Paper Folding: Extracting the cube root of a number
In the previous post on paper folding, we have learned how to use paper folding to extract the square root of a number on the number line. In this post, we are going to learn how to extract the cube root a number by paper folding. The steps in constructing the fold is very similar to extracting the square root.
Paper Folding Instructions
- Get a rectangular piece of paper and fold it in the middle, horizontally and vertically, and let the creases (see green segments in the applet) represent the coordinate axes.
- Let M denote (0,1) and let R denote (-r,0).
- Make a single fold that places M on y = -1 and R on x=r.
- The x-intercept of the fold is
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The GeoGebra applet below visualizes the fold. Drag points P and Q to satisfy the conditions above. Note that you can also move point R. » Read more