A Recap of Week 9 Maths

Week 9 Maths Recap

1. What were the main mathematical concepts or ideas that you learned about or that we discussed in class? 
We discussed circumferences of circles, scientific notation, speed, and distance. 
3. What new vocab words or terms were introduced? 
Diameter, circumference, Pi, radius, scientific notation - I didn't know/hadn't heard of these words beforehand, but now that I confidently know all of them I'm pretty proud of myself. 



In recent weeks, 10Sp has been learning about numerous areas (no pun intended) of mathematics with Mr. Werder, and I decided I'd share some with you. Not only did I learn a few things that I had no idea of, I extended my knowledge further on things I already knew at least a tiny aspect of. 

An example of a maths problem we did in our groups:

"Tennis balls come in a tube of three, typically. If you were to measure it out, what is bigger - the height of the tube or the diameter of the tube?" 

Out of everything we've done this was my favourite because we were provided with helpful examples, some questions to ask, and I feel as if my group (consisting of Josh, Jnaya, Natasha and myself) really worked together well to work out the problem, and were able to understand it thoroughly. 

Using terms we'd learned in previous weeks on Mathletics and group problems with Mr Werder, we were able to work out the diameter of the tennis ball. Natasha had the idea of tracing around the ball so we easily did that.
The diameter, if you didn't know is the space between one side to another. In this case, we discovered the tennis ball's circumference was 7 cm. When measuring the diameter it was vital that we measured from the widest part of the ball (the very centre) to ensure it was accurate. 

We determined the next step was to work out the height of the tube. This was very simple in my opinion. There were 3 7x7 balls in the tube, meaning we simply had to multiple 3 x (3 balls, 7cm in diameter) to find the height of the tube. 3x 7 is 21. The height of the tube is 21cm. 

To explain it a bit further, to work out the circumference, use this formula.

If you are unfamiliar with Pi, it is equal to 3.14, and the symbol looks like this: π. Derived from the Ancient Greek letter Pi. 
Now, time to answer the question. Which is bigger, the diameter of the tennis ball tube, or the height of the tennis ball tube? 

To answer this we had to find the circumference using the formula above. 

C= 3.14 x 7 = 21.98cm
(Circumference = 3.14 (Pi) multipled by 7 (7cm is the diameter of the tennis ball) = 21.98cm is the circumference of the tennis ball tube.)

From there we were able to determine that the circumference of the tube is bigger. This is because 3 x 7 (21) is smaller than 3.14 x 7 (21.98). Therefore the circumference would always be bigger than the height in instances where there is three balls/objects stacked like tennis balls in a tube, even if it was three enormous planets stacked up in a tube, the circumference of the tube would always be bigger because 3.14 is bigger than 3.

If you'd like to explore more of the maths work we did, here is a compilation of the problems we solved in our groups. Leave a comment if you worked one out, or leave some feedback if you'd like me to explain any of them further. 



Have a good day!