Volume 1, Issue #2, Winter 2001

University of Manitoba Outreach Project

Published by the Department of Mathematics

CHOOSING A CAREER IN MATHEMATICS

J.J. Williams
Mathematics is fascinating, fun and useful! In fact, mathematics
is now indispensable for more and more occupations. Also, the
variety of careers that use mathematics is becoming more diverse
all the time, and covers all types of business, industry and government as well as the more traditional field of education.
One of the most important and direct uses of a mathematics degree
is the field of education. With a Bachelors degree in mathematics
(and a degree in education), one can teach math in K to 12; a
Masters degree in mathematics is sometimes required to teach Calculus in Senior High. With a Ph. D. (and a good record of research
and teaching) one could secure a position as Assistant Professor at
a university. In fact, current demographics in Canada show that
there is going to be a very large number of positions for mathematicians in High Schools, technical colleges and universities.
In business, industry and government, mathematics has changed
the way engineers, scientists and executives do their jobs. Very
often, in order to work in these areas, the student must have some
detailed knowledge besides mathematics. An excellent companion to math is statistics or computer science (or both!) The worlds
of business, industry and government increasingly require complex computational simulations, and have vast amounts of data that
need organization and analysis. For these reasons, all our programs in mathematics now contain at least one course in each of
statistics and computer science. Almost any field of study can be
joined with mathematics to form a very powerful combination.
Examples abound: biology - designing drugs or genetic engineering; economics and commerce - analyzing financial markets; psychology - the study of the learning process; statistics - actuarial
mathematics.
In the past, engineers could only test changes by making them,
which is very expensive. Now mathematical models are coupled
with computation to simulate new designs before they are built

such as the Boeing 777 aircraft, the first paperless airplane, and
in low-cost simulations to guide computer chip design and manufacture. Mathematical modelling is involved in such applications
as devising and analyzing voting systems and communications networks, designing a mechanical hand, and finding an optimum production schedule for a factory.
The role of mathematics as a design tool is of great interest to many
professionals in many fields as diverse as textile, jewellery, sound
and music, decoration, architecture and art. These people work in
areas that include graphics interaction, animation and rendering,
virtual reality, computer aided geometry design, graphic algorithms,
fractals, geographical information systems, CAD systems, fine art
and sculpture, music, educational aspects of related fields, and
graphics within mathematical software (such as Maple, Derive and
Mathematica.)
The graduate with a bachelors degree in mathematics can qualify
for a broad range of highly paid positions in business, industry,
government, and teaching. The computer and communications industries employ many mathematicians, as do oil companies, banks,
insurance companies, and consulting firms.
Cryptology, the study of codes and ciphers (secret messages), is
very important in the design of ATMs, and uses statistics, probability theory, number theory, group theory, Fourier analysis, and
modern algebra. In the analysis of mortgage-backed securities,
statistical regression, basic calculus, numerical analysis, optimization methods, and stochastic partial differential equations are used.
Mathematical ideas have become indispensable to an impressive
number of disciplines, and this list is increasing. See page 4 for a
listing of :
- organizations that currently employ mathematicians;
- books and websites that offer career information.

MANITOBA MATH LINKS NOW APPEARS ON THE WEB

.......www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/science/mathematics

A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS:

COOL WEBSITES TO EXPLORE

R. Padmanabhan

We welcome comments from our readers and value their

advice. Do you have any suggestions for improving
Math Links? Topics for new articles? Drop us a
line....either by e-mail or regular mail....to the attention of our Co-ordinator. We enjoy hearing from you...!

DATES TO MARK ON YOUR

CALENDAR
MAY 1 - Recommended application deadline for
University I
JULY 4 - Deadline for mail applications for Science
& University I

The Math Links Newsletter is published by the Mathematics

Department Outreach Committee three times a year
(Fall, Winter & Spring) .
EDITORS:

Prof. R. Padmanabhan
Prof. R. Craigen
Prof. R. Gaudet
Prof. A. Gumel

CO-ORDINATOR:

S. Kangas
(kangass@cc.umanitoba.ca)

OUR WEBSITE:

www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/science/
mathematics

MAIL ADDRESS:

Math Links Newsletter

Department of Mathematics
University of Manitoba
342 Machray Hall
Winnipeg MB R3T 2N2

FAX #:
TEL #:

Page 2

(204) 474-7611
(204) 474-8703

Welcome to 2001. We are living in the age of Internet and no

doubt, the www is brimming with interactive math sites. In this
issue we choose to mention three such sites: two dealing with
mathematics as old as Euclid and the other as young as the modern computer.
A prime number is a natural number greater than 1, that can be
divided without a remainder, only by itself and by 1. The prime
machine [1] finds prime numbers using the Sieve of Eratosthenes
and lets you study and explore those prime numbers. Now that
you know what primes are, you can even listen to the primes!
Yes, there is an interactive website [2] which plays music for
you using prime numbers. In fact, you can make your own music. What a fun way to learn number theory!
The next topic is fractals. My choice for this column is Robert
L. Devaney's Dynamical Systems and Technology Project at
Boston University [3]. There are wonderful pictures of
Mandelbrot and Julia sets, with good explanatory text, as well
as interesting QuickTime movies of pendulum dynamics, bifurcations, and animations of the Chaos Game. This is an interactive site designed to teach the mathematics behind the Mandelbrot
and Julia sets. It consists of a series of tours in which you will
discover some of the incredibly interesting and beautiful mathematics behind these images. Have fun!
[1] www.math.utah.edu/~alfeld/math/machine.html
[2] www.utm.edu/research/primes/programs/music/listen/
[3] math.bu.edu/DYSYS/explorer/index.html

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CAREERS IN MATHEMATICS

PAGE 1

INFORMATION ITEMS

PAGE 2

FUN WITH CALCULATORS

PAGE 3-4

WEBSITES & BOOKS : CAREERS

PAGE 4

MATHEMATICS IN MEDICINE

PAGE 5-6

INFIGERS

PAGE 6-7

PROBLEM CORNER

PAGE 8

Can You Trust Your Calculators Eyes?

R. Gaudet
The short answer: no.
When you discover hammers, everything you see looks like a nail.
Similarly, when you discover graphing calculators, it is tempting
to trust their technology blindly. The following examples should
convince you to tread cautiously, if not mathematically.
Example 1: Using a graphing calculator (or on a computer, using Maple or Mathematica), plot the graph of the function f(x) =
sin(x + sin(3x)), over the interval 0 x 2. It will look something like figure 1, and is periodic thereafter. (Be sure to use radians ...)
1

2 2
p

Rough answer: the first maximum is of approximate height 1 (at

0.65) and the first minimum is of approximate height 0.5 (at 1.45),
so the difference in heights is roughly 0.5.
Wrong: the first maximum is of exact height 1 (at 0.5914295288)
and the first minimum is of approximate height 0.9999604801 (at
0.6368777454), so the difference is approximately 0.0000395199.
(Some mathematical analysis required ... E-mail the author for details.)
And so the vertical variation is roughly:

1
of the height of the original graphic, not
50607

1.
4

Could this small variation be seen on a computer screen? Not on

the authors, at 768 pixels vertical, since the size of the graphic
would have to be 68 screens high for the vertical variation to show
up as large as a pixel, allowing some space for the menu bar.
(Antialiasing aside ...) Nobody does plots of that size; can you
imagine the resources required? And the vertical variation certainly
cant be seen on a typical graphing calculators tiny screen.
What if we stretched the graphic to the height of the CN Tower in
Toronto, at 553.33 metres? We would then actually see the vertical
variation between the first two local extrema (if we knew where to
start looking, its a pretty tall building ...); it would be a bit more
than a whole centimetre high, not even the thickness of the tiles on
the main floor ...

-1

Fig. 1
It is clear that the function oscillates in some way between 1 and
1. Of course, its the sine of something; but because it is not a pure
sine function, there are also intermediary maxima and minima.
Heres the question: what is the approximate difference in height
f(x) between the first local maximum and the first local minimum,
for positive x?

Conclusion: using software to get an accurate graphic is only foolproof if you already know what youre looking for, and if you already know where to look for it.
Example 2: On a graphing calculator (or otherwise), plot the graph
x
of g(x) = 1

, alongside that of f(x) = sin(x + sin(3x));

0.63

restrict the plot to 0 x 2 and 1 f, g 1. You will get

something like figure 3.
1

Lets zoom in on a portion of the graph and get a rough estimate:

look at 0 x 2. (Fig. 2)
1
1
0.75
0.5
0.25

0.8
0.6
0.4

0.2
0.5

Fig. 2

1.5

-0.25
-0.5
-0.75
-1

Fig. 3

Page 3

Functions g and f look similar in the neighbourhood of 0.63. Zooming in, for 0.55 x 0.73, allows us to see their different behaviours;
f(x) is dashed; axes are centred at (0.55, 0.9999), not (0, 0). (Fig. 4)

Fig. 4
We can see f(x) correctly but I guess we still havent zoomed in
enough to see g(x)s true personality, eh?
Example 3: If such small oscillations near a local maximum (or
no such oscillation ...) could be hidden to the casual calculator user,
could not such oscillations (or lack of oscillations ...) be visible (or
not ...) in parts of the graph that do not even appear to harbour any
extrema at all? Yes they can.
Some simple function k(x) has a graphic strangely resembling that
of the line y = x. (Fig. 5) (It is piecewise-defined; only a linear
part and a single trigonometric part are present.)
0 x < 0.636
x

cos(2000 ( x 0.636)) 1
k ( x ) = x +
1000

0.636 x < 0.637

0.637 x < 1

x
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Fig. 5
The graphic looks differently upon zooming in a lot, supposing we
know exactly where to look ... or are willing to spend all day trying
to find something that might not even exist .... (Fig. 6)
0.638
0.637
0.636
0.635
0.635

0.636

0.637

Conclusion: Do the math.

Rolland Gaudet
Collge universitaire de Saint-Boniface
rgaudet@ustboniface.mb.ca
Page 4

0.638

Mathematicians Work In A Wide Range

Of Organizations:
* Universities and colleges
* Government labs
* Not-for-profit contractors
* Engineering research organizations
* Computer service firms
* Energy systems firms
* Electronics and computer manufacturers
* Consulting firms
* Aerospace and transportation equipment manufacturers
* Financial services firms
* Communications services providers
* Chemical or pharmaceutical manufacturers
* Producers of petroleum and petroleum products
* University-based research organizations
Career Profiles in Mathematics:
The following web sites contain short descriptions of jobs held
by individuals with a mathematics degree and a wide variety of
backgrounds after graduation:
http://www.siam.org/careers/career2.htm#numberfive,
http://www.maa.org/careers/index.html
Books:
1. Great Jobs for Math Majors, Stephen Lambert & Ruth J.
DeCotis, VGM Career Horizons, ISBN: 0-8442-6422-9;
web: http://www.maa.org/pubs/books/jbs.html
2. She Does Math: Real Life Problems from Women on the Job.,
Marla Parker (Editor), Mathematical Association of
America, ISBN: 0-88385-702-2;
web: http://www.maa.org/pubs/books/sdm.html
3. 101 Careers in Mathematics, Andrew Sterrett (Editor),
Mathematical Association of America, ISBN: 0-88385704-9; web: http://www.maa.org/pubs/books/101.html
4. Mathematical Scientists At Work, Mathematical Association
of America, ISBN 0-88385-458-9;
web: http://www.maa.org/pubs/books/msw.html
More mathematical career information on the web :
Department of Mathematics, University of Manitoba:
http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/science/mathematics/
careers.html
Canadian Mathematics Society Student Page:
http://camel.math.ca/Students/
Mathematical Association of America Students Page:
http://www.maa.org/students/career.html
MAA books on careers:
http://www.maa.org/pubs/books/careers.html
American Mathematical Society Mathematical Sciences Career
Information :
http://www.ams.org/careers/
http://www.ams.org/employment/careers-brochure.html
The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Career
Information :
http://www.siam.org/careers/

NOTE:

A POPULATION MODEL
OF DIABETES
A. Gumel
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches
and other food into energy needed for daily life.
Diabetes is a silent killer. Many people first become aware that
they have diabetes when they develop one of its life-threatening
complications namely: blindness, kidney disease, nerve disease and
amputations, heart disease and stroke.
The cause of diabetes remains a mystery, although both genetics
and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles. The Canadian Diabetes Association estimated
that over 2 million Canadians have diabetes. Approximately 90%
of the people with diabetes are non-insulin dependent (develops in
adulthood) and the remaining 10% are insulin dependent (most often occuring in children and young adults). People with insulin
dependent diabetes must take daily insulin injections to stay alive.
Insulin was invented in Toronto in 1922.
This study, aimed at introducing the vital role mathematics plays in
public health, focuses on the design of a simple mathematical model
for the evolution of diabetes to the stage of complication. The
compartmental model will monitor the size of a population of diabetics and will give the number of people with complications as a
function of time.
Mathematical Model
Suppose C = C(t) and D = D(t) represent the numbers of diabetics
with and without complications, respectively. Suppose also that the
size of the population of diabetics at time t is N = N(t) = C(t) +
D(t). Let I denote the incidence of diabetes (assumed constant);
there are approximately 60000 new cases diagnosed every year in
the UK. So, I = 60000 per year in the UK.
The Population of Diabetics Without Complication, D(t)
To measure the rate at which this population changes with respect
to time (given by

dD(t )
),
dt

we refer to Fig. 1. All arrows pointing

towards the population D(t) are considered to be positive contributions, whereas arrows pointing away are considered losses. Fig. 1
suggests that :
the population D(t) is generated by the number (I) of new
diagnoses in a time interval of length t. It is assumed that these
individuals have no complications upon diagnosis;
the population is decreased by development of complications

(D) such as blindness, heart disease etc;

the population is decreased by natural death ( D)
the population is increased by the amount C (sufferers whose
complications are cured).

The following article makes use of calculus and may be difficult for some readers.

Hence we have,
dD(t )
=I D(t ) D(t ) + C(t )
dt

(1)

Diabetics with complications, C(t )

Based on the arrows pointing to and away from the population C(t )
in Fig. 1, it can be seen that:
the population C(t ) is increased by the number of sufferers

(D) ;
it is decreased by natural death ( C ) ;

who develop complications

it is decreased by the number of sufferers whose complications

are cured (C ) ;
it is decreased by the number of patients who become severely
disabled and whose disabilities cannot be cured (C ) ;
it is decreased by the number of patients who die from their
complications (C ) .
Thus, the rate at which the C(t ) population changes with time is
dC
(2)
= D(t ) ( + + + )C(t ).
dt
Since we are interested in monitoring the size of the population of
diabetics ( N (t )) and that of diabetics with complications (C(t )) ,
equations (1) and (2) could be combined, and noting
N (t ) = D(t ) + C(t ) ,to give the initial-value problem ( IVP) :
dC
(3)
= ( + )C(t ) + N (t ), t > 0; C(0) = C 0 ,
dt
dN
= I ( + )C(t ) N (t ), t > 0; N (0) = N 0 ,
dt
where 0 = + + + and C 0 , N 0 are the initial values of C(t )
and N (t ) respectively. The model IVP (3), which assumes constant probability of a diabetic developing complications , is linear in C(t ) and N (t ) ... and thus not too difficult to solve exactly
(analytically). Suppose, now, that is a non-constant given by:

= (t ) =

C (t )
N (t )

(4)

in which > 0 is a real constant. Then, the IVP (3) is non-linear

and may be re-written as
dC
C2
, t > 0; C(0) = C 0 ,
= ( )C
dt
N

(5)
dN
= I ( + )C(t ) N (t ), t > 0; N (0) = N 0 ,
dt
in which C = C(t ) and N = N (t ) . The nonlinearity arises from
the second term of

dC(t )
.
dt
Page 5

Setting the right hand side of (5) to zero gives two steady-state
solutions:

I
,

(6)

( ) I
I
, N* =
,
+ ( + )( )
+ ( + )( )

(7)

C* = 0, N * =

INFIGERS
R. Craigen

and
C* =

The first solution is called the trivial critical point (the population, C(t ) , of diabetics with complication is non-existent). The second solution is non- trivial.
Numerical simulations
The analytical solution of the IVP system (5) is difficult to find
because of its non-linear nature. Hence, numerical methods are
used to approximate the solution of (5) taking:
I = 60, 000, = 1, = 0.08, = 0.02, = 0.05, = 0.05,
the trivial critical values may be calculated from (6): they are
C* = 0 and N* = 3000000 . Similarly, the non-trivial critical
values are obtained from (7) to be C* = 480000 and
N* = 600000 . The initial conditions C 0 = N 0 = 500 were chosen. The profiles for C and N generated using a standard numerical method, are depicted in Figures 2 and 3 respectively. It was
found that convergence was to the non-trivial critical point; the
steady-state had been reached by time t = 50 years. Similar profiles were obtained using
not cured).

= 0 (the case when complications are

Acknowledgement
[1] A. Boutayeb and A. Kerfati : Diabetology models (1994).
[2] A. Boutayeb and E. Twizell (1999). Working paper.
[3] British Diabetic Association: Diabetes in the United Kingdom
1996).
[4] M. Lukie and A. Gumel. Student project on the modelling of
glucose-insulin kinetics (2000).
C
D
Total
Population

I(t)

C(t)

D(t)
C

Figure 1. The mathematical model.

C(t)
500000

Not too far away, in an otherwise dull galaxy much like ours, lives
the intelligent race of Endians, so called because they order their
lives by the principle that all good things must come to an end.
(They knock down their heritage buildings to protect them from
the slow ravages of time and burn down forests before they get old
and densely grown. Music groups that have more than 5 hits are
disbanded by law. So, you see, they take this principle quite to the
extreme!)
These clever folks are just entering their industrial revolution. In
all their previous history they have never had need for any numbers other than the usual nonnegative integers, 0,1,2,3, etc., and the
occasional fraction; since they have 10 fingers like us (albeit distributed somewhat unevenly among their 3 hands), they represent
numbers, as we do, with place notation in base 10.
They are just now beginning to notice an increasing need for a
more comprehensive system of numbers well-suited to mechanical
computation, to support their technological advances, and have
considered how to represent fractions (and any other numbers that
might come along) in a place-type system. The first thing that was
proposed was to place a decimal point after integers and continue
with digits representing the fractions 1/10, 1/100, and so on, as we
are accustomed to doing. But when it became clear that, in this
system, some numbers, like 1/3 = 0.333..., would never come to an
end, the Endians decided that the system was an abomination, for it
violated the aforementioned much cherished principle, so they discarded it.
However, a forward-thinking young visionary named Antemedes
discovered how to rescue some of the benefits of the idea of unending decimals without committing the ultimate heresy: the digits of his numbers had the usual integer place-values, 1, 10, 100
and so on, but his idea was to assign a value to EVERY place. So
the number 7 would be thought of as ...0007; its square would be
...0049, and so on, each beginning with an infinite number of zeros. But he didnt stop there. His system also allowed the possibility that some numbers could have an infinite number of nonzero
digits!

400000
300000
200000
100000
(time, t years)

0
0

60 80 100 110
20 40
Figure 2. Profiles of C(t)

N(t)

Now, you may wonder, how is this system any better than the other,
seeing as it, too, involves the use of unending strings of digits to
represent numbers? Well, that is where you are wrong! For you
must admit that, although these numbers do not have a beginning,
they most certainly all come to an end in the same place, after
the 1s digit!

600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
(time, t years)

0
0

Page 6

60 80 100 110
20 40
Figure 3. Profiles of N(t)

Now, owing to the resemblance between these numbers and the

positive integers, it was easy to think of them as integers. However, those with an infinite number of digits seem horrendously
large in fact, infinite, and are most certainly something else
altogether. So the numbers of this system are called infigers, a
compromise between infinite and integers.

Antemedes discovered that it is possible to add, subtract, and multiply any two infigers according to the usual rules of arithmetic.
For example, he found that
...6667 x 3 = 1, and

...9999 + 1 = 0 .

Try these calculations yourself, to see how they work. Just multiply or add, in the same way as you are accustomed, and dont stop
until you are sure that the pattern you see will continue.
This means, of course, that 1/3 = ...6667, and that ...9999 is an
entirely new number (to them!), the additive inverse, or negative,
of 1, which of course is what we call -1. Similarly,
-2 = ...9998, and -157 = ...99843 .
In fact, the negative of any positive integer begins with an infinite
string of 9s, and any number of this type is the negative of a positive integer. To be sure that you understand this, see if you can
decide to which negative number ...999342 corresponds.
Multiplication of ...6667 by 3 is not hard because 3 has only one
digit; how does one multiply by, say, 23? Why, in the same way as
we usually do: multiply by 3 and 2, adding a zero to the end of the
second number, and add the results:
...6667
x 23
...0001
...33340
...333341 ,
which is, apparently, the infiger representation of 23/3.
Infigers can be multiplied by continuing the above process for each
of the digits of the second number in the product. Here, for example, is Antemedes calculation for the square of 1/3:
...6667
x ...6667
...6669
...00020
...000200
...0002000
:
: :
...8889 .
This should be the infiger for 1/9, which you can check easily by
multiplying by 9.
Antecedes made many other exciting discoveries. For example,
no number has two DIFFERENT infiger representations, unlike in
our decimal system, where 1.6999... = 1.7000... ; infiger representations of rational numbers always eventually repeat in a periodic
cycle, and all infigers of this form represent rational numbers.
There are many exciting discoveries to be made about infigers, and
Ill leave some of them for you. Here are some things to do:

1. Antecedes was crushed to learn that some rational numbers,

such as 1/2, do not have an infiger representation. Can you see
why not? Exactly which rational numbers can, and cant, be represented as infigers? Propose a method of incorporating these rationals
into the system without committing a heresy.
2. Try finding some of the following infigers: 2/3, 4/3, 5/3, 1/7,
2/7, 3/7, -2/3, -3/7. Do you notice any patterns? Comparing the
repeating decimal part of these fractions to the repeating part in the
usual representation, do you see any connection? A calculator might
be helpful.
3. You can save some work in your calculations above if you discover how to do long division with infigers. (HINT: try working
from right to left, instead of from left to right!)
4. It would not be good if it turned out that multiplication of infigers
is not commutative. Try multiplying 3 by 1/3 (that is, in the reverse
order from the calculation given earlier), and see if it still comes
out to 1. Can you show that multiplication is commutative, in all
cases?
5. Given two integer infigers, positive or negative, it is not hard to
decide which is largest. But compare some of the fractional
infigers you worked out in #2 above. Can you find any way, other
than turning them back into fractions, to decide which is larger, or
even which is positive?
6. There are MANY infigers that represent neither positive nor
negative integers or fractions. Nevertheless, they can be added,
subtracted and multiplied by each other and the more familiar
infigers. For example, the infiger ...010001011 whose first, second, fourth, and all digits in positions corresponding to powers of
two, are 1, and all the rest are 0, is not of the familiar types. What
is it? In general, what are these other numbers? Do they have any
connection to interesting numbers?
7. Things get really interesting when you try working in base systems other than 10. For example, in base 2, 1/3 (that is, 1/11 in
binary notation) has infiger representation ...010101011. Some fractions with no decimal infiger representation have a binary infiger
representation! What is the simplest such number? What is its
binary infiger representation? Which fractions have binary infiger
representations?
8. Which fractions have base 5 infiger representations? What is
1/2 as a base 5 infiger? There is a non-repeating base 5 infiger
ending in ...43212, whose square is -1. Check that this works for
the digits given. Can you find the previous 3 digits? Find the last
several digits of the negative of this number, and check whether it,
too, is a square root of -1.
9. Show that the square root of 2 has a base 7 infiger representation. Find its last several digits. Do you think it is possible to find
a pattern?
What else can you learn about infigers? Send in your discoveries,
attention the Newsletter Coordinator, and they may appear in a future
newsletter!
.
Page 7

PROBLEM CORNER

C
B

D. Trim

500 m

Rail with added

piece
500 m

Original
rail

To encourage you to try the problems, we propose the following.

If you solve the problem,write it up neatly and send it to:
S. Kangas,
Department of Mathematics,
The University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2
I will look at all submissions and print the names and schools of
persons who solve the problem correctly and present it in a reasonable way. Remember, to see your name in this column, the
solution must be correct and neatly presented.
Here is the problem from the last newsletter and its solution:
a straight stretch of railway track is one kilometre long. Its ends
are fastened down so that they cannot move, but the remainder of
the track is not fixed. Although this is not true, assume that the
track is one continuous piece of steel with no breaks. Suppose
now that the track is cut at its midpoint and a piece of track one
metre long is added there. The ends of the track do not move, and
the track bows into the arc of a circle. How far away from its
original position is the middle point of the track?
The objective is to find the length of OC in the figure below. Suppose we let R be the radius of the circle of which ACB is an arc,and
let D be its centre. Since OC =R - OD , we need OD. This means
find R or .Since the length of ACB is 1001 metres, we can use
the formula s = r for arc length to state that 1001 =R (2 ),
where must be expressed in radians.We now have one equation
in R and ,and need another. From triangle OAD , we may write
that sin =500 /R , a second equation in R & . When these
equations are solved for R, and the results are equated,
1001 = 500
2 sin

1000 - 1001 sin = 0 ,

an equation to solve for . Equations of this type cannot be solved

exactly and we therefore approximate the solution. If we have a
calculator that solves such equations,no difficulty exists. Suppose,
on the other hand, that our calculator does not have this
capability.With a little ingenuity, we can still use the calculator to
find the solution.

Dear Readers:
q

Welcome back to the PROBLEM CORNER. We have the solution to the problem from our last column and a new problem for
you.

q
D

To find the solution accurate to 4 decimal places, we proceed as

follows. A plot of the function f ( )=1000 - 1001 sin is shown
in the figure below. Our desired is the -intercept of the graph,
somewhere between =0.07 and =0.08. The value
f (0.075) = -4 .6 x10 -3 is negative indicating that the required
is now between 0.075 and 0.08. Since f (0.078) = 1.1 x 10 -3
is positive, is between 0.075 and 0.078. With
f (0.077) = - 8.6 x 10 -4 , is between 0.077 and 0.078. From
f (0.0775) = 1.3 x 10 -4, we trap between 0.077 and 0.0775.
Calculation of f (0. 0774) = - 6.5 x 10-5 traps between 0.0774
and 0.0775. With f (0.07745) =3.5 x 10-5 ,we conclude that is
between 0.0774 and 0.07745. Consequently, to 4 decimal places
the value of is 0.0774.
We can now calculate:
OC=R-OD=R-R cos =R(1-cos )=1001(1- cos )=19.4metres.
2
()
0.02

0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08

-0.02

How was your intuition? Did you guess that OC would be this
much? I didn t.
Here is your problem for next time:
You are given the function f ( x ) =

x2 + 2x + c
,where c is a
x 2 + 4 x + 3c

constant. You are to find all values of c for which the range of
the function consists of all reals.This problem does not require
high level mathematics; it requires logical thinking and some
calculations. Think very carefully before you begin; it is easy
to start off in the wrong direction. This comment applies particularly to students in Grade 12. (Remember that c is a constant
and cannot therefore depend on x .)

Page 8