NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MATHEMATICS PRESENTS “MIND BENDING PARADOXES“

USPA NEWS - January 2018 Math Encounters´ presentation at the MOMATH in New York City by Dr. Dave Kung from St. Mary´s College of Maryland reflected on “Mind Bending Paradoxes & the Possibility of Changing Your mind.“

The engaging and motivational mathematical talk on the topics of non-apparent results and appreciation of wrong solutions kept the audience active until the last moment of the presentation and after it with interaction with the presenter. Dr. Kung evoked underlying mathematical and logic concepts related to physics experiments and processes, life biological processes, nature, music.
The audience worked on finding answers to the following non-obvious for many questions:

Which way does air flow?
A: Smaller to bigger
B: Bigger to smaller
C: Neither
D_______
Swing the tube faster?
A: Steady louder
B: Steady higher
C: Both
D:_______
Book Stacking-how far can we go?
A: Not over the edge
B: Just over the edge
C: Well over the edge
D: New Jersey
Slinky falling - after letting go, the bottom initially“¦
A: goes up
B: goes down
C: doesn´t move
Dimension of triangle shape:________
Which way does it roll?
A: Toward the puller
B: Away from the puller
C: _____

The talk celebrated wrong solutions as well as the right solutions, under the idea, that from wrong solutions we can learn. For more information, please, visit www.momath.org.