Why Thrown Objects follow Quadratic Paths (VIDEO!)

In algebra class one studies quadratic curves. Students are always told that they are relevant because the U-shaped paths objects thrown in the air follow are the same U-shapes that arise from quadratic curves. How do we know? Not all Us in nature are the same! Most books don’t give an explanation as it involves calculus (just accept it as a fact and now do these 50 problems). But it is possible to give an explanation that seems mathematically right, and at the same time pinpoints what the real calculus issue is. Here it is!

Thrown Objects

• ON-LINE SHORT COURSES!

  QUADRATICS, Permutations and Combinations, EXPLODING DOTS, and more!

  Written for educators - and their students too! - this website, slowly growing, takes all the content Tanton has developed in his books, videos, and workshops, and organizes it into short, self-contained, and complete, curriculum units proving that mathematics, at all points of the school curriculum, can be joyous, fresh, innovative, rich, deep-thinking, and devoid of any rote doing! Let's teach generations of students to be self-reliant thinkers, willing to flail and to use their common sense to "nut their way" through challenges, to assess and judge results, and to adjust actions to find success. (Great life skills!)

  CHECK OUT: www.gdaymath.com

• Books

  • Thinking Mathematics! (TEN VOLUMES)
  • Solve This: Mathematical Activities for Students and Clubs
  • Encyclopedia of Mathematics
  • Geometry I & II

• Get in touch

  Email: tanton.math@gmail.com