ERIC Number: EJ955430
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-May
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0025-5785
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Volume of a Doughnut
Griffiths, Martin
Mathematics Teaching, n222 p29-30 May 2011
Although not all children may enjoy eating them, it is fairly safe to assume that most students will at least know what ring doughnuts are, and what they look like. Familiarity with these intriguingly-shaped items of patisserie means that students will not immediately be daunted at the thought of doing some mathematics with the relatively complicated mathematical objects they approximate, namely "tori"--"torus" in the singular. In this article, the author provides a stretching theoretical challenge for able Year 10 pupils. The aim is to obtain a formula for the volume of a torus so that the approximate volume of any given ring doughnut may easily be calculated. (Contains 3 figures.)
Descriptors: Familiarity, Food, Mathematics Education, Mathematics, Foreign Countries, Computation, Student Attitudes, Grade 9, Geometry, Secondary School Students, Mathematics Teachers, Secondary Education
Association of Teachers of Mathematics. Unit 7 Prime Industrial Park, Shaftesbury Street, Derby, DE23 8YB, UK. Tel: +44-1332-346599; e-mail: admin@atm.org.uk; Web site: http://www.atm.org.uk/mt/index.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Grade 9; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A