STEM Blog
Thermodynamics and Entropy
We all know that there are certain things that just can’t happen in the real world. For example, broken teacups don’t just reassemble themselves. If you saw this happen in a movie, you’d know that this impossible feat had been accomplished by running the film backwards. In physics class, we often talk about different laws…
The Mathematics of Tic-Tac-Toe
We all remember tic-tac-toe as a simple game. Young children find it easy to learn, and enjoy playing it. As they get older, they come to understand how to play the game strategically and not lose. When two experts play, the game will always result in a tie. A tic-tac-toe board is a 3×3 grid….
Another Day with Algebra
I couldn’t get through the day without algebra. Being conversant with algebra means I can figure out the best buy in paper towels, and how much dirt I need to buy in order to fill a hole in my back yard. Let’s start with the daunting exercise of figuring out the best buy on a…
Why Real-Life Science is Messy
For the past three weeks, we’ve talked about a bicycle racer and his bicycle. Last week, I suggested we could modify our experiment and measure force or torque directly in the next iteration of the experiment. If we had done that, we would have discovered this measured value was much greater than what we had…
Why the Scientific Method is Like a Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
“What IS the scientific method?” asks my middle schooler. Little does she realize that the answer to this simple question hides in a historical can of epistemological worms. Webster’s defines the scientific method as the “principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of…
How are a Bicycle’s Translational and Rotational Motion Related?
Since we started talking about bicycle mechanics last week, I thought we’d continue and look at how the translational motion of the bicycle/bicycler system is related to the rotational motion of the bicycle’s gears and pedals. Suppose a male bicycle sprinter and his bicycle have a total mass of 74 kg. The bicyclist wins the…
The Mechanics of Bicycle Drivetrains
I bet you didn’t know that the basic bicycle was invented over 200 years ago. While many refinements have been added since then, the bicycle remains a marvel of mechanical simplicity. Today we’ll talk about the drivetrain, that is, the gears, pedals and chain that make it go. The speed at which you travel is…
Truth in Advertising and Statistics
“Proper treatment will cure a cold in seven days, but left to itself a cold will hang on for a week.” So said Henry G. Felsen, “a humorist and no medical authority” cited in Darrell Huff’s delightful book How to Lie with Statistics. We all encounter such meaningless statistics every day. They can appear as…
The Subtle Subject of Statistics
Encyclopædia Britannica describes statistics as “the science of collecting, analyzing, presenting, and interpreting data.” The Babylonians were among the first to use statistics. They applied the results of their census to determine how much food was needed to feed their population. Later civilizations used census records to assess and collect taxes, and to raise armies….
Card Games and the Monty Hall Problem
A standard deck contains 52 playing cards. All cards have one of two colors, red or black. Each card belongs to one of four suits, described as Hearts (red), Diamonds (red), Spades (black), and Clubs (black). There are 13 cards assigned to each suit, denoted as Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,…