MME 523
Final Class –
What are Numerical Methods?
You are standing in front of a secondary level math class of your
choice. Your students have a traditional background in algebra, trigonometry
and analytic geometry; perhaps a little calculus.
You have just handed them the results of the following assignment. It's purpose is to
introduce them to the world of numerical methods and numerical analysis,
something which we assume they have no familiarity with.
Among the things you might wish to pass along to them:
why numerical methods are necessary
what has perhaps been taken for granted in
writing down the "=" sign all
these
years
a couple of
very illustrative and convincing examples
what the
difference between "numerical methods" and "numerical
analysis" might be (the Bisection Method provides a good
opportunity)
some
discussion of the symbol
p and the approaches to estimating it
(this
may mean you have to tell them what a irrational or transcendental
number is)
a
few cool web sites to convince them that you're not the only one in the world interested in this subject
IF
you teach in
Please write this in Word and save as an .html type of file onto a
floppy with your name both on the floppy and in the document.
Having done that, please turn it in and have
a great
News
Flash: for those who took Number Theory,
a new Mersenne Prime
was discovered on November 17!