Comments on: [Pseudocontext Saturday] Blimp

By: Joshua Dosumu

Joshua Dosumu — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 14:48:05 +0000

In reply to Andy Lammers. Isn't this pseudocontext as well? I admit I don't know anything about the stubhub shutdown, but I can't imagine why anyone would calculate this rate of change unless it's explaining why the website got shut down. Can you clue me in?

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 20:58:37 +0000

In reply to Paul Hartzer. Ha. Duly noted.

By: Paul Hartzer

Paul Hartzer — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 20:39:49 +0000

In reply to Paul Hartzer. ("Ball", not "call".)

By: Paul Hartzer

Paul Hartzer — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 20:39:20 +0000

Now that the answer has been posted, I’ll casually note that the ping pong call is such a McGuffin that the judges didn’t even correctly describe it. ;)

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 20:30:44 +0000

In reply to JJ RodrÃguez. Good catch, JJ. Thanks.

By: Paul Hartzer

Paul Hartzer — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 17:05:27 +0000

Here’s another example of a pseudocontext problem, this one from a Pearson elementary workbook (third grade, I think): http://curiouscheetah.com/BlogMath/town-squares-problem/

By: Paul Hartzer

Paul Hartzer — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 15:28:18 +0000

At least the Sydney Harbour Bridge problem makes it more difficult to Just Google It, since the question asks about the length of the bridge, but the answer (503 m) is actually the span length. The full bridge length is more than twice that length. ;)

By: Throggie

Throggie — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 15:21:17 +0000

A much more interesting exploration of the Sydney Harbor Bridge would be to take a picture, put it in Desmos and approximate a quadratic equation to fit the arc. Use the roadway to be the x axis and find out the altitude to the top of the arc and maybe even how far those tiny tiny people have to walk when they climb it from one end to the other. Then, most importantly, figure out why people “Down Under” drive on the left side of the road and not the right.

By: Paul Hartzer

Paul Hartzer — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 15:13:27 +0000

Another comment before Dan updates…

I’m still having trouble deciding whether that white line is meant to be a string or just an invisible height line. If it’s a string, then most obvious question would be “how long is the string?” but that would be the easiest of the three measurements to take. That could be the pseudocontext here.

Your fans await, Dan… ;)

By: Paul Carson

Paul Carson — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 14:35:54 +0000

Pseudocontext is not the right word for the Sydney question. More “awkward conversation between 2 people where one desperately wants to connect everything that is discussed to mathematics.”