A student asked me recently what it means when we multiply a negative by a negative. Specifically, she was asking: “Why is a negative times a negative a positive?” Negatives are strange, sometimes counterintuitive. If all you remember about negative numbers is a disconnected set of rules, those rules may have ended up in a bit of a knot. Students … Continue reading Negative Numbers
To square a complex number, square the length, and double the angle. A vector is a directed line segment, an arrow if you will. Think of a complex number, z = a + bi, as a vector from the origin (0,0) to the point (a,b). In polar form, z can be written in terms of r, the distance from the … Continue reading Square of a Complex Number
Space Needle, Seattle WA 12/23/2011 Sitting in a coffee shop in 1959, Edward E. Carlson was imagining and sketching a tower of the future to stand tall above the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle. After many iterations and the input of architect John Graham, the flying saucer-inspired shape we know (and, at least some of … Continue reading Angular Velocity
Footpath Math: Chalk it up to a math geek 