Who Wants to be a Mathematician Field Trip

Some things I learned on this field trip are:
1. a squared plus b squared will always equal c squared
2. There are an infinite amount of fractions between 0 and 1
3. In 2000, people made these math equations that are worth 1 000 000 if you solve one
4. P=NP? is actually a math equation
5. Pythagoras may not have actually created the Pythagorean Theorem
6. Pythagorean Theorem is always true on a plain
7. There are an infinite amount of Pythagorean Triples
8. Gauss astonished his teacher by adding all of the numbers from 1 to 100 very quickly
9. "Chos" or "Choss" or something that sounds like that is a math term
10. i and ! are also math terms


In the talk, I learned some things that are listed above. For the most part, I didn't understand exactly what he was saying like when he started the whole thing about the circle and m and all that stuff. I don't really think that it helped me to learn that much because what I did understand I already knew and what I didn't understand wasn't explained well enough. 


The Workshop could help me in future math learning because I learned that it is easier to work with different people because you have different ideas on how to answer the question. I also learned that hard questions could be solved through much thinking and guess and check.

Problem Set #3

In the diagram, the sum of the numbers in each quarter circle is the same. the value of x + y + z is
a. 75
b. 64
c. 54
d. 171
e. 300

So this question is asking what the three unknown numbers are.

To solve this question, you first need to know how much is in each quadrant. In quadrant a (12 o' clock to 3 o'clock), you have all the numbers. 13 + 17 + 45 is equal to 75. If all the quadrants are equal in value, we can find out what x, y, and z are.
In the second quadrant (3 o'clock to 6 o'clock), the numbers present are 19, 50, and x. In this quadrant,19 + 50 + x = 75. Now, using simple algebra, we can take the two numbers move them to the other side, and subtract them from 75, therefore resulting in x. 


19 + 50 + x = 75
75 - 50 - 19 = x
6 = x


In order to find y and z, we repeat this process with the other 2 remaining quadrants.


63 + 3 + y = 75
75 - 3 - 63 = y
9 = y


28 + 8 + z = 75
75 - 8 - 28 = z
39 = z


Now that we know the values of x, y, and z, we can add them together to get the answer to the equation which is 6 + 9 + 39 = 54. So now we know the answer is C.


I liked this equation because at first it looks difficult but if you try hard enough, it is actually really simple and straightforward. It was one of those questions you barely get but once you finish it its like, "YES!" I thought this question was kinda fun.


In the process of problem solving, I learned that it may seem hard at first but when you know what to do, it gets easier. I learned that math can be fun even though it doesn't sound like it.