If your solution to stated problem does not match the given solution, you should self-critique per instructions at
http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/geninfo/labrynth_created_fall_05/levl1_22/levl2_81/file3_259.htm
.
Your solution, attempt at solution. If you are unable to attempt a solution, give a phrase-by-phrase interpretation of the problem along with a statement of what you do or do not understand about it. This response should be given, based on the work you did in completing the assignment, before you look at the given solution.
011.
Question: `q001. Note that this assignment has 13 questions
How many squares one foot on a side would it take to construct a square two feet on a side?
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
A common response is that it takes 2 one-ft. squares to make a 2-foot square. However, below thought shows that this isn't the case. If we put 2 one foot squares side by side we get a one-foot by two-foot rectangle, not a square. If we put a second such rectangle together with the first, so that we have 2 rows with 2 squares in a row, then we have a two-foot square.
Thus we see that it takes 4 squares one foot on a side to make a square 2 ft. on a side.
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
Question: `q002. How many cubes one foot on a side would it take to construct a cube two feet on a side?
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
We could begin by constructing two rows with two cubes in a row, which would sit on a square two feet by two feet. However this would not give is a cube two feet on a side, because at this point the figure we have constructed is only one foot high.
So we have to add a second layer, consisting of two more rows with two cubes a row.
Thus we have 2 layers, each containing 2 rows with 2 cubes in a row. Each layer has 4 cubes, so our two layers contain 8 cubes.
STUDENT QUESTION
The question asks how many one foot
cubes to make a cube that is 2 feet on a side. It doesn’t say which side. So I
don’t
understand why the length of the cube can’t be 2 foot and the height only 1
foot. Was it supposed to be 2 foot on ALL
sides?
INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE
Just as all sides of a square are the same, by definition of a square, all the sides of a cube are the same, by the definition of a cube.
(Note on a technicality: technically we should call the sides of a cube 'edges'; however for present purposes the word 'side' is more familiar to most students and is used here.)
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
Question: `q003. How many squares one foot on a side would it take to construct a square three feet on a side?
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
We would require three rows, each with 3 squares, for a total of 9 squares.
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
Question: `q004. How many cubes one foot on a side would take to construct a cube three feet on a side?
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
This would require three layers to make a cube three feet high. Each layer would have to contain 3 rows each with three cubes. Each layer would contain 9 cubes, so the three-layer construction would contain 27 cubes.
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
Question: `q005. Suppose one of the Egyptian pyramids had been constructed of cubical stones. Suppose also that this pyramid had a weight of 100 million tons. If a larger pyramid was built as an exact replica, using cubical stones made of the same material but having twice the dimensions of those used in the original pyramid, then what would be the weight of the larger pyramid?
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
Each stone of the larger pyramid has double the dimensions of each stone of the smaller pyramid. Since it takes 8 smaller cubes to construct a cube with twice the dimensions, each stone of the larger pyramid is equivalent to eight stones of the smaller. Thus the larger pyramid has 8 times the weight of the smaller. Its weight is therefore 8 * 100 million tons = 800 million tons.
STUDENT QUESTION
I totally missed the mark on this one. Where did the 8 cubes come from (how is that calculated?)? I think that’s what is throwing me off.
INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE
If each pyramid is divided into the same
number of cubes, in a geometrically similar manner, then the cubes of the second
pyramid will have double the dimensions of the cubes making up the first.
If you double the dimensions of a cube, the larger cube could be built from 2 *
2 * 2 = 8 of the smaller, as you saw on a previous question.
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
Question: `q006. Suppose that we wished to paint the outsides of the two pyramids described in the preceding problem. How many times as much paint would it take to paint the larger pyramid?
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
The outside of each pyramid consists of square faces of uniform cubes. Since the cubes of the second pyramid have twice the dimension of the first, their square faces have 4 times the area of the cubes that make up the first. There is therefore 4 times the area to paint, and the second cube would require 4 times the paint
STUDENT COMMENT:
I’m not getting this concept at all.
INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE:
Normally I ask for more detail in a self-critique so I can tell what you do and do not understand, and give you the answer you need to see.
However in this case you have been doing well to this point, and self-critiquing when necessary, so I have a basis on which to focus my answer:
If the surface of each pyramid is
divided into the same number of squares, in a geometrically similar manner, then
the squares of the second pyramid will have double the dimensions of the squares
making up the first.
If you double the dimensions of a square, the larger square could be built from
2 * 2 = 4 of the smaller.
STUDENT COMMENT
I don’t get it. Why is the one problem 2
* 2 * 2 and this one only 2 * 2. I don’t understand why the difference.
INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE
Surfaces can be covered as by tiny
squares. Volumes can be filled by tiny cubes.
Paint covers a surface, it doesn't fill the volume. So we have to think in terms
of covering the surface tiny squares, not filling the volume with tiny cubes.
Imagine a picture of a surface covered by tiny squares. If we double the dimensions of the picture, the sides of the tiny squares double. Doubling the sides of a square gives you 4 times the area. Thus when we double the dimensions, the area becomes 4 times as great.
(Technicality: We can't really cover a surface with curved boundaries using squares. At least near the curved boundaries, the squares will always make inconvenient angles with one another, and will therefore either overlap or leave small gaps. However the smaller we make the squares the smaller the total area of the overlaps or gaps, and it turns out we can cover the surface leaving as little total overlap or gap as we wish, and as we approach the limit of 'tiny' the total area the the squares approaches the actual area of the surface as its limit.)
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
Question: `q007. Suppose that we know that y = k x^2 and that y = 12 when x = 2. What is the value of k?
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
To find the value of k we substitute y = 12 and x = 2 into the form y = k x^2. We obtain
12 = k * 2^2, which we simplify to give us
12 = 4 * k. The dividing both sides by 410 reversing the sides we easily obtain
k = 3.
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
Question: `q008. Substitute the value of k you obtained in the last problem into the form y = k x^2. What equation do you get relating x and y?
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
We obtained k = 3. Substituting this into the form y = k x^2 we have the equation y = 3 x^2.
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
Question: `q009. Using the equation y = 3 x^2, determine the value of y if it is known that x = 5.
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
If x = 5, then the equation y = 3 x^2 give us y = 3 (5)^2 = 3 * 25 = 75.
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
Question: `q010. If it is known that y = k x^3 and that when x = 4, y = 256, then what value of y will correspond to x = 9? To determine your answer, first determine the value of k and substitute this value into y = k x^3 to obtain an equation for y in terms of x. Then substitute the new value of x.
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
To we first substitute x = 4, y = 256 into the form y = k x^3. We obtain the equation
256 = k * 4^3, or
256 = 64 k. Dividing both sides by 64 we obtain
k = 256 / 64 = 4.
Substituting k = 4 into the form y = k x^3, we obtain the equation y = 4 x^3.
We wish to find the value of y when x = 9. We easily do so by substituting x equal space 9 into our new equation. Our result is
y = 4 * 9^3 = 4 * 729 = 2916.
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
Question: `q011. If it is known that y = k x^-2 and that when x = 5, y = 250, then what value of y will correspond to x = 12?
Your solution:
Confidence Assessment:
Given Solution:
Substituting x = 5 and y = 250 into the form y = k x^-2 we obtain
250 = k * 5^-2. Since 5^-2 = 1 / 5^2 = 1/25, this becomes
250 = 1/25 * k, so that
k = 250 * 25 = 6250.
Thus our form y = k x^-2 becomes y = 6250 x^-2.
When x = 12, we therefore have
y = 6250 * 12^-2 = 6250 / 12^2 = 6250 / 144 = 42.6, approximately.
STUDENT QUESTION
When I enter 6250/144 in my
calculator, I get 43.40277 I don’t understand where the solution 42.6 came from.
Shouldn’t it
be 43.4?
INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE
The key word in the given solution is
'approximately'. My numbers are typically accurate to within a few percent, but
are often off by as much as that. This is intentional, as it shows me when
students don't do their own calculations.
My numbers are therefore guidelines. They are often accurate, and when not
precise they should be accurate enough to show you when you are doing something
incorrectly.
Self-critique (if necessary):
Self-critique rating:
If you understand the assignment and were able to solve the previously given problems from your worksheets, you should be able to complete most of the following problems quickly and easily. If you experience difficulty with some of these problems, you will be given notes and we will work to resolve difficulties.
Question:
`q012. A sculpture is made of small
cubes, about the size of playing dice.
Suppose each small cube could be cut into smaller cubes, each having edges 1/3
as long as the edges of the original. Suppose that somehow each of the
smaller cubes is then expanded until it is the size of one of the original
cubes, forming a larger sculpture. The shape of the sculpture would not change, only its
size would be different. Don't worry about how this might be accomplished
or even whether this is possible.
If this could be done, how many times higher would the larger sculpture be?
How many times as much volume would the larger sculpture occupy?
Your solution:
Confidence rating:
Question:
`q013. Of the six proportionality
equations y = k x, y = k x^2, y = k x^3, y = k / x, y = k / x^2, y = k / x^3,
which one would apply to the surface area of the sculpture in the preceding?
Use the appropriate equation to answer the following:
If the sculpture originally had a exposed surface of are 4 square meters, what would be the surface area of the larger sculpture (per the conditions of the preceding problem)?
Your solution:
Confidence rating:
Self-critique rating:
"