The Rice and the Chessboard

The Rice and the Chessboard

1)   There is a man who invented the chess game and showed it to the emperor of India, and therefore the emperor fell in love with the game and asked the man to name his rewards and whatever he wishes for.  The man asks the emperor to give him one grain for the first square of the chessboard, tow grains for the next square, four for the next, and son on for all 64 squares, with each square having to double the number of grains. The emperor agreed to his offer and was impressed by his simple request. Days later, his treasurer informed him that this reward would add up to enormous sums that could possible be produced in many centuries.

2)   In this story,  I find it easy to grasp how functions like “doubling” makes numbers grow, these function are called “exponential functions” and are found every where around us. So, when the ma asks the emperor to fill the first square with grains until he fills up the 64 squares, he will double and add up to huge amounts.  This also represents an exponential growth function because the value of an exponential function always increases in this case. Plus, the value doubles, so like everything x increases by 1, the value of the function doubles.

 3) I believe literature is an effective way to teach and learn a mathematical concept to develop understanding and develop my skills. It requires people of all ages to think about what words and numbers mean in real life. Math in literature is an ideal context in which to discuss exactly what words mean. For example, some time people learn how to use language and mathematical thinking helps in many areas because everything has a connection to math, and math connects to everything. Also, most stories depend on logical ideas, such as classifications and conditionals. This helped me connect my math concepts through reading the story and then develop related math ideas and conclusions.