Maximum Cylinder Volume given one A4 page

Which way should we roll the sheet of A4 to maximise the volume of the resulting cylinder?

(a) Long Thin?

(b) Short Fat?
(c) It shouldn’t matter, they have the same volume.
 Maximum Cylinder Volume given one A4 page

Which way should we roll the sheet of A4 to maximise the volume of the resulting cylinder?

(a) Long Thin?

(b) Short Fat?
(c) It shouldn’t matter, they have the same volume.

Answer:

(a) Long Thin = 1028.90 ()*

(b) Short Fat = 1457.20 ()*

The Short Fat cylinder has a greater volume as it has a bigger radius, which is
squared in the formula for volume of a cylinder . = 01 2 ×ℎ , and hence has a
greater effect than the change in height.
Is this number really divisible by all numbers 1-10?
Answ:

The number has all of its digits arranged in alphabetical order.

Divisibility Rules:

Is this number really divisible by all numbers 1-10?

Your calculator, and possibly the internet will suggest so, but why not check divisibility by 7
on your calculator (or does the calculator just round to 10 sig. figures?)
3 48 120

4 49 121

900 1600

N-1 N N+1

5 96

9 100
 3 48 120

4 49 121

899 1599

900 1600

6399 8099

(N-1)×(N+1) A nice way to introduce the

Difference of Squares:

!' ! ' − 1 = (! − 1)×(! + 1)

N-1 N N+1

Extension Activity ! − 2 × ! + 2 = !' − 4

5 96

9 100
Questions:

Prove that Junk Junction, Haunted Hills and Snobby Shores are collinear
points.
Find two pairs of destinations with perpendicular journeys
Which location is an integer distance from 4 other locations?
Anarchy Acres is exactly the same distance away from which two locations?
 Counter intuitive measurement
(a) Suppose you tie a rope tightly around the Earth's equator ( CE ). You add an extra 1
meter to the length of the rope. All around the Earth the rope is raised up uniformly as
high as is possible to make it tight again ( LR ). How high is that? (i.e. What is the
difference between RE and RR ?)

(b) What would happen if we performed the same trick with a beach ball or even with
my waistline? (ie. Adding just 100 cm each time to the circumference and reworking the
radius.)
 Counter intuitive measurement
(a) Suppose you tie a rope tightly around the Earth's equator ( CE ). You add an extra 1
meter to the length of the rope. All around the Earth the rope is raised up uniformly as
high as is possible to make it tight again ( LR ). How high is that? (i.e. What is the
difference between RE and RR ?)

Answ:

Start by performing some simple conversions (lets

work in cm).

Radius of earth ( RE ) ~ 6350km (635,000,000 cm)

Hence circumference ( CE ) = 2πr

=2×π × 635,000,000

= 3,989,822,670 cm

Now lets add 1m (100 cm) to the circumference of the earth in cm ( CE ).

New circumference ( LR ) = 3,989,822,670 + 100

= 3,989,822,770 cm.

Now we work backwards to find the new radius ( RR ), given the larger circumference (
LR ).

Hence 3,989,822,770 = 2 × π × RR

3,989,822, 770
RR =
2π

RR = 635,000,0015.9 cm

Hence the difference between RE and RR is 635,000,0015.9 – 635,000,000 = 15.9cm

(b) What would happen if we performed the same trick with a beach ball or even with
my waistline? (ie. Adding just 100 cm each time to the circumference and reworking the
radius.)

Answ: The result would be the same (15.9 cm). The answer is independent of the radius
of the original round object.
 Investigating ISBN’s

(a) The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a 10-digit number that uniquely identifies books
and book-like products published internationally.

The maths behind these codes provides good practice for multiplication, division and addition.

Refer to diagram below:

There are 10 digits, including the 3 on the end that is the “check digit”.

Simply multiply the 1st digit by one, the second by 2, the third by 3 and so on up to the ninth digit by 9. Add
all the products and divide the sum by 11.

The remainder after dividing by 11 is the check digit!

In this example:

0×1 + 1×2 + 3×3 + 0×4 + 4×5 + 1×6 + 7×7 + 1×8 + 7×9

= 0 + 2 + 9 + 0 + 20 + 6 + 49 + 8 + 63

= 157 Now 157 = 11×14 + 3

An interesting question to pose is what an “X” might represent in the check

digit position.

(b) 13 Digit ISBN’s were introduced in 2005 and all started with 978 (now 979)

The mathematics behind them is just as nice to practice basic numeric skills.