Articles

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    Mathematical mysteries: How unilluminating!

    In the 1950's, Ernst Straus asked a seemingly simple problem. Imagine a dark room with lots of turns and side-passages, where all the walls are covered in mirrors - just like the Hall of Mirrors in an old-fashioned fun-fair. Is it true that if someone lights a match somewhere in the room, then wherever you stand in the rest of the room (even down a side-passage) you can see a reflection of the match?
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    Editorial

    • Darkened skies
    • Interesting times
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    Galloping gyroscopes

    If boomerangs are really gyroscopes, then what are gyroscopes? In this article, we explore some more of the physics of gyroscopes, and demonstrate some interesting experiments you can do with them.
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    The origins of proof

    Starting in this issue, PASS Maths is pleased to present a series of articles about proof and logical reasoning. In this article we give a brief introduction to deductive reasoning and take a look at one of the earliest known examples of mathematical proof.
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    Mathematical Mysteries: Trisecting the Angle

    Bisecting a given angle using only a pair of compasses and a straight edge is easy. But trisecting it - dividing it into three equal angles - is in most cases impossible. Why?
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    Bang up a boomerang!

    Here's how you can make your own cross-shaped boomerang - and it's safe enough to fly indoors! Hugh rolls up his sleeves and proves that theory isn't everything.
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    Unspinning the boomerang

    Unspinning the boomerang

    In this article, we look at the physics behind the curved flight path of a returning boomerang, and explain that boomerangs are really a kind of gyroscope. We even show you how to bang up a boomerang yourself!

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    sunrise over earth

    Time and motion

    Whatever is so wonderful about point B that makes all the people at point A want to get there? Robert Hunt sits at point C, and muses on the problem.
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    Mathematical mysteries: the three body problem

    On June 25th 1998 the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory known as SOHO, a small spacecraft that monitors the sun, went missing. An error in the instructions given to it from ground control left it spinning out of control. However, there is a glimmer of hope.

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    Editorial

    • Roll-over malevolence
    • Time to change
    • Understanding science
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    Modelling nature with fractals

    Computer games and cinema special effects owe much of their realism to the study of fractals. Martin Turner takes you on a journey from the motion of a microscopic particle to the creation of imaginary moonscapes.