Off on a Tangent
A Fortnightly Electronic Newsletter from the Hope College Department of Mathematics
   January 31, 2008 Vol. 6, No. 8  
http://www.math.hope.edu/newsletter.html


Statistical Colloquium Today

Title:
 Poverty/Deprivation, Heart Disease, Geography and Time: Modeling the Relationship”
Speaker:
 Prof. Gerald Shoultz, GVSU
Time:
 Thursday, January 31 at 4:00 p.m.
Place:
 VWF 238

  Abstract:  Previous research indicates statistical relationships between area-wide measures of poverty/deprivation and deaths due to chronic diseases. Indices of poverty/socioeconomic deprivation for 1990 and the change in such measures from 1990 to 2000 are presented for 3,137 counties in the United States.  These indices are used in a model to determine if there is a relationship between poverty/deprivation and cardiovascular disease mortality for white males age 35 and older in 1999-2001.  The model includes a variable for geographic relationships between counties.  Issues related to how the indexes were derived are discussed, and appropriate maps are presented.
Careers for mathematics majors will be explored

Title:
Careers in Mathematics
Speakers:
Hope Alumni (and others)
Time:
Thursday, February 7 at 6:00 p.m.
Place:
Science Center 1116

Come hear Hope graduates (and others) discuss how they are using their mathematics degrees in a variety of occupations.  The panel will consist of:
Free Bowling + Free Pizza = Bowlizza!

Please join us at 11:00 am on Saturday, February 2, for the Math Department's annual bowling and pizza party.  We'll meet at Holland Bowling, located at the corner of 9th and Central, and after a couple games of bowling return to the VZN 247 for pizza.  Students and professors alike will engage in friendly competition for a variety of noteworthy feats (e.g. highest score, most strikes, largest standard deviation), with prizes for the winners.

Sign up sheets will be passed around in your classes.  There is also a sign up sheet on Professor Edwards' door (VWF 218).  You need to sign up for this event by today Thursday, January 31. 

(Editor's note: Dr. Cinzori is pictured at left bowling a pizza.)

Math Club T-shirts

An announcement from the newly formed Hope College Math Club:

Hello all math people! Ever get jealous of those Chemistry people walking around with their sweet T-shirts? Well here’s your chance to make your own sweet 2008 Math T-shirt for the brand new Math Club! Submit your design for the shirt to Professor Pearson’s office before our next stimulating math meeting on February 6th at 7 PM in VZN 274.  Please join us for the festivities!! There will be a problem of the fortnight solving party afterwards as well. See you then! Go mathletes!

The winner of the T-shirt design contest will receive a free T-shirt and a gift certificate.  The winning design, as well as directions for ordering your T-shirt, will be announced in the newsletter this spring.


Summer Research

It is time to start thinking about summer!  The mathematics department at Hope was awarded a 5-year REU grant from the NSF.  For those untrained in acronym-speak, the Hope math department has a grant from the National Science Foundation for Research Experiences with Undergraduates.  Faculty in the department will be mentoring students in mathematics research this summer.  Descriptions of research projects can be currently found at the online application site: http://sharp.hope.edu/.  If you are interested in applying for summer research at Hope, please talk to any of the math professors.  Hope students interested in doing math research should complete an application by Friday, February 1. 



The Problem of the Fortnight

Compute the integral
∫  (x6 + x3) (x3 + 2)1/3 dx

Write your solution (not just the answer!) on the back of a picture of your favorite mathematician and drop it by Dr. Pearson's office (VWF 212) by noon on Friday, February 8.  Be sure to write your name, the name(s) of your professor(s), and your math class(es) on your solution (e.g. N.T. Grand, Prof. Tex Nique, Math 132).  Solutions should show the technique(s) of integration used, and so solutions using a computer algebra system will not be accepted.  There are at least four different ways to solve this problem, three of which use nothing more than elementary integration techniques.  Good luck, and have fun!
Problem Solvers of the Fortnight

Our last POF was the following: Parallelogram ABCD has been "sliced" by diagonal AC and the segment BM, with M as the midpoint of CD.  The point E is the intersection of AC and BM.  If the entire parallelogram has an area of X square units, find the areas of the four pieces.  Justify your answer.

Congratulations to Andrea Eddy, James Daly, Joel Blok, Kylie Topliff, Dan DeHaan, David Herman, Aaron Silver, Kelsey Ensz, Jeff Minkus, Zachary Mitchell, Ashley Gruenberg, Joel Mulder, Lauren Steel, Eileen Sanderson, and Luke Wendt for correctly determining that the area of triangle MEC is X/12, the area of triangle AEB is X/3, the area of triangle BEC is X/6, and the area of quadrilateral AEMD is 5X/12.
Ask Elvis

Elvis,
I am a college student and very interested in mathematics. I have many problems and always try to solve math problems in a different way.  Here are my questions:
1.  What is the application of complex number?
2.  What is Riemannian Geometry?
3.  Tell me the easiest ways of forming an quadratic equation if roots are a, b?
3.  What will happen if it is written, 1/0=?
4.  What is group theory?
5.  What is the application of e based log(ln)?

Dear College Student,

I am a dog and very interested in mathematics, as well.  As you might now from journal articles about me, I, too, like to find the optimal solutions to problems.  I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.  First, complex numbers and functions of complex numbers have all sorts of applications to the 'real world.'  For example, complex numbers are ideal for describing phenomena in electricity and magnetism.  I'm not sure, but they might work well for animal magnetism as well. 

Second, Riemannian geometry deals with a wide variety of geometries where the metric (the function that describes how distances are measured) varies from point to point, and forms the basis for Einstein's Theory of General Relativity.  I'm not sure whether Einstein had a dog, but I loved the dog named 'Einstein' in the 'Back to the Future' movies! 

If you know the roots of a quadratic equation are a and b, then the equation must have been something like 0 = c (x - a)(x - b), where a, b, and c are constants.  One constant in my life is dog treats!  I sure do love them! 

In answer to your second question #3, I would advise you NEVER to write '1/0 = ?'  You might open a worm hole in time and be able to travel into the future, like they did in Back to the Future.  I've never had worms, thankfully, but I sure do like those movies. 

Really, any movie with a dog in it is a great movie, as far as I'm concerned.  Groups of dogs in movies are even better -- like Eight Below.  I'm not sure if group theory applies to groups of dogs -- I tend not to travel with the pack -- but it is an interesting area of mathematics that studies the structures of certain kinds of mathematical sets.  You should take a course in it someday; you'll like the many ways that group theory can provide neat solutions to problems. 

Finally, in answer to your last question, there are all sorts of applications for the natural log.  It shows up all the time in nature -- for instance, in natural growth and decay problems, like a colony of bacteria growing or a radioactive isotope decaying into other elements.  I've never been around any substantial amounts of radioactive elements, as far as I know, but I have had my fair share of run-ins with bacteria!  A couple weeks ago, I had a scratch on my face that got infected.  Boy did that itch!  Fortunately, the bacteria in that scratch did not continue to grow exponentially, or my eye might have swelled to the point where I couldn't read all the questions in your email.  That would not have been good!  Thanks for your email.  Best wishes with your studies of math!

Your Pal,
Elvis

Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.
~ Albert Einstein

Off on a Tangent