We have a question about an improper integral, where one is strongly tempted to take a shortcut that makes it convergent, though the proper definition does not. Why can’t we do this? We’ll see something of the freedom mathematicians have in the matter of definitions, as well as why the standard definition has to be …
Two-sided Improper Integrals: Can I Take Both Limits at Once? Read More »
Over the years, we have received several questions about problems that give an “assertion” and a “reason”, and ask you to decide whether each is true, and also whether the latter is “the correct explanation” (that is, a valid reason) that the former is true. These can involve subtle reasoning, and subtle errors. Since some …
Let’s look at three similar questions we’ve received about Least Common Multiples, Greatest Common Factors, and so on, starting with a recent question and going back in time. We’ll see a bad question, a good question, and an interesting challenge.
Last time, we looked a little more deeply than usual at an epsilon-delta proof of a simple function of one variable. Here, we have two questions about such proofs for a function of two variables, to illustrate how you can question aspects of such a proof and satisfy yourself that it is valid – or …
Some time ago we looked at the meaning of the definition of limits, and I included several links to additional discussions on the subject. Now I want to took at three of those, which fit together rather nicely. We’ll look deeply into the proof that the limit of \(x^2\), as x approaches 2, is 4, …
Having looked into our explanations of transformations and symmetry, over the last weeks, let’s turn to the recent questions that triggered this series. Here we have an adult studying the topic from a good book, but tripping over some issues in the book. We’ll be touching on some topics we haven’t yet looked at, such …
Having looked at geometrical transformations, we can now apply them to the idea of symmetry. We’ll focus on symmetry of figures in a plane.
Last time we looked at what it means to translate, rotate, and reflect figures on a plane. Here, we’ll look at some questions about what happens when these three transformations (and a fourth, the glide reflection) are combined.
Some recent questions have dealt with translation, rotation, and reflection of geometric shapes, so it may be time to look into what we have said about that in the past. Here we’ll look at the meaning of these terms, at levels suitable for both kids and adults, and next time we’ll see what happens when …
Slides, Turns, and Flips: Transformations in Geometry Read More »
We’ll work through a textbook exercise that encourages students to discover what it’s like to invent a new number system, as well as why some ideas work but others do not. The topic: What would happen if we changed the definition of the imaginary unit i so that its square is 1 rather than -1?