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Kevin listened for
the first ten minutes and then his eyes wondered. “The red head…she has the greatest pair of…”
The lecture was
called “The Joy of 9”*.
So far Kevin felt no joy.
….Let’s consider why that works. Call the first number you consider as ‘x’….tripling that x gives you 3x…when you
add 6, that makes 3x+6…Triple that will make 3(3x+6), or 9x+18…….
“Oh, Debbie. Sweet Debbie, how I love your…”
….do an example like this: 3, 456. Adding the digits together and we have 18,
and 18 is a multiple of 9. And, guess
what? 3,456 is a multiple of 9! What
about 1,234? Its digits add up to….
Kevin’s gaze swung
over to the girl sitting in the row below him, Karen. She was doodling. Not only doodling, Karen was doodling semi-porn
doodles. “Dang! She’s good!”
While he watched, the
Joy of 9 continued. …How about a bigger problem: 91,787+42,864. If we add those wonderful numbers together correctly,
we will arrive at 134,651. If we check
our answers, we add the digits to get 20; then add 2+0 and get 2…
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The Joy of 9 lecture
concluded with “…and the resulting number
is 9…therefore…”
Kevin and the class
staggered out the lecture hall. Kevin
caught up with…
Who do you think Kevin will choose? Will he borrow someone’s notes? Will he pass the next exam?
*This lecture was partially derived from The Joy
of Mathematics by Professor Arthur T. Benjamin. Words have been changed from the lecture to
avoid copyright infringement. No insult was meant or implied to Dr. Benjamin. My husband would hang on his every word, while I would be the one dozing off.
P.S. My husband reads stuff like this, even has a
video of Professor Benjamin presenting the real lecture. He watches videos like this. And, he tries to share the ideas with
me.
The
next time a program on “Joy of Quilting” I am on that like fly on molasses.
Interesting ......
ReplyDeleteSome people have a love affair with numbers and I almost wish I did, but I don't. Ha
It is a good balance that his love is for math and my love is for English, writing, etc. It works.
DeleteKevin is in his own world with age related priorities and he does not remember anything being spoken about the number nine.
ReplyDeleteI do love numbers, and words like balance, equal, and sum are always on my mind.
Kevin is definitely in age-related priorities.
DeleteA quilter uses math skills such as measurement and geometry. The colors and balance--now, there is what I love.
I love numbers, but they don't love me. I have a sort of numeric dyslexiat. The only huge real-life problem it used to pose was balancing the checkbook. My hubby would say, 'You wrote a check for $215.43 but entered it as $125 43.' We were both grateful for debit cards transactions and online banking to become the norm! Anyway, your hubby sournds like my dad (an engineer). His hero? Albert Einstein! There's a funny math video called New Math. I think the guy's name is Lerer or Lehrer. As a teacher and parent, you'd crack up. And as for the "Joy of Quilting," I am all over those like flies on molasses, too!
ReplyDeleteI understand how easy it is to invert the numbers. My students would do that. Your hubby and mine would have a grand time. You and I could hit the quilt stores.
DeleteI'd be dozing off as well.
ReplyDeleteI had such trouble staying awake in the 8 am classes, which invariably were math classes.
DeleteMy dad called this The Rule of 9's. I knew more about 9's than the average kid. Fortunately I have forgotten much, sometimes even including how many strips of each color to cut.
ReplyDeleteAs I type this, I am thinking about how many strips to cut of a certain green...
DeleteWhat are you working on now? I love looking at WIPs.
DeleteAh yes, the joy of six, ahem, nine...This posting had been completely fascinated. I'm really fast at totalling up numbers...I hasten to add! :)
ReplyDeleteLet me know if you reach 9 as the answer!!
DeleteLots of nines in the world, and 15s and, well, numbers in general. I'm sorry but they don't thrill me in the least. Nor does quilting. But tell me you've got a new songbird in your yard, and I'm right there. So to speak.
ReplyDeleteI do know that 11 = 3, and that 1101 = 13, but who besides computer programmers uses binary?
Blessings and Bear hugs!
Bears Noting
Life in the Urban Forest (poetry)
I'll bet he thought that girl was also a nine! I'm also lousy with numbers, but my husband and our older son excel with them. This was very clever Susan!
ReplyDeleteJulie
haha i can relate---my husband pick the weirdest reality shows to watch--i think it is in revenge for my love of the "housewives" shows---9 is one of my lucky numbers though :)
ReplyDeleteI love numbers. But I definitely would have joined the snoring ranks during this lecture!
ReplyDeleteeah, that would be the OC's department! Though I do remember enough about math in general, geometry in particular, to constantly use it in quilting. The limits of nines for me are a daily Sudoku puzzle. Gotta have it or the day seems to missing something essential!
ReplyDeleteSomehow lost the Y at the start of that!
ReplyDeletedoes anyone do ‘the joy of doing nothing tripled?’
ReplyDeleteIf so I’d like to know.
Numbers are not my thing, in fact, I wonder if I was handed the part that deals with numbers when talents were handed out.
I loved it, Susan. Can't say math is my forte, but I love reading intelligent fiction. That's quite the 'joy.' No wonder Kevin found something (someone) else to focus on. :)
ReplyDelete