“The points (8,0), (0,0), and (0,10) lie on a circle in the coordinate plane. Find the area of the circle.”
This is just one of the seven test questions that Infinity Club, a mathematics based group, gave its members to solve for their most recent American Scholastic Math Association monthly competition. The club is five years old, but has recently started to integrate new events into their normal routine. Club President Senior Jeffrey Li will offer opportunities to members who wish to participate in math competitions this year.
“We’re trying to get people interested in math,” Li said. “It’s also for those who want to be competitive with it.”
The events Infinity Club support come from the ASMA and the Mathematical Association of America American Mathematics Competitions. For the ASMA, club members gather in advisor AP Calculus teacher Ms. Nancy Bulgin’s room every month until April to complete a set of questions that will be scored and sent in as a record of the school.
Based off of skills learned in Geometry and Algebra, the problems for the monthly competitions vary in difficulty, and need math reasoning to be solved.
“You have to think outside of the box,” Vice President Senior Ryan Chan said. “The test requires extensive thinking.”
Before the events, the club gives out practice problems so members can get an idea of what will be on the problem set and practice, but after the competitions, the weekly meetings involve other activities such as math tricks, logic problems and games.
“Last week we showed the club how to calculate the day of the week for any date,” Chan said. “The main part is that you learn different things than what you would see in a textbook.”
Li wants Infinity Club to inspire more people to view math as something more than uninteresting formulas, and hopes that by participating in competitions, the club members have a goal to work towards with math and logic.
“You don’t have to be a Calculus student to do this,” Ms. Bulgin said. “We’d like to have more students come by and see if they would enjoy this.”
TCHS School Newspaper