Math League Blog: October 2014

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Is zero a positive integer?

http://themathleague.com/index.php/component/content/article?id=82
Open the above link and read about zero. Research at least 3 other reputable sites and see if there are various opinions about whether or not zero is a positive integer. What answer came up most often? What do you think? Post your response.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Math Champ Math POW - due Fri., Oct. 31st

Post a response explaining how you solved the problem and justify why your problem-solving strategy is the best one to use. The winner of the "Math Champ" title will be the student who can explain his or her strategy with the greatest clarity and detail. (Although you may prepare your answer at home you will not post your answers until Friday, in class.)

David's Response

Well, Ivan would sell the greatest amount of chocolate bars. Ivan already has double the chocolate bars of Sonia, and 5 days isn’t much to make progress, she would only have $28 in total (12+(4 x 4)=28), while Ivan would have $32 ($24+(4 x 2)=$32).The difference would be four, 32-28=4
They would have the same same value of chocolate bars on the 7th day. For Ivan, it would be (24 + (2 x 6)=36) and for Sonia, it would be (12 + (4 x 6)= 36)
Sonia’s total would be 10 more than Ivan’s total on the 12th day. Sonia’s total would be (12 + (4 x 11)=56) while Ivan’s would be (24 + (2 x 11)= 46). 56 is 10 more than 46. An easier way to do that would be when they both were at 36, on the 7th day, then Sonia would be (36 + (5 x 4)=56) and Ivan would be (36 + (5 x 2)=46) since Sonia had double the production capability, and since there were 5 days and Sonia produced $4 dollars every day (in five days she would make 4 x 5=$20) and Ivan made $2 (in five days he would make 2 x 5=$10).

Day	Sonia’s Money made for that day	Ivan’s Money made for that day	Sonia’s Total	Ivan’s Total
1	$12	$24	$12	$24
2	$4	$2	$16	$26
3	$4	$2	$20	$28
4	$4	$2	$24	$30
5	$4	$2	$28	$32
6	$4	$2	$32	$34
7	$4	$2	$36	$36
8	$4	$2	$40	$38
9	$4	$2	$44	$40
10	$4	$2	$48	$42
11	$4	$2	$52	$44
12	$4	$2	$56	$46

My strategy:

My strategy was to make a table of what Ivan and Sonia made every day, and I listed all the days that needed for my calculations, and I also listed the amount of money that each person made each day, as well as their total with it. I calculated this doing it with multiplication, then checking it with the chart. I then used the information I had and confirmed it with 2 references, my list of days and the amount of money, as well as the multiplication. I could have used the multiplication, then the list as a reference, but I found that sometimes when you list things out, you can avoid some tiny calculations that you might not think out clearly when you don’t write it down.It was the best because it was efficient, didn't take much time but it was really detailed. I showed everything I did, and I showed the math clearly. That is why my strategy was the best. (It says to explain why yours is the "best", I wouldn't say mine was the "best" if I didn't need to)