SpaceMath@NASA :SpaceMath@NASA :

Putting the ‘N’ back in STEMPutting the ‘N’ back in STEM

ASP Annual Meeting August 3, 2011ASP Annual Meeting August 3, 2011

Dr. Sten Odenwald Dr. Sten Odenwald (NASA / ADNET)(NASA / ADNET)

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics:

"We live in a mathematical world. In such a world, those who understand and can do mathematics will have opportunities

that others do not.

Mathematical competence opens doors to productive futures.

A lack of mathematical competence closes those doors."

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Mathematics in the News

Scale = 10 km / centimeter Smallest crater = 1 mm or 1 kilometer!

Dawn Spacecraft and Asteroid Vesta

Distance traveled = 2.8 billion km

Time = 4 years

2.8 billion km

Speed = ---------------------- = 700 million km / year 4 years

Distance traveled = 2.8 billion km

Time = 4 years

2.8 billion km

Speed = ---------------------- = 700 million km / year 4 years

Unit Conversion to km/hour

700 million km 1 yr 1 day-------------------------- x --------------- x -------------- = 79,900 km/hr 1 year 365 days 24 hours

Bizarro solar system with cubical star and planet!

Bizarro solar system with cubical star and planet!

From Earth, the transiting planet dims the starlight during its transit.

The fraction of starlight dimming is just given by the ratio of their projected cross-sections:

Star = 16Planet = 4

Ap 4--- = -----A* 16

From Earth, the transiting planet dims the starlight during its transit.

The fraction of starlight dimming is just given by the ratio of their projected cross-sections:

The star HAT-P-7

Distance 320 parsecsMass 1.5 sunsTemperature 6350 KRadius 1.2 million km

The graph shows that the star dimmed to 0.9930 from an initial brightness of 1.0000

What is the radius of the transiting planet?

Initial brightness 1.0000Final brightness 0.9930

Dimming = 0.007Rs = 1.2 million km

Our answer = 100,000 km.

Jupiter R = 71,000 km

So we got : 1.4 times Jupiter.

NASA Research finds 2010 Tied for Warmest Year on Record (January 12, 2011) 'The analysis found 2010 approximately 1.13° F warmer than the average global surface temperature from 1951 to 1980. To measure climate change, scientists look at long-term trends. The temperature trend, including data from 2010, shows

the climate has warmed by approximately 0.36 °F per decade since the late 1970s. 'If the warming trend continues, as is expected, and if greenhouse gases continue to increase, the 2010 record will not stand for long,' said James Hansen, the director of the NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies."

+0.61 +0.15Slope = -------------------- so rate = +0.19 C / decade 4 decades F = 9/5 C + 32

so rate = 9/5 (+0.19) = +0.34 F/decade

NASA Research finds 2010 Tied for Warmest Year on Record (January 12, 2011) 'The analysis found 2010 approximately 1.13° F warmer than the average global surface temperature from 1951 to 1980. To measure climate change, scientists look at long-term trends. The temperature trend, including data from 2010, shows

the climate has warmed by approximately 0.36 °F per decade since the late 1970s. 'If the warming trend continues, as is expected, and if greenhouse gases continue to increase, the 2010 record will not stand for long,' said James Hansen, the director of the NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies."

P1 (1970 ,-0.15 C)P2 ((2010,+0.61 C)

2050

+0.9 C

Manual forecasting with a ruler

y2 – y1Y – y1 = -------------- (X – x1) so y = +0.0068 X – 13.06 x2 – x1

For x = 2050 we have y = 0.0068(2050) – 13.06 = +0.88 C ( +1.6 F)

Forecasting with algebra

Space Math @ NASA

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Hundreds of problems for grades 3-12New ones added every week as

new press releases appearand my medication starts working

Dr. Sten OdenwaldSten.Odenwald@nasa.gov