Modelling tides: What is the effect of a full moon? Let’s have a look at the effect of the moon on the tides in Phuket. The Phuket tide table above shows the height of the tide (meters) on given days in March, with the hours along the top. So if we choose March 1st (full […]
Circular Motion: Modelling a ferris wheel This is a nice simple example of how the Tracker software can be used to demonstrate the circular motion of a Ferris wheel. This is sometimes asked in IB maths exams – so it’s nice to get a visual representation of what is happening. First I took a video […]
The Folium of Descartes The folium of Descartes is a famous curve named after the French philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes (pictured top right). As well as significant contributions to philosophy (“I think therefore I am”) he was also the father of modern geometry through the development of the x,y coordinate system of plotting algebraic […]
Project Euler: Coding to Solve Maths Problems Project Euler, named after one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, has been designed to bring together the twin disciplines of mathematics and coding. Computers are now become ever more integral in the field of mathematics – and now creative coding can be a method of solving […]
Spotting Asset Bubbles Asset bubbles are formed when a service, product or company becomes massively over-valued only to crash, taking with it most of its investors’ money. There are many examples of asset bubbles in history – the Dutch tulip bulb mania and the South Sea bubble are two of the most famous historical examples. […]
Measuring the Distance to the Stars This is a very nice example of some very simple mathematics achieving something which for centuries appeared impossible – measuring the distance to the stars. Before we start we need a few definitions: 1 Astronomical Unit (AU) is the average distance from the Sun to the Earth. This is […]
