Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
Skip to main content

M2.4.1

Understands the basic characteristics of the real-number system and its subsystems.

Pilots, Airplanes, and the Tangent of Three (3) Degrees

When approaching an airport, pilots must learn to maneuver their aircraft visually, so that a stabilized approach to the runway can be flown at a constant approach angle. Precise approach planning insures a smooth transition to a landing within the Touchdown Zone (1) of the runway. Pilots must sometimes execute visual approaches that are varied in size, shape, and angle based upon a variety of factors such as: other aircraft, obstructions, noise abatement, or prevailing weather conditions. The standard approach angle however, is 3°.

View the full Example

Learning from Slide Rules

In the days before calculators and personal computers an engineer always had a slide rule nearby. These days it is difficult to locate a slide rule outside of a museum.

I don't know how many of those who have used a slide rule ever thought of it as an analog computer, but that is really what it is. As such, the slide rule can be used to teach the modern view of the relationship between nature and mathematics and about the formalization of this concept known as isomorphism, which is one of the most pervasive and important concepts in mathematics.

View the full Example