Comments on: Impossible questions continue

By: MariaD

MariaD — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 12:30:23 +0000

Of course, there is always the classic: LOLMath

By: zac

zac — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 10:05:57 +0000

Hi Maria and good to hear from you.

You’ve reminded me of the collection that I have somewhere. It includes all the howlers that students have written in assignments and exams. Now, where did I put it…?

By: MariaD

MariaD — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:19:22 +0000

My favorite, from my math site “Contact us” form, was a one-liner with no name, no return address, no capitalization, no nothing. It read, simply:

help me

I have a collection called “Messages from the universe” and that’s where it went. I think I’ve been answering it, to the best of my abilities.

By: arron

arron — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 21:25:17 +0000

if you think your so clever then answer this question

Let f be the function given by f(x)= e^(-2x^2) (read as e raised to the negative 2 x squared)

(a) Find the first four nonzero terms and the general term of the power seriews for f(x) about x=0.

(b) Find the interval of convergence of the power seriews for f(x) about x = 0. Show the analysis that leads to your conclusion.

(c) Let g be the function given by the sum of the first four nonzero terms of the power seriews for f(x) about x=0. Show that l f(x) – g(x) l

By: zac

zac — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:22:34 +0000

Hi Arron and thank you for your question. I'm sorry if my post came across as arrogant to you. My point was that many students have problems asking questions properly, because in most classrooms, they are told to be quiet and listen. If teachers encouraged more discussion, then students would have more question asking skills, making it easier for others to understand where the problem lies. I would use the Mclaurin Series expansion of the function for part (a), giving 1 − 2x² + 2x⁴ − (4/3)x⁶ + ... For (b), I would use this process. Question (c) is incomplete.