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David Semitekol

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Where do you use math in your profession?

One of the most difficult challenges that math teachers face today is motivating their students. This becomes more difficult when faced with the all famous question: "What am I going to use this for?"

Help me with some real world examples of modern day math. Please let me know your profession and what type of math you use to share with our students.

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Thank you everyone so much for the contributions! They are great and I wasn't expecting such a turn out. My goal is to gain enough examples and to use them at the start of each lecture. I'm hoping that these examples in the beginning of class will spark the student's interest for the reaming of the lecture and to show that that we really do use math.

There is a difference between having to learn something and wanting to learn something. When we have to learn it we just try to get through it. When we want to learn it, this is when we make breakthroughs. Stimulate the interest in students so that they want to learn math and we increase our probability in someone discovering the next breakthrough.

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  • nagib shagour

    • +3
    Feb 9 2012: Continued ......

    What Equals 100%?
    What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

    Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?

    We have all been in situations where someone wants you to
    GIVE OVER 100%.

    How about ACHIEVING 101%?


    What equals 100% in life?


    Here's a little mathematical formula that might help answer these questions:


    If:

    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

    Is represented as:

    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.


    If:


    H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K

    8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%


    And:

    K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E

    11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%


    But:

    A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E

    1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%



    THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:



    L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D

    12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%


    Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

    While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
    get you there, It's the Love of God that will. It will put you over the top!
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      Krisztián Pintér 200+

      • +7
      TED Translator
      Feb 9 2012: i found a better strategy:

      2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103

      • nagib shagour

        • 0
        Feb 9 2012: But you can not deny the beauty of the 101% statement Kris.
        I guess everyone speaks of what he is made off huh ............ ;-)

        I hope I did not hurt your feelings Kris.
        I only meant to stretch your lips sideways ..... to make a laugh ..... ;-)

        • O'Neil Poree

          • 0
          Feb 10 2012: Pinter translates it so well; brought up in a barn, maybe?

        • Pontus Westermark

          • +5
          Feb 11 2012: Of course you can never deny the beauty of it. I think it's reasonable proof of the supernatural. We should make it our purpose for the love of mankind to elaborate on these numbers.

          With God, we can calculate 7+15+4 = 26%, Christ gives us 77, so... Christ > God, that's interesting. Jesus comes in at 74 and completes God to 100%. Similar to Attitude.

          Unfortunately, if we add upp rape, hate and murder, we get something like 159, so a much more powerful force of the universe than God.

          We can also see that with the hindu deity Adi Parashakti, we get 118, no love required, but he beats God straight out of the box. All we have to aknowledge is that he's proven by math to exist since he adds up to over 100%, and we know numbers like that just don't exist.

          Numbers obviously never lie, this night, I changed my faith. The deity "Xxyzixxer Tsuxyvorz Kruxozyxuvurrz" appeared to me in a dream, spilling the truth about the world and mankind. I obviously at first thought "oh my, this must be the work of the devil, the christian god have been conclusively proven over and over by poking wholes at small sections of works of science", but I did the calculation and could you believe it? 651!

          I mean, 651!!!!!!!! That's 550 MORE than any love of god can give you!!! That's over six times love of god, not to speak how many God-gods you'd need to even come close! 651/26 gives you some kind of number I'm not even sure my newfound deity approves of!

          PRAISE Xxyzixxer Tsuxyvorz Kruxozyxuvurrz!!!!!!

      • Comment deleted

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        Franciz Desouza

        • 0
        TED Translator
        Feb 11 2012: @ Matt how about this one? @ 100 + 3= 103, not to demotivate someone but to say how simple it is !!
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      Mary M. 100+

      • 0
      Feb 11 2012: Nagib....very 14 + 4 + 3 + 5...nice

      Will share with some spiritual friends that did not grow up on a farm.

      Nice play-on-words.

      Mary

      • nagib shagour

        • 0
        Feb 13 2012: I am sorry Mary I do not see the message in these
        numbers 14 + 4 + 3 + 5

        please clarify
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          Mary M. 100+

          • 0
          Feb 13 2012: Ooooops.....14 + 9 + 3 + 5 = NICE

          I have enjoyed all your entries. Very uplifting, and revealing....my kids
          especially my daughter, who has a love/hate relationship with Math,
          has been enjoying your great lessons.

          Thank you Nagib, and sorry, I just typed too fast.

          Be Well

      • nagib shagour

        • +1
        Feb 14 2012: You are most welcome Mary.
        I am so delighted your kids liked it.

    • sanghun lee

      • 0
      Feb 11 2012: How did you get the fomular? I just copied it to give someone.
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      Jonathan Ross

      • +2
      Feb 11 2012: That's not math, that is religion.

    • Rikki Ansell

      • +1
      Mar 1 2012: Nagib, while that is amusing, I'd like to point out that by your math, the love of God won't get you any farther than the love of Dog.

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