Activity 2 - The Tower of Hanoi Mathematical puzzles have been developed over the centuries, dating as far back as Ancient Egypt More contemporary versions include Rubik's Cube and Sudoku, The Tower of Hanoi is a puzzle invented by Edouard Lucas in 1883 that is based on a legend, According to the legend, there is a Hindu temple that contains three large posts and 64 different gold disks, All the disks are on one post, ordered in size with the largest disk at the bottom and the smallest on top, The temple priests must move the disks one ata time from one post to another, never placing a larger disk on top of a smaller one, The puzzle is completed (and the world ends!) when all of the disks are again stacked on another post in order from largest (on the bottom) to smallest (on top), How many moves would it take to complete the puzzle? a Simulate the puzzle using three disks to start with, You can draw the posts and disks or you can use coins to represent the disks, You can play an online version of the Tower of Henol game by going to the mathisfun.com | yess website and searching for Tower of Hanoi, The game will keep track of the number of moves and you can gradually increase the number of disks as you solve the puzzle, oo oo b Whatis the minimum number of moves you need to transfer three disks from the fist post to the last, following the rule of never placing a larger disk on top ofa smaller one? a 1 Number Cortincedon rext pagep Investigation 2 - Positive and negative bases © Gradually increase the number of disks as you solve the puzzle and record your results in a table like the one below. Number of disks | Minimum number of moves 3 4 5 6 d Based on the patter in your table, what is the minimum number of moves required for the priests to move all 64 of the disks to the last pole? Write your answer using an exponent. e Use exponents to write a rule for the minimum number of moves required to solve the puzzle with n disks. f If there were no disks, show that your rule correctly predicts the minimum number of moves necessary to solve the puzzle. Inall examples you have met before, the base has been a positive integer. What happens if the base is negative? How does that affect the value of the quantity? 1 Find the value of each of the following. 2 2 a 2 B 3 3 x # 36 2 e “4 4 * 52 33 54 5 58 GP En eI ENS (22 22-2825 PF 37 3 G8 2. Generalize your results and write down a rule related to the result of raising @ positive and negative base to an exponent. 3 Verify your rule for two more examples of your own choosing. 4 Justify why your rule works, Like bases, exponents can also be integers. But what would an exponent of 0 or -1 mean? “4Zero and negative powers The typical definition of an exponent is “the number of times you multiply a base number by itself”. However, exponents can be integers, decimals and even fractions. How do these unfamiliar powers fit into this very familiar definition? O Investigation 3 - Zero and negative exponents 1 What do you think 6° is equal to? Explain your thinking. 2. What do you think 4" is equal to? Explain your thinking. 3 Copy and complete the table by finding the value of each of the following powers, Write each answer as either a whole number ora fraction, No decimals allowed! if you are unsure of the value of a power, simply follow the pattern you can seein the powers above it. 2 = 34= 2 = ‘4 Repeat the same process, starting with 7 | and ending with ey) \ Based on your results, what conclusion can you draw about an exponent of zero? Based on your results, wnat conclusion can you draw about negative exponents? awa Write your conclusions as general rules, using variables instead of specific numeric examples. 8 Verify your rules for two more examples of your own, using a pattern similar to the ones above, 9 Justify why each of your rules works. za 41. NumberBeflect and discuss 4 ‘Explain how the results of Investigation 3 challenge the typical definition of an exponent. 2 2 ‘© What do you thinkis the vue or 3} ? Explain your answer, © Create a memory aid to help you to remember your rules for zero and negative exponents. Example 2 @) Find the value of each of the following: Two fractions that multiply to 1 are called reciprocals, For example, Zand jae reciprocals since 2 ‘A\ Practice 2 1 Find the value of each of the following. Write your answer as either a whole number ora fraction. a6? f 9 (a) p -122 b C3 108 dis e (8 g? has is i @2ye Wa) Ge Gy ofl scree 2 Rewrite each of the following in the form a’, where @ and 4 are integers (no fractions). a4x4x4x4x4dx4 b 1 170 1 1 5xSMENEMS © Trap e -7(-) CI) (CDCI) 3 Order the quantities in each set of four from lowest to highest. Show your working. a5 42 3I ( ay bars (A) Gs) e722 13 (2F a avs a (3) 4 Ricardo says: “5° equals zero because you have zero 5s, which means you don’t have anything, You have zero.” Explain any faults in his thinking, 5 Talei says: “Negative exponents make fractions. If the negative exponent is already in the denominator of a fraction, then it makes an integer.” Is Talei correct? Explain. 6 Anna says: “eh must be 4 since you have half of 8.” Explain why this thinking is faulty. 7 Thomas states: “A positive exponent is the number of times you multiply the base. A negative exponent is the number of times you divide by the base.” Do you agree? Explain your answer, a 1 Number > Cortinved on rextpage8 The development of the current metric system of units began in France in the 18th century. Basic units for measurements like angles, lengths, mass and capacity were created, often derived from the properties of natural objects such as water. For example, | liter of water has a mass of 1 kg. Multiples or divisions of these units could be created by using prefixes, such as those used in the units millimeter and kilogram. Some of the prefixes are given in the table below. Copy and complete the table. Prefix Exponential form Expanded form giga 108 mega 1/000 000 kilo 103 deci 10"! centi 500 mil 7000 micro 10% | nano 7000000000 pico 19-2 femto 0000000000000 ato 19-8 | ag A set of 14 year old twins created the Scale of the Universe application, which allows you to see how large different powers of 10 are. Go to the site http://ntwins:net/scale2/ where you can scroll to see everything from the smallest of subatomic particles to the largest of celestial objects. Multiplying powers ‘You already know that 2? means 2 x 2 and 24means 2 x 2x22. Is it possible to multiply 22 and 24 and, if so, how is this similar or different to the multiplication you do already? In the following investigations you will look for patterns and determine general tules about how to find the product of two or more powers. "AO Investigation 4 - Product rule 1 Copy and complete this table. Question _| Expanded form Simplified form Px 2x2x2x2x2x2 eB BxP 2x2 xy wx we Wx hex he 2 Describe any patterns that you see among your answers in each row. 3 Describe a rule that you could use to multiply 42 x 422, 4 Generalize your rule to multiplying powers with any base, Be sure to use variables rather than specific numeric examples. 5 You know that 2° means 2 x 2x 2x 2x2 x 2, Rearrange this in as many different ways as possible by inserting brackets. For example, 2 x (2x 2x 2x 2x 2) or (2x 2) x (2x2) x (2x 2), 6 Compare your representations with those of a peer. How many different representations can you find? 7 Knowing that all your representations should all equal 26, show that your representations follow the rule that you found in step 4. 8 Verify your rule from step 4 for two more exemples of your own, with a base other than 2. 9 Justify why your rule works. Reflect and discuss 5 ‘© Can you use the rule you discovered in investigation 4 with an expression like 22 x 3*? Explain your answer, describing any limitations on the bases involved in the multiplication. © Can you use your rule with an expression like 45 x 4-2? Explain, ‘* What limitations, if any, are there on the exponents? Explain, a” 1 Number