Search
Close this search box.

The Roads of Math

The Roads of Math

Take a line, a straight line, And divide it into three.

Make the three lines form three angles, And a triangle have we.

Now take this little triangle And twirl it about in space.

Twirl the triangle ’round and ’round; A cone is what we face.

Now look at the bottom of our cone.

We see a circle true.

Now let’s examine the circle And what it can do for you.

Let’s draw a line through the center Of our circle round.

We’ve discovered something new: The diameter we’ve found.

Let’s look at the line ’round the circle.

The circumference says, “Hi!”

Divide the circumference by the diameter, And we’ve found the number
Pi.^1^

Now take our semicircle

And take a point on the rim. Using the diameter, form a triangle.

(It doesn’t take much vim.)

Look carefully at this triangle.

If you do, something different you’ll see, For the largest of its angles

Has exactly ninety degrees.

Now take two of these new right angles.

Put their vertices ^2^ in the circle’s center, there. With the diameter
under one side of each angle,

We’re ready to form a square.

Mark the points on the circumference Where the right angles do fall.

Construct triangles in both semicircles, And that is all.

From a line, to a triangle, to a cone, To a circle, to Pi, to a square.

We have traveled the roads of math, Which will take you anywhere!

Jeffrey DieUe

  1. Pi is a Greek letter that looks like this ir. In mathematics, Pi is
    a symbol for a number close to 3.14. To find the circumference of a
    circle, multiply the diameter by 3.14. And, as the poem says, if you
    divide the circumference by the diameter, you get the number 3.14.

  2. Vertices [(vur]{.smallcaps} tuh seez) is the plural of vertex. The
    vertex is the point at which the sides of an angle come together.

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x