From: Steve Waltz <waltz.steve@hsmv.state.fl.us>
To: Teacher2Teacher Service
Date: Jul 21, 2006 at 12:13:13
Subject: Historic Calculations

Whether they do the experiment or not, I like the idea of having students 
repeat the calculation Eratostenes used to estimate the circumference of 
the Earth. The source I first used was 
http://www.sailtexas.com/belowconvergence3.html. It states that the angle 
measured about 7 1/4 degrees, but the estimate of 25,000 miles is the 
same as most other sources which define the angle as about 7.2 degrees. 
Using 7.25 would have produced an estimate (about 24,828 miles) closer to 
the true value (about 24,860). I'd like to recreate historic calculations 
as applications of various math techniques, such as calculations of the 
age of ancient rocks using radioactive decay ratios or perhaps an 
estimate of how long the air supply on Apollo 13 would last when the 
astronauts encountered their famous dilemma. Does anyone know of any 
collections of historic calculations or have any examples they would like 
to share?

Post a public discussion message
Ask Teacher2Teacher a new question