Mathematics in a Story
Jeffrey Williams
I
'"The King's Chessboard" by David Birch, is a story about an Indian king who wants to reward a wise man for his years of service. However, the wise man refuses to accept any kind of reward. But, king commands the wise man to choose a reward. While thinking of a reward, the wise man notices the king's 64-tile chessboard asks to receive a grain of rice for the each tile on the chessboard starting with one grain of rice on the first day and amount of rice he receives doubling the previous days amount for the next 64 days. The king, a bit little perplexed, grants him his reward after being to proud to admit that he need help calculating the amount of rice this reward would add up to. The next day, a royal servant delivers one grain of rice to the wise man as per the agreement. The next day, the amount of rice the wise man receives doubles to 2 grains, the third day the amount of rice doubles to 4 grains, and so on and so forth. As the amount of rice being sent the wise man rapidly increases, the staff in charge of the royal granary begin to take notice and notify the king about how much rice this is costing him. Growing more concerned over the amount of rice being being sent to the wise man, he has the royal mathematicians calculate how much rice this will cost him by the 64th day. The number is staggering; realizing that he could pay the wise man the amount of rice that he owes him, The king summons the wise man to the royal palace and commands the wise man to tell him what would satisfy the wise man. The wise man tells the king that he was satisfied serving his king and did not want a reward. The wise man point outs that it was the king who was not satisfied and insisted that the wise man pick a reward. The wise man then concedes that he picked the reward he did to teach the king a lesson about being too prideful.
'"The King's Chessboard" by David Birch, is a story about an Indian king who wants to reward a wise man for his years of service. However, the wise man refuses to accept any kind of reward. But, king commands the wise man to choose a reward. While thinking of a reward, the wise man notices the king's 64-tile chessboard asks to receive a grain of rice for the each tile on the chessboard starting with one grain of rice on the first day and amount of rice he receives doubling the previous days amount for the next 64 days. The king, a bit little perplexed, grants him his reward after being to proud to admit that he need help calculating the amount of rice this reward would add up to. The next day, a royal servant delivers one grain of rice to the wise man as per the agreement. The next day, the amount of rice the wise man receives doubles to 2 grains, the third day the amount of rice doubles to 4 grains, and so on and so forth. As the amount of rice being sent the wise man rapidly increases, the staff in charge of the royal granary begin to take notice and notify the king about how much rice this is costing him. Growing more concerned over the amount of rice being being sent to the wise man, he has the royal mathematicians calculate how much rice this will cost him by the 64th day. The number is staggering; realizing that he could pay the wise man the amount of rice that he owes him, The king summons the wise man to the royal palace and commands the wise man to tell him what would satisfy the wise man. The wise man tells the king that he was satisfied serving his king and did not want a reward. The wise man point outs that it was the king who was not satisfied and insisted that the wise man pick a reward. The wise man then concedes that he picked the reward he did to teach the king a lesson about being too prideful.
"The King's Chessboard" explains exponential functions by demonstrating how the number of rice increases if the amount is doubled everyday for 64 days. At first, the wise man receives just 1 grain of rice. The next day, he receives 2 grains of rice. The day after that, he receives 4 grains of rice. And on the fifth day, he receives 8 rains of rice, and the number keeps on doubling. This demonstrates the real world application of the exponential function 2^n.
Literature is an effective way to learn mathematical concepts because its a good way to show readers the application of mathematical concepts in a real world context. For example, the use of an exponential function in "The King's Chessboard" shows readers the affects of doubling. In the case of the book, one grain of rice is doubled for 64 days which quickly adds up. Readers can then take the concept exponential functions and apply it to other parts of their lives such as personal finance. Another reason literature is such an effective way to learn math is it keeps the reader engaged with the material by conveying it inside a story. This keeps the reader is entertained and at the same time incentivized to learn the math in order to help understand the story.
Part
b:
1. After completing your blog entry, thoughtfully
and critically comment (praise and/or critique) on the posts of members in your
blog group.
Very nice job Jeff! This story, much like the one in class does a great job of explaining the concept of exponential growth
ReplyDeleteI liked the story because it is really easy to learn exponential growth and Professor Little had told us a similar story about it. I guess everybody loves rice!
ReplyDeletejeff,
ReplyDeletenice job! good explanations and well detailed synopsis of the narrative. it is true what you say that it literature helps to keep one entertained while learning.
professor little