FR. Who Wants To Be A Mathematician?
Kyle and Chaim finally get back into the studio!
We first pose a quick question: If you drive fifty miles in fifty minutes, must there be some ten minute interval in which you drive exactly ten miles?
Of course there must — mustn’t there? Well prove it!
Our main feature this week is an interview with Michael Breen, from the American Mathematical Society, who came and hosted a game show “Who Wants To Be A Mathematician!” About a hundred high school students from all over northwest Arkansas came to cheer on their classmates; Kyle Strong of Har-Ber High in Springdale came in first, winning $1250, and Karan Batra, of Bentonville placed second with $250.
Our interview includes a few sample problems… I guess we shouldn’t list too many of them, in case Micheal wants to recycle them! Mike’s also responsible for the great series of Mathematical Moments posters— check them out!
PS: We opened with the Up To One Million Dollars In Prize Money May Be Given Away gag… Always fun!
The Math Factor in iTunes
RSS feed
Comments RSS
mathbun.com
pgc said,
May 1, 2009 at 7:55 am
Show Spoiler ▼
strauss said,
May 1, 2009 at 9:32 am
Stephen S writes:
Firstly, Hi, found your show and have listened to all the back podcasts now to catch up. Yes I have quite a long drive some days. I’m in Bath in the UK by the way.
Secondly, the quick car trip question is false, since I can do the whole trip at 60 miles an hour 50 miles, fiftt mins) and never do 50 at all. In fact I could do 49 miles in 1 min and take the last 1 at a very lesuirely pace to do the time and distance.
Actually, in the real world, I’d allow 35 mins to do 50 miles as this is Europe – assuming a clear road and sleeping cops. (Which around here is often…)
We note:
Glad we’ve made your drives go by quicker!
Let’s see, even if you drove 49 miles in one minute (at a steady rate of 49 miles per minute) and then covered the rest in 49 minutes at (at a steady rate of 1/49 miles per minute) there’d still be the ten minute interval from 0:48 through 10:48 in which you’d drive exactly 10 miles!
(That is, you’d drive 1/5 of a minute at 49 mpm, and 49/5 minutes at 1/49 mpm, for a grand total of 10 miles)
So this would still work out!
Thanks for writing, and thanks for listening!
Chaim