Resources

Pendulum Waves

This week’s entry in the “Wow, the Internet is Awesome!” file:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVkdfJ9PkRQ

These pendula of staggered lengths are set swinging, and the result is fascinating. At first, the weights seem to trace out sine waves, but they quickly start to cycle through a wide range of behaviors.

At times the pendula appear highly organized, and at times almost chaotic, as they cycle through various patterns. Amazingly, the weights eventually return to their initial state!

A really beautiful mathematical demonstration.

By patrick honner, 12 years4 years ago

Application Resources

Applications of Mathematics

This is an amazing resource from the British Columbia Institute of Technology: a cross-referenced list of how various mathematical ideas are used in various technology fields.

http://commons.bcit.ca/math/examples/

Interested in how Linear Algebra can be applied to Nuclear Medicine? Or how Logs and Exponentials can be applied to Forestry and Wildlife? Or how Differential Equations can be applied to Mechanical Engineering?

Well, look no further!

By patrick honner, 13 years4 years ago

Geometry Resources

Mobius Transformation Video

Not only is this visualization of generalized Mobius transformations mesmerizing and beautiful, it is the clearest demonstration of inversion that I have ever seen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX3VmDgiFnY

This short movie visually explains all the basic transformations of the plane: translation, rotation, dilation, and inversion. Then it demonstrates how all of these transformations of the plane can really be thought of as simple translations and rotations of the sphere!

If I had seen this video a few decades ago, I might not have given up on topology as quickly as I did.

By patrick honner, 13 years4 years ago

Resources Teaching

Vector Field Graphing Utility

This is a great tool for plotting vector fields:

http://dlippman.imathas.com/g1/fullgrapher2d.html

You can also plot functions of all kinds: implicit, explicit, polar, parametric, etc. In addition, you can plot several different graphs simultaneously (say, a vector field and a set of flow lines), and you can modify each graph individually.

I found this very helpful is constructing a recent test!

By patrick honner, 13 years8 years ago

Resources, mathematical and educational

Appreciation Resources