August 04, 2007
A test
So this is a test...I'm curious how long it takes people to get the answer to the problem below. I guess leave your answers in the comment box...so be fair to the test and don't check comments to see the answer before trying to get it on your own. Just leave a comment with answer and about how many minutes it took you to get it.
What is the measure of angle ABC?
60 degrees because it creates an isosceles triangle. I used my engineer husband to cheat. :-), my first intuition was 90, but my gut didn't think that was right, so I decided to cheat instead.
--from the person who hasn't used math except to balance a checkbook in 2 years
Posted by: Sunny at August 4, 2007 12:57 AMIf the figure is a cube, then connecting points A and C would make an equilateral triangle, and angle ABC would measure 60 degrees.
It took me about a minute to notice the "trick," so I guess 1 min 10 sec to solve.
*reads previous comment*
Well we used different methods, but got to the same conclusion. (And we both showed our work! :-p)
Posted by: Martinez at August 4, 2007 12:29 PM60 degrees. A, B, and C form an equilateral triangle, as the side lengths are the same. About a minute.
Posted by: Ardith at August 6, 2007 11:30 AMPi/6 is the answer, got on the right track when I started thinking about the length of the sides of the triangle. 1 min 5 sec. Looks like about average.
Then again, at what point will someone give up, and never enter their time? I suspect your sample is heavily skewed.
Duh... Pi/3
Posted by: Ziggy at August 21, 2007 09:31 PMthanks much all. Yeah, I would have to say the sample given in my comments is skewed. Half of the math teachers in the class--including myself had trouble seeing it. I finally saw it when I made a little cube out of graph paper and finally was able to see how to connect A and C.--I kept trying to connect them on the facing sides rather than the bottom.
The interesting world of perceptions...
Posted by: anna at August 21, 2007 11:16 PM