OFF ON A TANGENT
A Fortnightly Electronic Newsletter from the Hope College Department of Mathematics
November 19, 2003 Vol. 2, No. 6

Hope wins MATH Challenge!

Daniela Banu
 Stefan Coltisor
 Heidi Libner

A big congratulations goes out to Daniela Banu, Stefan Coltisor, and Heidi Libner on finishing in first place in this year's Michigan Autumn Take-Home (MATH) Challenge.  This winning team had a  score of 85 out of 100.  They finished 10 points ahead of the runner up team from Calvin College and 12 points ahead of the third place team from Michigan Technological University.  This marks the first time a Hope team has won the competition outright.  In 1997 a team from Hope tied for first. 

A team from Hope (which also included Daniela Banu and Stefan Coltisor) won last spring's Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition.  Hope now owns titles in Michigan's two primary undergraduate mathematics competitions.

Hope College students made up six of the forty-six teams that participated in the MATH Challenge earlier this month.  Also participating were Keven Lin, Stephen Minnich, Rachel Lindner Emily Walsh, Megan Vivian, Andy Jarosz, Betsy Carlson, Tasuku Nishino, Giao Tran, James Boerkoel, and Brandon Alleman.  The advisor for mathematics competitions is Prof. Aaron Cinzori.


The problem of the fortnight   

The world-renowned veterinary surgeon Dr. Tom Drumstick wants to save three turkeys from a premature Thanksgiving Day demise by giving them each a relatively inexpensive but invasive surgery. However, the good doctor has only two pairs of surgical gloves, whose purpose is obviously not only to prevent the turkeys from becoming infected from bacteria on the doctor's hands but also to prevent the doctor from coming into contact with fowl diseases. Given that each operation requires the use of both of Dr. Drumstick's hands, is it possible for Dr. Drumstick to perform the three surgeries safely with only the two pairs of surgical gloves . . . or will only two of the turkeys be thankful this Thanksgiving?

Write your solution in whipped cream on the top of a pumpkin pie and drop it off at Dr. Pearson's office (VWF 212) sometime before 3:00 on Wednesday, November 26.


Problem solvers of the fortnight

Our fortnightly Fibonaccists are Mike Rininger and Nick Sumner, each of whom proved that if some integer divides one of the Fibonacci numbers, then it divides an infinite number of them. Mike's solution involved an interesting induction and came to us all the way from Budapest, where Mike is currently taking mathematics classes as a part of the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics program; Nick's solution involved the closed form of the Fibonacci sequence (see http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FibonacciNumber.html for details) and some other elegant mathematics. Both Mike and Nick receive the Blue Ribbon prize this fortnight for their fine work. (We'll figure out a way to get Mike's prize to him in Hungary!) Congratulations to both of them!


Surfing the Web

Since "Off on a Tangent" will be off on a tangent until January, we thought you might enjoy whiling away the hours over the holidays with some of the recreational mathematics found at Archimedes' Laboratory (http://www.archimedes-lab.org/atelier.html). As a follow-up to the previous problem of the fortnight, you can try your hand at the Torquato Puzzle, given to Leonardo Pisano (Fibonacci) by his Indian servant Chandlahuri, or stump Uncle Phil and keep your problem-solving skills sharp with one of the puzzles of the month, or construct the Jiminy Cricket puzzle yourself and see whether your cousin Sarah can make Jiminy jump. There are hours and hours of mathematical fun for the whole family with all the puzzles at this site!


I advise my students to listen carefully the moment they decide to take no more mathematics courses. They might be able to hear the sound of closing doors.   James Caballero