[This is a back-issue of one of this site’s newsletters]
Last week, I emailed you a way to solve a simple math puzzle – how do you find a rectangle whose area equals its perimeter?
I took the puzzle, mixed in a little bit of algebra, and voila! A puzzle solution factory popped out, letting you generate rectangles from pythagorean triplets.
Can you find a rectangle whose perimeter equals its area?
I’ll explain one way to solve this puzzle below.
Allergy warning: this product contains algebra. May contain traces of number theory.
I just saw this excellent online presentation about creative ways to teach math – it explains (briefly) what’s wrong with the current “linear” method of teaching math, and gives some tips on how to improve matters – even within the current system.
Check it out below :