Poll - Tutorial on Modeling Systems Using Mathematics

[Daedalus]

As many of you are aware, I post challenges in the Brain Teasers and Puzzles forum in order to help others expand upon their mathematical abilities. I actually have developed these challenges myself (except for the cow, a rope, and a round barn challenge) without looking them up in books or on the internet. I have been doing this since 1994 and have gotten pretty good at modeling - deriving mathematical equations that predict the behavior of a system. I have learned how to recognize patterns that allow me to reduce problems (series of numbers) into manageable equations that are put together much like pieces in a puzzle. Thus, mathematical modeling is the most extreme form of puzzle solving because instead of putting jigsaw pieces together to arrive at the big picture, you are using mathematical patterns (equations) to do the same. This is different from most people's experience in math class where they are asked to input numbers into predefined equations to obtain a numerical result or solve for some unknown value of [math]x[/math]. With modeling, you actually derive your own equations.

 

I believe modeling / pattern recognition needs to be taught because it teaches you how to be a true mathematician. Therefore, I've decided to create this poll to see how many of you are interested in learning how to model your own mathematical systems. If enough people are interested, I will create a tutorial regarding this subject. We will start by exploring simple patterns that are universal to most every system, and work our way towards modeling complex systems. You do not have to be a math expert to benefit from this because you will be learning how to recognize patterns in numbers. All you need is the desire to learn math, but it also helps if you like / love solving puzzles.

 

To show you the type of systems that can be solved, the following are links to my challenges and a tutorial I produced for SFN:

 

Daedalus' First Challenge

Daedalus' Second Challenge

Daedalus' Third Challenge

Daedalus' Fourth Challenge

Daedalus' Fifth Challenge

 

and

 

Tutorial on Finding the Maximum and Minimum Values of a Function

Edited August 30, 2012 by Daedalus