Blog – Page 26 – Mathemafrica

Conference: Homological Methods in Algebra and Geometry at AIMS-Ghana

Dear all,

We are writing to inform you about a school and workshop titled “Homological Methods in Algebra and Geometry”. The first week will consist of three minicourses. The second week will comprise of research talks on these topics. The school and workshop are funded and supported by AIMS-Ghana and the ICTP.

Dates: 1st -12th of August 2016
Location: AIMS-Ghana, Biriwa, Ghana
Website: http://aimsictp2016.weebly.com/

The goals of the conference are twofold: on the one hand, to inspire the communication of state-of-the-art research within these flourishing areas and the exchange of ideas between them. On the other hand, to give African postgraduates and researchers the opportunity to get in touch with international experts in order to help them enter one of these fields.

Some funding is available to cover travel and local costs of participants. Preference will be given to those based in the region. Please consult the website for information on how to apply and register.…

By Tarig| March 5th, 2016|Conference|0 Comments

Computational Complexity; A Soft Approach

Motivation: Mathematics for the Masses

It is my firm conviction, and I preach it when ever I can, that one day in
the near future, mathematics shall save us all. A ”grand claim,” I hear you
say; but not at all, mathematics is believed by many to be the language of
Mother Universe, and indeed, those who have adopted it as a native tongue
have been granted glimpses into her secrets. Intuitively, my claim is not hard
to defend, given the pervasive influence that technology has over our lives; from
health to communication, entertainment, art and culture; science has become an
indispensable companion. Amongst the sciences, mathematics is the common
denominator that binds them all. It is the life blood of all other scientific inquiry.
As the world faces seemingly intractable challenges, be it global health, world
peace or universal prosperity, it has become imperative that more of us engage
in scientific exploration and innovation, for, if history is anything to go by, this
is where we shall find the answers we seek.…

By Tapiwa Chadenga| March 3rd, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Ishango, Nyakubereka Svomhu

Tikaverenga nezve matangiro nemakuriro akaita ruzivo resvomhu pasi rose, tino katyamadzwa kuti hakuna zvakawanda zvakanyorwa pamusoro wezvakaitwa nevanhu Africa yevatema. Kushaikwa kwezvinyorwa uku kunopa kuti tifunge kuti hapana ruzivo rwesvomhu rwakakosha runobva munzvimbo iyi. Asi ichi ichokwadi here? Tichitarisa matangiro akaita svomhu tinoona kuti yaive mbesa yekuti vanhu vakwanise kubudirira mutsinhana nemukurima. Makore churu apfuura Africa yevatema yekawona kukwira kwemarudzi avanhu kwakawanda; kukwirira uku kuchibva mutsinhanha nemukurima; Kwakaita vanonzi vaNok vekuma dokero kweAfrica, kwoitawo vaBuganda kumabvazuva, koitawo vainzi vanhu veGreat Kongo vachiri kuwanikwa pakati peAfrica; tisinga kanganwi rudzi rwekwaMutapa vaiva vakavaka Dzimba Dzemabwe; pamarudzi ose awa nemamwewo akakwira nekudonha hapana here rudzi rwakaumba ruzivo rwesvomu, sokuti mamwe acho akanga akabudikira zvakanyanya tichitarisa pasi rose nguva iyoyo. Mubvunzo uyu wakandipa kuti ndiite tsvagiridzo munyaya iyi, izvi ndizvo zvimwe zvakakosha zvandakawana.

Pano ganhurana nyika dzeD.R. Congo neUganda ndipo pane muromo werwizi rweNaire (Nile) unonzi Lake Edward. Makore makumi maviri ezviuru apfuura (25,000 years ago), pane musha wevanhu wakadzika midzi pamuganhu uyu.…

By Tapiwa Chadenga| March 1st, 2016|Uncategorized|1 Comment

Mathematics and Science are the keys to unlocking Africa’s potential

Angelina Lutambi was born into a peasant family in Tanzania’s Dodoma region, where HIV/AIDS has decimated much of the population. Her future could easily have been bleak – but Angelina had a keen aptitude for maths. She financed her own schooling by selling cold drinks with her siblings and was awarded a grant to study at the University of Dar Es Salaam.

How Many Languages Do You Speak?

I’m not sure how, but it’s been a month since my last post. It feels like it was just the other day that I was working on its first draft… Since my first blog dealt with the language of Mathematics, I thought I might continue the language theme for now as it is something that really interests me.

Let me start by asking you this: How often do you take being a First Language English speaker for granted? (Has this thought ever even crossed your mind?) Have you ever traveled to a foreign country and needed to communicate and found it difficult? Were you frustrated by this? What happens when you don’t have a very good grasp of a particular Language, would you want to speak it? Or read it? Or perhaps worse still, write it?

Well, I think this is the challenge that a number of learners face and they are often left feeling frustrated and misunderstood in their classrooms, particularly in South Africa, where we have 11 official languages.…

By Natalie Wood| February 22nd, 2016|English, Fun|4 Comments

How to reduce the fear of mathematics

I sat this morning reading a little of The Book of Life, by Krishnamurti – something which I like to browse through and ponder from time to time. This morning’s meditation somehow felt very apt as I attempt to get almost 800 students to enjoy mathematics, and learn its techniques as well as its beauty. The meditation was the following:

How is the state of attention to be brought about? It cannot be cultivated through persuasion, comparison, reward or punishment, all of which are forms of coercion. The elimination of fear is the beginning of attention. Fear must exist as long as there is an urge to be or to become, which is the pursuit of success, with all its frustrations and tortuous contradictions. You can’t teach concentration, but attention cannot be taught just as you cannot possibly teach freedom from fear; but we can begin to discover the causes that produce fear, and in understanding these causes there is the elimination of fear.

…

By Jonathan Shock| February 20th, 2016|Uncategorized|3 Comments

First week of lectures

So the first week of lectures has ended. In MAM1000 we have only dealt with sets and functions thus far, but in great detail using set builder and interval notation. In our first tutorial we have even started using parametric equations. The Modulus(Absolute value) Function had been added by the end of the week as well. Modulus function is nice to work with as the answer coming out of it must always be positive. If a variable (x) is shown in modulus it must be its non-negative version for example: if x in itself has a negative value then the value of x after modulus has been applied will be -x as this will then be a positive number. Similarly if x is positive then the output will be x. |x| is how modulus is written. We have now also learned that |x+y|<=|x|+|y|, this is called the Triangle inequality and is very important for future use.…

By Francois Kruger| February 20th, 2016|Uncategorized|2 Comments

Absolute values and inequalities

Things that I learnt today. Emphasis on the I, I couldn’t make for MAM1000W today.

Absolute value definition
Properties of absolute values
Rules for inequalities

Absolute value

The absolute value of a number represents the distance between that number and $0$ on the real number line. Absolute value of a number $n$ is denoted by $|n|$ which is equal to $\sqrt{n^{2}}$ which is from the distance formula. Since it is the distance between $0$ and $n$ Hence $|n|=n$ if $n \geq 0$ and $|n|=-n$ if $n < 0$

Properties of Absolute values

$|nm| = |n||m|$
$|\frac{n}{m}| = \frac{|n|}{|m|}, (m \neq 0)$
$|n^{m}| = |n|^{m}$

Let $n > 0$ then

$|m| = n \iff m = \pm{n}$
$|m| < n \iff -n < m < n$
$|m| > n \iff m > n, m < -n$

Rules for inequalities

if $n<m$ then $n+p<m+p$
if $n<m$ and $p<q$ then $n+p<m+q$
if $n<m$ and $p>0$ then $np<mp$
if $n<m$ and $p<0$ then $np>mp$
if $0<n<m$ then $\frac{1}{n}>\frac{1}{m}$

…

By Tumelo Lephadi| February 18th, 2016|Uncategorized|1 Comment

Lecture 2: Sets

List of the things I learnt today

Definition of a set
Different ways of representing a set
Different kinds of sets
Intervals
Combinations of sets
Set notation in functions

Definition of a set

A set is a collection of objects

Different ways of representing a set

Sets of objects are usually denoted by uppercase letters e.g.

let $\mathit{A}$ be the set of all odd numbers.The objects contained in a set are called elements which are denoted by lowercase letters e.g. $\mathit{a}$ is an element of $\mathit{A}$ .

A set can be represented in two ways:

1.List

$\mathit{A}=\{a, b, c, d\}$

The set above is an finite list, you can count the number of elements.

$\mathit{B}=\{a, b, c, d,... t\}$

Is also a finite list. It’s important to present enough elements to produce a sequence if the use of ellipses is implemented for shorthand purposes.

$\mathit{C}=\{1, 2, 3, 5, 8,... \}$

This is an infinite set, you cannot count the number of elements in the set.

2. Set Builder Notation

$\mathit{D}=\{e \in \mathbb{R} : \mathit{C} (e) \}$

In the example above $e$ is an element in the set $\mathbb{R}$ where $\mathit{C} (e)$ is a characteristic of the elements which are specific to set $\mathit{D}$ or you can replace “:” with”|”.…

By Tumelo Lephadi| February 17th, 2016|Uncategorized|3 Comments

Lecture 1: Ways to represent a function.

So today we basically learnt about different ways to represent a function and we defined what a function is in detail.

First things first, what is a function?

A function is a rule that assigns each element x ( x being any independent variable ) in a set A exactly one element, f(x) ( f(x) being a dependent variable ) in a set B.

From that definition of a function we can now distinguish the different types of ways to represent a function.

I only know four ways, maybe there’s more… idk

algebraically, with the use of an equation
graphs
tables
or just in words

So we also learnt how to test if a graph represents a function. To do that you have to use the vertical line test. which means that anywhere within the domain of the graph if an x value has more than one f(x) value assigned to it then that graph does not represent a function.…

By Tumelo Lephadi| February 15th, 2016|Uncategorized|2 Comments

Previous 24 25 26 27 28 Next