What math level is required?
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From: mike3 on 15 Jan 2010 01:23 Hi. I saw this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6589301.stm What sort of math level would that require (to be able to do problems like the one on that Chinese test)?
From: Peter Webb on 15 Jan 2010 01:43 "mike3" <mike4ty4(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:d4f6fc15-c015-4833-b108-06d60390b18d(a)l30g2000yqb.googlegroups.com... > Hi. > > I saw this: > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6589301.stm > > What sort of math level would that require (to be able to do problems > like the one on that Chinese test)? Well, I haven't tried to solve it, but not much I suspect. Its probably no different to any other proof in Euclidean geometry, construct a few parallel lines, drop some perpendiculars, identify similar triangles, that sort of thing. Most 15 year olds would know how to do these proofs in principle, even if they can't work them out for themselves. Alternatively (and equivalently) you could restate the problem in the language of cartesian co-ordinates and vectors, and solve it algebraically rather than geometrically. This still only requires high school maths.
From: Ask me about System Design on 15 Jan 2010 02:04 On Jan 14, 10:23 pm, mike3 <mike4...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Hi. > > I saw this: > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6589301.stm > > What sort of math level would that require (to be able to do problems > like the one on that Chinese test)? Basic geometry suffices, although knowing algebra and trigonometry helps. Although the diagram looks complicated and asymmetric, the information given shows enough symmetry that one can solve it almost entirely in one's head. As an example, try showing the following without writing anything down: length BC = length DC = length B1C1, length AC=4, AE=1, and many of the angles. Hint: measure CEC1 comes out to a nice number of degrees. It may look intimidating to the casual observer, but to anyone who has looked at many such problems (e.g. done enough analytic geometry homework), it really poses no problem. However, I would expect a student who was earning B or lower grades in such classes to struggle with it. Gerhard "Ask Me About System Design" Paseman, 2010.01.14
From: Ostap S. B. M. Bender Jr. on 15 Jan 2010 02:06 On Jan 14, 10:23 pm, mike3 <mike4...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Hi. > > I saw this: > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6589301.stm > > What sort of math level would that require (to be able to do problems > like the one on that Chinese test)? > That would require a much better translation level, because the phrase "the foot of perpendicular is E" is highly ambiguous.
From: Ostap S. B. M. Bender Jr. on 15 Jan 2010 02:08
On Jan 14, 10:43 pm, "Peter Webb" <webbfam...(a)DIESPAMDIEoptusnet.com.au> wrote: > "mike3" <mike4...(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message > > news:d4f6fc15-c015-4833-b108-06d60390b18d(a)l30g2000yqb.googlegroups.com... > > > Hi. > > > I saw this: > > >http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6589301.stm > > > What sort of math level would that require (to be able to do problems > > like the one on that Chinese test)? > > Well, I haven't tried to solve it, but not much I suspect. > > Alternatively (and equivalently) you could restate the problem in the > language of cartesian co-ordinates and vectors, and solve it algebraically > rather than geometrically. This still only requires high school maths. > You can do THAT in the 5 minutes or so allocated to this problem on the exam?! You must be a walking supercomputer. |