May 2012 - Page 6 of 7 - Math and Multimedia

Mathematics and Multimedia Miscellany 1

May 5, 2012 GB Announcements, Miscellaneous

This is the first edition of Math and Multimedia Miscellany (MMM). MMM will contain technology news, interesting math articles, miscellaneous announcements, and other stuff that I cannot include in regular posts.

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Erlina R. Ronda has currently created an e-library, a collection of readings for mathematics teachers and would be mathematics teachers. Her collection includes research readings on mathematics education and history of mathematics. Erlina is the author of the Mathematics for Teaching blog.

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Google has currently launched Google drive, but is selling Google Sketchup to Trimble. Yes, you heard it right — Google selling. Google Sketchup is a 3d modeling program created by @Last Software. It was acquired by Google on March 14, 2006.

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Despite the numerous applications of mathematics in real-life, I found an interesting news on how a physicist used mathematics to avoid traffic penalty. Now, that’s really real-life!

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I have been looking for a good bookmarking tool, and it seems that Pinterest suits my preferences. There is not much right now in my account, but it will be active soon. If you are interested to follow me on Pinterest, you can visit my boards at http://pinterest.com/jrbautista/.

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The Mathematics and Multimedia Carnival is home! I will be hosting the 23rd edition. Please submit your articles on or before May 18, 2012.

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Mathematics and Multimedia is currently looking for carnival hosts. If you are interested, email me at mathandmultimedia@gmail.com. June, July and August 2012 are available for hosting.

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That’s all for now. Happy weekend everyone!

One comment google selling sketchup, google sketchup trimble, math and multimedia carnival, mathematics education readings, pinterest

The Proof of the Tangent Half-Angle Formula

May 3, 2012 GB High School Mathematics, High School Trigonometry, Problem Solving and Proofs

In this post, we prove the following trigonometric identity:

$\displaystyle \tan \frac{\theta}{2} = \frac{\sin\theta}{1 + \cos \theta} = \frac{1 - \cos \theta}{\sin \theta}$ .

Proof

Consider a semi-circle with “center” $O$ and diameter $AB$ and radius equal to 1 unit as shown below. If we let $\angle BOC =\theta$ , then by the Inscribed Angle Theorem, $\angle CAB = \frac{\theta}{2}$ .

Draw $CD$ perpendicular to $OB$ as shown in the second figure. We can compute for the sine and cosine of $\theta$ which equal to the lengths of $CD$ and $OD$ , respectively. In effect, $BD = 1 - \cos \theta$ and $AD = 1 + \cos \theta$ . » Read more

2 comments half angle formula, half angle formula identity, half angle formula proof, inscribed angle theorem, proof without words, trigonometric identities, trigonometric identity

Guest Post: 10 Simple Ways to Teach Kids Math in the Kitchen

May 2, 2012 GB Elementary School Mathematics, Math Lite, Pedagogy and Teaching

Little learning opportunities for some extra education can be found everywhere for parents and children alike. If you’re trying to teach your preschooler some basic math functions, or helping your young mathematician sharpen her skills, you may need look no further than your own kitchen for a potential classroom.

Here are ten simple ways you can teach your kids math in the kitchen: » Read more

4 comments guest post, kids math, kitchen math, math in the kitchen, real life math

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