It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these, but I’ve been itching to give away a Math Guide for a while, and I woke up with this question in my head, so I figured I’d let ‘er rip. Full contest rules are here, but the important rules are below: You must live in (more…)
It’s exciting times around PWN HQ—lots of things going on. 2014 should be a fun year for SAT prep. That has nothing to do with this contest, of course. I just like to open these contest posts with a little friendly chatter. I bet nobody even reads this stuff. :/ ANYWAY, here’s a challenge question! (more…)
I was just noodling around with Geometer’s Sketchpad today, you know—like a totally normal person, and I made this figure, which I thought would make an awesome challenge question. Wasn’t even planning to post a challenge question, and then BAM! Inspiration. In the figure above, equilateral triangle DEF is partially obscured by a semicircle with (more…)
Yesterday I went to a museum and waited in line for a very long time for my turn to spend 5 minutes staring at a piece of art that completely mystified me. I guess it’s good art if I’m still thinking about it a day later, even if the thoughts I’m having mostly revolve around (more…)
This morning I was lying in bed waiting for my alarm to go off, and a question just popped into my head. This happens to me fairly often, but usually I’m too lazy to write it down, then I forget it, then I spend the rest of the day trying to convince myself that it (more…)
Phew! It’s only been like three weeks since I last posted but in Internet time that’s forever. Sorry about that. I’ve got about two weeks left in my Master’s program, and I’ve been completely inundated by papers and presentations. My thesis is basically eating me alive. I seriously don’t know how I’m going to get (more…)
You know, It’s funny. When I sit down to write one of these, I usually have a rough sketch in my mind of how the question’s going to go. But half the time, the problem completely evolves into something else by the time I’m done with it. I’m not sure why that is. It could (more…)
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a challenge question. There are two main reasons: my own schoolwork, and the fact that most of my PWN time in the past month or so was dedicated to the Essay Guide. Now that I’m done with that, it’s time to get back in the swing of things (more…)
My holiday book giveaway is still going strong until January 1, and you can still get your name in there to try to win the daily random drawing, but I figured it was high time for another challenge question. The first person to post a comment on this post with the correct answer will win (more…)
Someone requested recently at my Q&A page that I post a challenge question about direct and inverse variation. I quickly agreed, but it’s taken me longer than I wanted it to because I’ve been having a hard time hitting the right level of difficulty for a challenge question. I’m still not sure I’ve nailed it, (more…)
Someone on the Q&A page asked me to do one of these “point A to point B” questions, so I figured I’d try to come up with one worthy of being called a challenge question. I think this is a bit easier than the usual. I expect someone to get it pretty quickly. Please note: (more…)
Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, this has been a rough week for a lot of people. If you’re feeling charitable, please note that I am still giving away Math Guides for donations to the Red Cross. Let me note, before we get into this, that these challenge questions are WAY harder than anything you’d see on (more…)
Since you guys tore up my last challenge question so quickly, I figured I’d make this one a tiny bit harder. Let’s see if I can’t stump you for more than 8 minutes. First correct response in the comments gets a free Math Guide. Usual contest rules apply. Ready? Here we go! In the figure (more…)
Hey guys. Hope you’ve been well. I’ve been buried under mountains of work for grad school. It’s awesome. I’ve also been answering a ton of questions over at my Q&A site, which is really awesome, minus the sarcasm inherent in the previous usage of “awesome.” Anyway, I was thinking about you guys the other day, (more…)
I’m going to be out of town for a few days, so I won’t be able to post a solution for this until probably Monday, but hopefully I’ll be able to check in and at least congratulate the winner, who will receive a free copy of my Math Guide. A student is drawing concentric circles, (more…)
