Graphics. It explores a phenomenon whereby a sundial can actually go backwards in the tropics!

Abstract:

Understanding spherical astronomy requires good spatial visualization. Unfortunately, it is very hard to make good three dimensional (3D) illustrations and many illustrations from standard textbooks are in fact incorrect. There are many programs that can be used to create illustrations, but in this report we have focused on TEX-friendly, free programs. We have compared MetaPost, PSTricks, Asymptote and Sketch by creating a series of illustrations related to the problem of why sundials sometimes go backwards in the tropics.

sphere

In it, the Hezekiah Phenomenon is being discussed.

Quote: First, we would like to explain where the name Hezekiah Phenomenon comes from. In the Bible there is a story about God making the shadow of the sundial move backward as a sign for King Hezekiah.

The Bible gives two versions of the story of King Hezekiah and the sundial. First in 2 Kings, Chapter 20.

8 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What [shall be] the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day? 9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? 10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. 11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz. (2 Kings 20: 8–11, King James Version)

Area of a Circle : Something I never learned at school

Interesting post on how to derive the formula for area of circle!

pointlesstexts's avatarpointless texts

I was taught how to find area of a circle when in school. The teacher wrote down the formulae on the blackboard and I accepted it as absolute truth.

Later in my life I used integral calculas to derive the formulae for the area of a circle, but I never found a way to explain it to a 11 year old, till recently.

At my son’s primary school , the maths teacher explained why the area of a circle is pr2 by cutting a pair of cardboard discs. Apparently it was first derived by Archimedes. I was amazed at the beauty and the simplicity of the proof . Why didn’t they teach it in our schools ?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So we need to show that the area of a circle = pr2 , where r = radius and p is the ratio of circumference and diameter of the circle.

Diameter d=2r Diameter d=2r

Now…

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The Mystery of the Infinite Hotel Paradox (Video)

This is a very interesting video on the Infinite Hotel Paradox from Youtube. One of the best videos on the mysterious Infinity that I have ever watched. Do check it out!

The Infinite Hotel, a thought experiment created by German mathematician David Hilbert, is a hotel with an infinite number of rooms. Easy to comprehend, right? Wrong. What if it’s completely booked but one person wants to check in? What about 40? Or an infinitely full bus of people? Jeff Dekofsky solves these heady lodging issues using Hilbert’s paradox.

Lesson by Jeff Dekofsky, animation by The Moving Company Animation Studio.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert’s_paradox_of_the_Grand_Hotel

Hilbert’s paradox of the Grand Hotel is a veridical paradox (a valid argument with a seemingly absurd conclusion, as opposed to a falsidical paradox, which is a seemingly valid demonstration of an actual contradiction) about infinite sets meant to illustrate certain counterintuitive properties of infinite sets. It was first described by George Gamow in his 1947 book One Two Three … Infinity and jokingly attributed to David Hilbert. (Wikipedia)

The Joy of x: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity


Many people take math in high school and promptly forget much of it. But math plays a part in all of our lives all of the time, whether we know it or not. In The Joy of x, Steven Strogatz expands on his hit New York Times series to explain the big ideas of math gently and clearly, with wit, insight, and brilliant illustrations.

Why Greek 3 Problems Restrict Using Only Unmarked Ruler and Compass

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

The 3 ancient Greek Problems are:
1. Trisect a Triangle
2. Square a circle
3. Doubling a Cube

Why restrict using only unmarked ruler ?
Answer: Using a Straight line: $latex boxed{ y = mx + c } $

Why a compass?
Answer: Using a Circle: $latex boxed{ x^2 + y^2 = r^2 }$

The 3 Greek Problems have been proven by 19th Century impossible to solve with only a straight line and a circle.

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LaTeX – Multiline equations, systems and matrices

This is how to type LaTeX equations on WordPress blogs!

Jakog's avatarMachine Intelligence ?

This is the 3rd post in the series. Previous ones:

Many of the examples shown here were adapted from the Wikipedia article Displaying a formula, which is actually about formulas in Math Markup.

You can present equations with several lines, using the array statement. Inside its declaration you must :

  • Define the number of columns
  • Define column alignment
  • Define column indentation
  • Indicate column separator with & symbol &

Example: {lcr} means: 3 columns with indentations respectively left, center and right

begin{array}{lcl} z & = & a f(x,y,z) & = & x + y + z end{array}

$latex begin{array}{lcl} z & = & a f(x,y,z) & = & x + y + z end{array} &fg=aa0000&s=1 $

begin{array}{rcr} z & = & a f(x,y,z) & = & x + y + z end{array}

$latex begin{array}{rcr} z & = &…

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Sum of roots and Product of roots of Quadratic Equation

Given a quadratic equation ax^2+bx+c=0 with roots \alpha and \beta, we have:

\displaystyle\boxed{\alpha+\beta=\frac{-b}{a}}

\displaystyle\boxed{\alpha\beta=\frac{c}{a}}

How do we prove this? It is actually due to the quadratic formula!

Recall that the quadratic formula gives the roots of the quadratic equation as: \displaystyle\boxed{x=\frac{-b\pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}}

Now, we can let

\displaystyle \alpha=\frac{-b+\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}

\displaystyle \beta=\frac{-b-\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}

Hence,

\displaystyle \alpha+\beta=\frac{-2b}{2a}=\frac{-b}{a}

\begin{array}{rcl}  \displaystyle    \alpha\beta&=&\frac{-b+\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}\times\frac{-b-\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}\\    &=&\frac{b^2-(b^2-4ac)}{4a^2}\\    &=&\frac{4ac}{4a^2}\\    &=&\frac{c}{a}\end{array}

In the above proof, we made use of the identity (A+B)(A-B)=A^2-B^2

The above formulas are also known as Vieta’s formulas (for quadratic). There we have it, this is how we prove the formula for the sum and product of roots!

Gauss Library Records

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

If we were to choose only 3 greatest scientists in the entire human history, who excelled in every field of science and mathematics, they are:
1) Archimedes
2) Issac Newton
3) Carl Friedrich Gauss

Let’s see how Gauss became a great scientist in his formative years in the university, it would give us a clue by knowing what kind of books did he read ?

Carl Friedrich Gauss was awarded a 3-year ‘overseas’ scholarship to study in Göttingen University (located in the neighboring state Hanover) by his own state sponsor the Duke of Brunswick.

Gauss chose Göttingen University because of its rich collection of books.
During the 3 years, he read very widely on average 8 books in a month.

Below was his student days’ library records:

1795-1796 (1st semister): total 35 books
Math (M) :1 ,
Astrology (A):2,
History/Philosophy (H): 1,
Literature/ Language (L): 15,
Science Journal (S): 16

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New “Nobel” Prizes

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Recent years, there are more newly created “Nobel” Prizes with much bigger prize amounts than the Nobel prize:

BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE IN LIFE SCIENCE (2013)
Donated by:
Yuri Milner (Russian Internet Billionaire)
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook Founder)
Sergey Brin (Google co-founder)
US$ 3 million
Award Frequency: Every year
Status: 9 scientists had been awarded


FUNDAMENTAL PHYSCIS PRIZE (2012)

Donated by Yuri Milner
US$ 3 million

TANG PRIZE 唐奨 (2013)
Donated by Samual Yin 尹衍梁 (Taiwan Property Tycoon) for Asian countries.
US$ 1.675 million
Frequency: Every 2 years

QUEEN ELIZABETH ENGINEERING PRIZE (2013)
US$ 1.5 million

NOBEL PRIZE (1901)
US$ 1.2 million

SHAW PRIZE 邵逸夫奨 (2004)
Donated by Run Run Shaw (Hong Kong Movie Producer Billionaire)
US$ 1 million

LASKER AWARD (1946)
US$ 250,000

BLAVATNIK YOUNG SCIENTIST AWARD (2013)
Donated by Len Blavatnik (Billionaire Investor)
US$ 250,000

FIELDS MEDAL (1936)
US$ 14,700

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Khan Academy

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

I find Khan Linear Algebra video excellent. The founder / teacher Sal Khan has the genius to explain this not-so-easy topic in modular videos steps by steps, from 2-dimensional vectors to 3-dimensional, working with you by hand to compute eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and show you what they mean in graphic views.

If you are taking Linear Algebra course in university, or revising it, just go through all the Khan’s short (5-20 mins) videos on Linear Algebra here:

In 138 lessons sequence:

http://theopenacademy.com/content/linear-algebra-khan-academy

or random revision:

http://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqXgtGPHph5ZLP-XMktk0Ggzte-xAxvI9

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Facebook & Ranking Elo Formula

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Eduardo Saverin (now a Singaporean billionaire investor) gave the wrong Elo formula to his Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerburg, both of them became ‘accidental’ billionaire. Watch the video clip in the movie “Social Network”:

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=BzZRr4KV59I

The Elo formula is based on the theory of Normal Distribution with Logarithm function, from base of exponential e to base of 10.
The correct Elo Formula should be :
$Latex boxed
{
E_a =frac{1}
{1+ frac{1}{400}.Huge 10^{(R_b – R_a)}
}
}$

$Latex boxed
{
E_b =frac{1}
{1+ frac{1}{400}.Huge 10^{(R_a – R_b)}
}
}$

Eduardo had missed the power ^ below:

20130616-024218.jpg

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Math Chants

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Math Chants make learning Math formulas or Math properties fun and easy for memory . Some of them we learned in secondary school stay in the brain for whole life, even after leaving schools for decades.

Math chant is particularly easy in Chinese language because of its single syllable sound with 4 musical tones (like do-rei-mi-fa) – which may explain why Chinese students are good in Math, as shown in the International Math Olympiad championships frequently won by China and Singapore school students.

1. A crude example is the quadratic formula which people may remember as a little chant:
ex equals minus bee plus or minus the square root of bee squared minus four ay see all over two ay.”

$latex boxed{
x = frac{-b pm sqrt{b^{2}-4ac}}
{2a}
}$

2. $latex mathbb{NZQRC}$
Nine Zulu Queens Rule China

3. $latex boxed {cos 3A = 4cos^{3}…

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Math Comic Book

Manga guide to Math series

The Manga Guide to Linear Algebra
The Manga Guide to Calculus
The Manga Guide to Statistics

Check out the following interesting comic books explaining Math (Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Statistics) in a fun and enjoyable way.

In The Manga Guide to Calculus, you’ll follow along with Noriko as she learns that calculus is more than just a class designed to weed out would-be science majors. You’ll see that calculus is a useful way to understand the patterns in physics, economics, and the world around us, with help from real-world examples like probability, supply and demand curves, the economics of pollution, and the density of Shochu (a Japanese liquor).

Mr. Seki teaches Noriko how to:

  • Use differentiation to understand a function’s rate of change
  • Apply the fundamental theorem of calculus, and grasp the relationship between a function’s derivative and its integral
  • Integrate and differentiate trigonometric and other complicated functions
  • Use multivariate calculus and partial differentiation to deal with tricky functions
  • Use Taylor Expansions to accurately imitate difficult functions with polynomials

Whether you’re struggling through a calculus course for the first time or you just need a painless refresher, you’ll find what you’re looking for in The Manga Guide to Calculus.

Follow along in The Manga Guide to Linear Algebra as Reiji takes Misa from the absolute basics of this tricky subject through mind-bending operations like performing linear transformations, calculating determinants, and finding eigenvectors and eigenvalues. With memorable examples like miniature golf games and karate tournaments, Reiji transforms abstract concepts into something concrete, understandable, and even fun.

As you follow Misa through her linear algebra crash course, you’ll learn about:

  • Basic vector and matrix operations such as addition, subtraction, and multiplication
  • Linear dependence, independence, and bases
  • Using Gaussian elimination to calculate inverse matrices
  • Subspaces, dimension, and linear span
  • Practical applications of linear algebra in fields like computer graphics, cryptography, and engineering

But Misa’s brother may get more than he bargained for as sparks start to fly between student and tutor. Will Reiji end up with the girl—or just a pummeling from her oversized brother? Real math, real romance, and real action come together like never before in The Manga Guide to Linear Algebra.

The Manga Guide to Statistics

This manga textbook is written for those interested in understanding principles of statistics. Each of the seven chapters is organized into four sections: a cartoon, a text explanation to supplement the cartoon, an exercise that includes the answer, and a summary. Readers can learn much about the subject by just reading the cartoon, but they will gain a more thorough understanding by working through the other three sections in each chapter. Yamamoto provides Rui with easy-to-understand examples and graphic illustrations, making the subject less intimidating.


What is “sin A”

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

What is “sin A” concretely ?

1. Draw a circle (diameter 1)
2. Connect any 3 points on the circle to form a triangle of angles A, B, C.
3. The length of sides opposite A, B, C are sin A, sin B, sin C, respectively.

Proof:
By Sine Rule:

$latex frac{a}{sin A} = frac{b}{sin B} =frac{c}{sin C} = 2R = 1$
where sides a,b,c opposite angles A, B, C respectively.
a = sin A
b = sin B
c = sin C

20130421-193110.jpg

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Vector Algebra

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Vector changes Geometry to Algebra

1. No complexity of Analytical Geometry
2. Remove the astute dotted (helping) line in Geometry
3. No need diagram: Use only 2 vector properties:
Head- to-Tail:
$latex vec{AC}=vec{AB}+vec {BC}$
Closed Loop:
$latex vec{DE}+vec{EF}+vec{FD}=0$
4. Enable Computer automated proof of Geometry via Algebra.

Example: 任意四边形 Quadrilateral ABCD with M,N midpoints of AB, CD, resp.
Prove: MN=1/2(BC+AD)
Proof: (by vector):

Consider MBCN:
MN=MB+ BC+ CN..(1)

Consider MADN:
MN=MA+ AD+ DN..(2)

(1) +(2):
2MN=(MB +MA) +
(BC +AD) +(CN +DN)

but (MB +MA) =0,
(CN +DN) =0 [same magnitude but different direction cancelled out ]

=> MN=1/2 (BC +AD)

Special cases:
1. A = B (=M)
=> triangle ACD
AN = 1/2 (AC +AD)
2. BC // AD
=> Trapezium ABCD
MN=1/2 (BC +AD)
=> MN // BC // AD

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Plato Solids

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Why only 5 Plato solids ?

Plato Solid is: Regular Polyhedron 正多面体

  • Each Face is n-sided polygon
  • Each Vertex is common to m-edges (m ≥ 3)

Only 5 solids possible:
Tetrahedron (n,m)=(3,3) 正四面体platonic_solids
Hexahedron (or Cube) (n,m)=(4,3) 正六面体
Octahedron  (n,m)=(3,4)正八面体
Dodecahedron  (n,m)=(5,3)正十二面体
Icosahedron  (n,m)=(3,5)正二十面体

Proof:
Since each Edge (E) is common to 2 Faces (F)
=> n Faces counts double the edges
nF = 2E …(1)

Since each Vertex has m Edges, each Edge has 2 end-points (Vertex).
=> m Vertex counts double the edges
mV = 2E …(2)

(1) : E= n/2 F
(2): V= 2/m. E = n/m. F
(1) & (2) into Euler Formula: V -E + F = 2
(n/m. F) – (n/2.F) + F = 2
F.(2m + 2n – mn) = 4m

Since F>0 , m>0
=> (2m + 2n – mn) >0
=> – (mn -2n -2m) >…
=> (mn -2n -2m) <…
=>…

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Indian Vedic Math

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Bharati Krishna Tirthaji @ early 19xx, a former Indian child prodigy graduating in Sanskrit, Philosophy, English, Math, History & Science at age 20.

16 sutras (aphorisms):
1. By one more than the one before
2. All from 9 and the last from 10
3. Vertically and cross-wise
4. Transpose and Apply
5. If the Samuccaya is the same it is Zero
6. If One is in Ratio the Other is Zero
7. By + and by –
8. By the Completion or Non-Completion
9. Differential Calculus
10. By the Deficiency
11. Specific and General
12. The Remainders by the Last Digit
13. The Ultimate and Twice the Penultimate
14. By One Less than the One Before
15. The Product of the Sum
16. All the Multipliers

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Vedic (Multiply)

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Vedic Math & 16 Sutras

[s2]: All from 9 and the last from 10
[s3a]: Vertically and
[s3b]: Cross-wise

Example: 872 x 997 = Y ?

Apply [s2]: (8-9) =-1 , (7-9)= -2 , last (2-10) = -8
872 -> [-128]

[s2]: (9-9) = & (9-9)= & last (7-10)=-3
997 -> [-003]

Arrange in 2 vertical columns as:
872 -> [-128]
997 -> [-003]

[s3a]: (Vertically):
[-128] x [-003] =384

[s3b]: (Cross-wise):
872 + [-003] = 869
=> Y = 869,384

Now, Quick Demo : Calculate 892,763 x 999,998 = Y

892,763 [-107,267]
999,998 [-2]
=> Y= 892,761,214,534

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Vedic (Factorize)

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Vedic Sutras:
[s1]: proportionally
[s2]: first by first and last by last

Example 1: E= 2x² + 7x +6

Split 7x = 3x+4x
First ratio of coefficient (2x²+3x) -> 2:3
Last ratio of coefficient (4x+6) -> 4:6=2:3
=> 1st factor = (2x+3)

2nd factor:
2x²/(2x) +6/(3)= (x+2)

=> E = (2x+3).(x+2)

Example 2: Factorize E(x, y, z) = x²+xy-2y²+2xz -5yz-3z²

1. Let z =…
E’= x²+xy-2y² = (x+2y)(x-y)

2. Let y=0
E’= x²+2xz-3z² = (x+3z)(x-z)

=> E(x, y, z) = (x+2y+3z)(x-y-z)

Example 3:  P(x, y, z) = 3x² + 7xy + 2y² +11xz + 7yz + 6z² + 14x + 8y + 14z + 8

1. Eliminate y=z=0, retain x:

P = 3x²+14x+8= (x+4)(3x+2)

2. Eliminate…

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Vedic (GCD Polynomials)

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

G.C.D Polynomials by Vedic Math

Find G.C.D of P(x) & Q(x):

P(x) = 4x³ +13x²+19x+4
Q(x) = 2x³+5x²+5x -4

Vedic method:
1. Eliminate 4x³ in P(x):
P – 2Q = 3x² +9x+12

/3 => P-2Q = (x²+3x+4)

2. Q+P = 6x³+18x²+24x

/(6x) => Q+P = (x²+3x+4)

3. G.C.D. = (x²+3x+4)

P= (x² +3x+4).(ax+b) = 4x³ +13x²+19x+4
=> a=4, b=1
Similarly,
Q= (x² +3x+4).(2x+1) = 2x³+5x²+5x -4

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Amateur vs Professional

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Amateur versus Professional

1. Amateur is at liberty to study only those things he likes.
2. Professional must also study what he doesn’t like.
3. Conclusion: Most famous theorems are found by Amateurs.

Examples:
Fermat = Judge (Number Theory, Probabilty),
Venn = Anglican Pastor (Venn Diagram),
Ramanujan = Railway clerk (Number Theory)
Cayley = Lawyer (Group),
Leibniz = Diplomat (Calculus, Binary 0 & 1)

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Arabic Problem

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

This is an old arabic problem:

An old man had 11 horses. When he died, his will stated the following distribution to his 3 sons:
1/2 gives to the eldest son,
1/4 for 2nd son,
1/6 for 3rd son.

Find: how many horses each son gets ?

There are 2 methods to solve: first using simple arithmetic trick without knowing the theory behind; the second method will explain the first method “from an advanced standpoint” – Number Theory (Felix Klein’s Vision )

1) Arithmetic trick:

11 is odd, not divisible by 2, 4 and 6.

Loan 1 horse to the old man:
11+1 = 12

1st son gets: 12/2 = 6 horses
2nd son gets:12/4 = 3 horses
3rd son gets: 12/6 = 2 horses

Total = 6+3+2=11 horses

Up to you if you want the old man to return the 1 loan horse 🙂

Strange! WHY ?

2)

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Differentiating under integral

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Prove: (Euler Gamma Γ Function)
$latex displaystyle n! = int_{0}^{infty}{x^{n}.e^{-x}dx}$

Proof:
∀ a>0
Integrate by parts:

$latex displaystyleint_{0}^{infty}{e^{-ax}dx}=-frac{1}{a}e^{-ax}Bigr|_{0}^{infty}=frac{1}{a}$

∀ a>0
$latex displaystyleint_{0}^{infty}{e^{-ax}dx}=frac{1}{a}$ …[1]

Feynman trick: differentiating under integral => d/da left side of [1]

$latex displaystylefrac{d}{da}displaystyleint_{0}^{infty}e^{-ax}dx= int_{0}^{infty}frac{d}{da}(e^{-ax})dx=int_{0}^{infty} -xe^{-ax}dx$

Differentiate the right side of [1]:
$latex displaystylefrac{d}{da}(frac{1}{a}) = -frac{1}{a^2}$
=>
$latex a^{-2}=int_{0}^{infty}xe^{-ax}dx$

Continue to differentiate with respect to ‘a’:
$latex -2a^{-3} =int_{0}^{infty}-x^{2}e^{-ax}dx$
$latex 2a^{-3} =int_{0}^{infty}x^{2}e^{-ax}dx$
$latex frac{d}{da} text{ both sides}$
$latex 2.3a^{-4} =int_{0}^{infty}x^{3}e^{-ax}dx$


$latex 2.3.4dots n.a^{-(n+1)} =int_{0}^{infty}x^{n}e^{-ax}dx$
Set a = 1
$latex boxed{n!=int_{0}^{infty}x^{n}e^{-x}dx}$ [QED]

Another Example using “Feynman Integration”:

$latex displaystyle text{Evaluate }int_{0}^{1}frac{x^{2}-1}{ln x} dx$

$latex displaystyle text{Let I(b)} = int_{0}^{1}frac{x^{b}-1}{ln x} dx$ ; for b > -1

$latex displaystyle text{I'(b)} = frac{d}{db}int_{0}^{1}frac{x^{b}-1}{ln x} dx = int_{0}^{1}frac{d}{db}(frac{x^{b}-1}{ln x}) dx$

$latex x^{b} = e^{ln x^{b}} = e^{b.ln x} $

$latex frac{d}{db}(x^{b}) = frac{d}{db}e^{b.ln x}=e^{b.ln x}.{ln x}= e^{ln x^{b}}.{ln x}=x^{b}.{ln x}$

$latex text{I'(b)}=int_{0}^{1} x^{b} dx=frac{x^{b+1}}{b+1}Bigr|_{0}^{1} = frac{1}{b+1}$
=>
$latex…

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Derivative Meaning

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

The derivative of a function can be thought of as:

(1) Infinitesimal: the ratio of the infinitesimal change in the value of a function to the infinitesimal change in a function.

(2) Symbolic: The derivative of
$Latex x^{n} = nx^{n-1} $
the derivative of sin(x) is cos(x),
the derivative of f°g is f’°g*g’,
etc.

(3) Logical:
$Latex boxed{text{f'(x) = d}} $
$Latex Updownarrow $
$latex forall varepsilon, exists delta, text{ such that }$
$latex boxed{
0 < |Delta x| < delta,
implies
Bigr|frac{f(x+Delta x)-f(x)}{Delta x} – d Bigr| < varepsilon
}$

(4) Geometric: the derivative is the slope of a line tangent to the graph of the function, if the graph has a tangent.

(5) Rate: the instantaneous speed of f(t), when t is time.

(6) Approximation: The derivative of a function is the best linear approximation to the function near a point.

(7)

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French Curve

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

The French method of drawing curves is very systematic:

“Pratique de l’etude d’une fonction”

Let f be the function represented by the curve C

Steps:

1. Simplify f(x). Determine the Domain of definition (D) of f;
2. Determine the sub-domain E of D, taking into account of the periodicity (eg. cos, sin, etc) and symmetry of f;
3. Study the Continuity of f;
4. Study the derivative of fand determine f'(x);
5. Find the limits of fwithin the boundary of the intervals in E;
6. Construct the Table of Variation;
7. Study the infinite branches;
8. Study the remarkable points: point of inflection, intersection points with the X and Y axes;
9. Draw the representative curve C.

Example:

$latex displaystyletext{f: } x mapsto frac{2x^{3}+27}{2x^2}$
Step 1: Determine the Domain of Definition D
D = R* = R –…

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Prime Secret: ζ(s)

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Riemann intuitively found the Zeta Function ζ(s), but couldn’t prove it. Computer ‘tested’ it correct up to billion numbers.

$latex zeta(s)=1+frac{1}{2^{s}}+frac{1}{3^{s}}+frac{1}{4^{s}}+dots$

Or equivalently (see note *)

$latex frac {1}{zeta(s)} =(1-frac{1}{2^{s}})(1-frac{1}{3^{s}})(1-frac{1}{5^{s}})(1-frac{1}{p^{s}})dots$

ζ(1) = Harmonic series (Pythagorean music notes) -> diverge to infinity
(See note #)

ζ(2) = Π²/6 [Euler]

ζ(3) = not Rational number.

1. The Riemann Hypothesis:
All non-trivial zeros of the zeta function have real part one-half.

ie ζ(s)= 0 where s= ½ + bi

Trivial zeroes are s= {- even Z}:
s(-2) = 0 =s(-4) =s(-6) =s(-8)…

You might ask why Re(s)=1/2 has to do with Prime number ?

There is another Prime Number Theorem (PNT) conjectured by Gauss and proved by Hadamard and Poussin:

π(Ν) ~ N / log N
ε = π(Ν) – N / log N
The error ε hides in the Riemann Zeta Function’s non-trivial zeroes, which all lie on the Critical…

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Golden Ratio Φ

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

A—————C———-B

$Latex frac {AB}{AC} = frac{AC}{CB}$
= 1.61803… = Φ
= $Latex frac {1+ sqrt{5}} {2}$

$Latex frac {6}{5} Phi^2$
= ∏ = 3.14159…

Donald Knuth (Great Computer Mathematician, Stanford University, LaTex inventor) noted the Bible uses a phrase like:
as my Father is to me, I am to you
=> F= Father = line AB
I (or me) = AC
U = You = CB
=> F/I = I/U = Φ
Note: Φ = 1.61803 = – 2 sin 666°

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Alexa Toolbar

The Alexa Toolbar for Internet Explorer

Site: http://www.alexa.com/toolbar

Alexa Toolbar

Features:

  • siteinfoAlexa Traffic Rank: See how popular a website is.
  • relatedRelated Links: Find sites that are similar to the site you are visiting.
  • waybackWayback: See how a site looked in the past.
  • hoturlsHot Pages & Searches: See what’s popular on the web right now.

Alexa Internet, Inc. is a California-based subsidiary company of Amazon.com which provides commercial web traffic data. Founded as an independent company in 1996, Alexa was acquired by Amazon in 1999. Its toolbar collects data on browsing behavior and transmits it to the Alexa website, where it is stored and analyzed, forming the basis for the company’s web traffic reporting. As of 2013, Alexa provides traffic data, global rankings and other information on 30 million websites,[3] and its website is visited by over 8.5 million people monthly. (Wikipedia)

Download the free Alexa Toolbar at: http://www.alexa.com/toolbar

Right brain training

Right brain training

This post is a review on Right brain training, and also a list of resources that one can research on regarding to the popular method of Right brain training.


(Source: https://theconversation.com/mondays-medical-myth-you-can-selectively-train-your-left-or-right-brain-4704)

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, getting your body in shape often tops the list. But what about your brain?

Top Seller on Amazon.com on Right brain training

If your left or right brain is feeling a little flabby, there’s a wide range of books, teaching programs, and even a Nintendo DS game, purporting to train your left and/or right brain. Indeed, if you Google “right brain training”, you’ll score 53,900,000 hits.

These products are based on the belief that the left and right hemispheres are polar opposites. The left brain is often characterised as your intelligent side: rational, logical and analytic. In contrast the right brain is stereotyped as the “touchy-feely” hemisphere, viewed as artistic, creative, and emotive.

 

Such left and right brain stereotypes have led theorists to suggest that people can be classified according to their “hemisphericity”. If you’re a logical, rational scientist, for instance, you’re left-brained. But creative types, from artists to writers, are right-brained.


Based on my teaching experience, I do find that left-handers (right-brained) students tend to be very creative and usually excel at arts and humanities. However, their math skills can be good too, especially with practice. This shows that the human brain is like a muscle, it gets better with practice and use.

Did you know our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is left-handed too? Barack Obama is also left-handed. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is very good at math, so this should dispel any myths that left-handed students are not good at math.

Barack Obama is left-handed

(Source: http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/a/left-brain-right-brain.htm)

Left Brain vs Right Brain

Understanding the Myth of Left Brain and Right Brain Dominance

The Right Brain

According to the left-brain, right-brain dominance theory, the right side of the brain is best at expressive and creative tasks. Some of the abilities that are popularly associated with the right side of the brain include:

  • Recognizing faces
  • Expressing emotions
  • Music
  • Reading emotions
  • Color
  • Images
  • Intuition
  • Creativity

The Left Brain

The left-side of the brain is considered to be adept at tasks that involve logic, language and analytical thinking. The left-brain is often described as being better at:

  • Language
  • Logic
  • Critical thinking
  • Numbers
  • Reasoning

Also, check out the above Youtube video to check if you are a right-brained or left-brained person!

The Right Brain vs Left Brain test … do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
“big picture” oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

Right Brain Training Test

Take the test to see if you are right-brained or left-brained!

Any comments or websites about Right brain training to share? Leave your comments below!


Right Brain Training Video

Watch this free brain training video and follow the instructions to increase your brain power. This is an online “game” that really works to improve brain function. You can actually feel it work!

Brain Training can increase your brain power just like weight training can increase your strength. Use this exercise to work out your brain. Bookmark this video and come back and practice with variations on the basics as discussed in the video.


Right Brain Training Books


A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future

Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World: Unlocking the Potential of Your ADD Child

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook: The Definitive, Updated 2nd Edition

What is i^i

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

$Latex i^{i } = 0.207879576…$
$latex i = sqrt{-1}$

If a is algebraic and b is algebraic but irrational then $latex a^b $ is transcendental. (Gelfond-Schneider Theorem)

Since i is algebraic but irrational, the theorem applies.

1. We know
$latex e^{ix}= cos x + i sin x$

Let $latex x = pi/2 $

2. $latex e^{i pi/2} = cos pi/2 + i sin pi/2 $

$latex cos pi/2 = cos 90^circ = 0 $

$latex sin 90^circ = 1 $
$latex i sin 90^circ = (i)*(1) = i $

3. Therefore
$latex e^{ipi/2} = i$
4. Take the ith power of both sides, the right side being $latex i^i $ and the left side =
$latex (e^{ipi/2})^{i}= e^{-pi/2} $
5. Therefore
$latex i^{i} = e^{-pi/2} = .207879576…$

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What is i^i ?

What is i to the power of i?

When you first learnt that \boxed{i=\sqrt{-1}}, you have entered the mysterious world of complex numbers.

A mystifying question would be to ask, what is i to the power of i? Is it a complex number?

The surprising answer is that i^i is a real number! Let us explain it here:

The key step is to use Euler’s formula: \boxed{e^{i\pi}=-1}. This has been voted as the most beautiful equation in mathematics by many people.

Then, i=\sqrt{-1}=(-1)^{1/2}={(e^{i\pi})}^{1/2}=e^{i\pi /2}

Hence, i^i=e^{i^2\pi /2}=e^{-\pi /2}\approx 0.208

It is really amazing that an imaginary number to the power of an imaginary number gives a real number, isn’t it? Leave your comments below!

Mandelbrot Set

O Level Exam Dates

O Level Exam Dates / Exam Schedule

The schedule for O Level Exam Dates is out: http://www.seab.gov.sg/examTimeTable/2014GCEOExamTimetable.pdf

The dates for Maths exams are:

E Maths Paper 1:
21/10/2014 (Tuesday)
14:30-16:30

E Maths Paper 2:
27/10/2014 (Monday)
08:00-10:30

A Maths Paper 1:
28/10/2014 (Tuesday)
08:00-10:00

A Maths Paper 2:
29/10/2014 (Wednesday)
08:00-10:30

The schedule for the first few weeks seems to be quite tight, for instance on 28/10/2014 students would have to handle A Maths Paper 1, and Chemistry Paper 2. (A Maths Paper 1 would be quite exhausting for students on its own)

After the major papers are over, students will have plenty of time to study for their Science Paper 1 (MCQ), with Biology Paper 1 being one of the last papers on 13/11/2014.

Mystery numbers : 370 & 153

tomcircle's avatarMath Online Tom Circle

Just can’t imagine how strange a plane MH370 could just disappear in the air, no explosion, no terrorists (?) although 2 Iranian passengers with stolen passports from an Italian and an Austrain.

Malaysian Flight: MH 370

Departure : Passengers, among them the majority are 153 Chinese, boarded on 3.7 (March 7) around 11 PM at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, disappeared 1 hour later in the air.

http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-timeline-of-flight-mh370-1.507516

Just notice 370 is a strange number:

$latex boxed { (3)^{3} + (7)^{3}+ (0)^{3} = 370}$

A lot of mystery numbers have such behaviors when decompose the digit, then each powered by 3, sum them up, you get back the mystery number itself.

Bible Math: 153 St. Peter Fish
[John 21:3-11]
3  So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
6 He said, ”Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When…

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Bayesian Probability Could Help Search MH370 Missing Plane

Math equation could help find missing MH370 plane

Math equation could help find missing Malaysian plane

Source: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/12/mathematical-equationcouldhelpfindmissingmalaysianplane.html

Bayes’ Theorem helped researchers locate Air France Flight 447’s black box in 2011

(Video: How Bayesian Search found the USS Scorpion)

Days after a Malaysian airliner with 239 people aboard went missing en route to Beijing, searchers are still struggling to find any confirmed sign of the plane. Authorities have acknowledged that they didn’t even know what direction it was heading when it disappeared.

As frustrations mount over the failures of the latest technology in the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, some scientists say an 18th-century mathematical equation – used in a previous search for an Air France jetliner’s black box recorder – could help pinpoint the location of the Malaysian plane.

Indonesian Air Force officers examine a map of the Malacca Strait during a briefing following a search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, at Suwondo air base in North Sumatra, Indonesia, on Wednesday.

In 2009, Air France Flight 447 en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro vanished over the Atlantic Ocean, triggering the most expensive and exhaustive search effort ever conducted for a plane. After two years, officials could only narrow the location of the plane’s black box down to an area the size of Switzerland.

But Flight 447’s black box was found in just five days after authorities contacted scientific consultants who applied a centuries-old equation called Bayes’ Theorem.

Read more at: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/12/mathematical-equationcouldhelpfindmissingmalaysianplane.html

What is Bayes’ Theorem

Mathematically, Bayes’ theorem gives the relationship between the probabilities of A and B, P(A) and P(B), and the conditional probabilities of A given B and B given A, P(A|B) and P(B|A). In its most common form, it is: (Wikipedia)

\displaystyle\boxed{P(A|B)=\frac{P(B|A)P(A)}{P(B)}}

(Check out this post on probability formulas to learn more about Probability)

Proof of Bayes’ theorem (Theorem useful for finding MH370 plane)

The proof of Bayes’ theorem is actually relatively simple, the only requirement is to know the formula for conditional probability (Learnt in H1/H2 Maths): \displaystyle \boxed{P(A|B)=\frac{P(A\cap B)}{P(B)}}

From this, we have \displaystyle \boxed{P(A\cap B)=P(A|B)P(B)}

Similarly, \displaystyle \boxed{P(B\cap A)=P(B|A)P(A)}

But since \displaystyle P(A\cap B)=P(B\cap A), we have P(A|B)P(B)=P(B|A)P(A). Dividing throughout by P(B) gives Bayes’ Formula: \displaystyle\boxed{P(A|B)=\frac{P(B|A)P(A)}{P(B)}}

Sincerely wishing that the MH370 plane will be found soon, and hopefully the passengers are still alive.

Also see: Bayesian search theory (Bayesian search theory is the application of Bayesian statistics to the search for lost objects. It has been used several times to find lost sea vessels, for example the USS Scorpion. It also played a key role in the recovery of the flight recorders in the Air France Flight 447 disaster of 2009.)