I have always been fascinated with menus, and one of my favorite pastimes is analyzing menus for price discrepancies.
For example, how many different prices can you spot Wendy’s charging here for the same Meal Combo upgrade?
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Challenge NYT
Math Quiz: NYT Learning Network
Through Math for America, I am part of an on-going collaboration with the New York Times Learning Network. My latest contribution, a Test Yourself quiz-question, can be found here:
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/test-yourself-math-feb-14-2011/
This problem is based on comparing the total national incomes of the United States and China. My solution offers a simple way to turn per capita income and population into meaningful percentages.
Appreciation
Mathematical Valentine
I wonder if this will be a popular query on WolframAlpha today:
Thanks to @mathematicsprof for the idea!
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Application Geometry
Antipode Map
I have definitely wasted some time playing around with this: a website that uses side-by-side Google Maps to show a locations’s antipodal point on Earth.
Apparently I was never in any danger of digging my way to China as a young boy. To do that, I would have had to start in Argentina.
Resources
2011 Top Careers and Math
This report from CareerCast ranks 200 jobs from best to worst:
http://www.careercast.com/jobs-rated/2011-ranking-200-jobs-best-worst
Jobs were analyzed based on five factors: Environment, Income, Outlook, Stress, and Physical Demands.
As is so often the case in these job-ranking surveys, math-based careers fared very well: coming in at #2 is Mathematician (whatever that means), #3 is Actuary (always near the top of these lists), and at #4 is Statistician (great if you like stats, I suppose).
I guess Roustabout is not as much fun as it sounds, as it placed 200th in the rankings. And I’ve met a lot of happy, successful Taxi Drivers (#192) in my life.
It’s not surprising to see Teacher in the #100 spot, with its high stress-to-income ratio. But Surgeon right behind at #101? According to the results, it’s about 3 times as stressful but about 7 times the pay.
Might be worthwhile to take a closer look at the methodology, which can be found here.