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SpaceMath@NASA : Putting the ‘N’ back in STEM

Understand the importance of mathematical competency in opening doors to productive futures. Dive into unit conversions, bizarro solar systems, planetary observations, and climate change analysis. Enhance your math skills with hundreds of problems from Dr. Sten Odenwald at NASA.

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SpaceMath@NASA : Putting the ‘N’ back in STEM

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  1. SpaceMath@NASA :Putting the ‘N’ back in STEM ASP Annual Meeting August 3, 2011 Dr. Sten Odenwald (NASA / ADNET)

  2. 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."

  3. http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

  4. Mathematics in the News

  5. Dawn Spacecraft and Asteroid Vesta Scale = 10 km / centimeter Smallest crater = 1 mm or 1 kilometer!

  6. Distance traveled = 2.8 billion km Time = 4 years 2.8 billion km Speed = ---------------------- = 700 million km / year 4 years

  7. 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

  8. Bizarro solar system with cubical star and planet!

  9. 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 = 16 Planet = 4 Ap 4 --- = ----- A* 16

  10. 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:

  11. The star HAT-P-7 Distance 320 parsecs Mass 1.5 suns Temperature 6350 K Radius 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?

  12. Initial brightness 1.0000 Final brightness 0.9930 Dimming = 0.007 Rs = 1.2 million km

  13. Our answer = 100,000 km. Jupiter R = 71,000 km So we got : 1.4 times Jupiter.

  14. 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."

  15. 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) +0.61 +0.15 Slope = -------------------- so rate = +0.19 C / decade 4 decades F = 9/5 C + 32 so rate = 9/5 (+0.19) = +0.34 F/decade

  16. Manual forecasting with a ruler +0.9 C 2050

  17. Forecasting with algebra y2 – y1 Y – 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)

  18. Space Math @ NASA http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov Hundreds of problems for grades 3-12 New ones added every week as new press releases appear and my medication starts working Dr. Sten Odenwald Sten.Odenwald@nasa.gov

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