Subject Matter Knowledge
Part 1.)
Theorem: Suppose that (s
n
) is a sequence of positive terms and that the sequence of ratios [
s
n+1
s
n
converge to L. If L<1, then lim
n
s
n
= u.
Formal Proof: Since L<1, there exists a real number c s.t. L<c<1. Let = c L so that > 0.
Then there exists an integer N s.t. n > N implies that
s
n+1
s
n
I < e
Let k = N+1. Then for all n >k we have n-1 > N, so that
s
n+1
s
n
< I +e = I + (c I) = c
It follows that, for all n > K,
u < s
n
< s
n-1
c < s
n-2
c
2
< < s
n-k
c
n-k
Letting H =
s
k
c
k
, we obtain u < s
n
< Hc
n
for all n > k. Since 0 < c < 1, and the fact that if |x| < 1,
then lim
n
x
n
= u implies that lim
n
c
n
= u. Thus lim
n
s
n
= u.
Informal reasoning: Since the ratio of the sequence is less than 1, that means each term is
getting smaller. In fact we can get s
n+1
by multiplying s
n
by that ratio. And since the ratio is less than
one, we are guaranteed that the next term will be smaller than the one before it. And if we keep doing
this an infinitely many times we will get zero.
Part 2.)
The equation of a circle has multiple representations in mathematics, these range from the
equation in its' standard form, to its' polar form, even graphically. Students start to learn about circles in
geometry. These geometrical wonders have many useful applications, both in and out of mathematics.
A circle can be represented by the standard equation
x
2
+ y
2
= r
2
(1)
where r is the radius of the circle. This form is covered in algebra two when the students learn about
conic sections. This form allows the students to easy graph the circle. This form of the equations also
tells the students the radius of the circle.
The next form for the equation of a circle that a student learns is the polar form. Or
r(0) = o (2)
where the a is now the radius of the circle and is the angle between the radius and the x-axis. Students
learn about the polar form of a circle in per-calculus. Both the polar form and the general form of a
circle graph the same circle.
To get from equation (2) to equation (1) we use the transformations:
x = o cos (0)
y = o sin(0)
The last form of a circle that students learn is the set definition. A circle is the set of all points
that are equidistant from the center. This meaning that all the points are the same distance away from
the center of the circle. This is evident in the standard from because the r
2
term is constant when the x
and y terms vary. This is also evident in the polar form because 'a' is a constant. Students learn this
definition in algebra two when they start conics.
Part 3.)
We can create a model of a humans ability to detect shapes using an artificial neural network of
McCulloch Pitts Neurons. After training this model with the Hebbian learning rule and adjusting the
connection weights with a gradient decent algorithm we can test this model on test stimuli.
