ERIC Number: EJ856236
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Sep
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0746-8342
EISSN: N/A
The Truck Driver's Straw Problem and Cantor Sets
Iga, Kevin
College Mathematics Journal, v39 n4 p280-290 Sep 2008
A colleague was moving, and someone on the professional moving crew, upon hearing she was a mathematician, asked what happens when you repeatedly transfer water back and forth between two classes using a straw. The question is simple to solve if you alternate which glass you transfer from and to, but if more general patters are allowed, some surprises arise. Depending on the size of the straw, the set of achievable limit points may be an interval, or a Cantor set.
Descriptors: Mathematics Instruction, College Mathematics, Problem Solving, Mathematical Concepts, Intervals
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A