Exploring and connecting : inradius and factorisation

Patil, Swasti and Laxshmisha, Siddharth and Christino, Davin (2021) Exploring and connecting : inradius and factorisation. At Right Angles. pp. 73-78. ISSN 2582-1873

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Abstract

During a few online sessions with students an exploration was made on inradius and its relationship with integer-sided right triangles. This article compiled by 9-year-old Swasti, explains the thought process that evolved during the sessions. In a regular classroom setting, a problem on calculating the inradius for a particular right triangle may be tackled and considered solved when the required value is obtained. But in these sessions, the goal was not only to arrive at answers but also to pose new problems that came to mind during the process of solution. Thus, you will see how the problem did not end with finding the inradius and how the students probed (and were sometimes nudged or even pushed) into questions involving how many possible solutions exist. In this process, they wandered into a factorization problem through a problem in geometry. This is an account of a discussion with students of different age groups (9 to 14 years). All of them had the understanding of congruence, tests of congruence in triangles, inradius, generalisation of Pythagorean triplets, some properties of circles – such as the radius and tangent are perpendicular at the point of contact, solving equations and manipulating algebraic expressions.

Item Type: Articles in APF Magazines
Authors: Patil, Swasti and Laxshmisha, Siddharth and Christino, Davin
Document Language:
Language
English
Uncontrolled Keywords: Inradius, Right angled triangle, Pythagorean Triplets, Exploration
Subjects: Natural Sciences > Mathematics
Divisions: Azim Premji University > University Publications > At Right Angles
Full Text Status: Public
URI: http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/3024
Publisher URL:

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