MHCC math club holds demonstrations using unusual methods

“Pure Chaos” will be the topic presented Tuesday by the Dead Mathematicians’ Society at 3:15 p.m. in room AC2606.

Math instructor Nick Chura’s presentation, as a part of the Infinite Enrichment Series, will show the reasoning behind certain processes that seem random.

The point of the Infinite Enrichment Series is to give a broader perspective of math, said math instructor and series director Jon Spindor, and it is not meant to help students with their math homework.

In the past, the presentations have had up to about 180 audience members, said Spindor who is the contact for the Dead Mathematicians’ Society. The society is not technically a club, but it is funded by the MHCC Foundation, a non-profit organization that receives and disburses private funds to support educational programs of MHCC.

“It’s really informal,” said Spindor.  “We get people from around the community to do presentations.”

The society started in 1986 and became a formal entity in the 1992-93 school year, said Spindor. The society tries to hold a number of presentations throughout each term, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Another session will be put on by math instructor Kari Rothi and will focus on how a single tree in the woods can burn without affecting its neighbors. Rothi will use basic concepts of cellular automata to explain. This session will be 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, on room AC2606.

The series had a presentation Thursday, presented by math instructor Tambi Boyle, where she presented formulas for the surface area and volume of a sphere using fruits and Play-Doh.