My mom and I used to have math dates: we sat on the floor with coffee and chocolate and had a white board propped up against the kitchen table. In sixth grade, math was my favorite subject because it always had a definite answer. The day I read about asymptotes changed my reasoning. In analytical geometry, some graphs have curves that get closer to a line, the asymptote. As it approaches infinity, the distance between the line and curve gets closer to zero, but never equals it. Now, this may seem like a simple concept now, but as a ten year old used to answers such as "x=19" or "the graph is a parabola," the concept of asymptotes was hard to understand.
My mom explained to me that "It goes from, for example, 1/8 to 1/16 to 1/32 to 1/64 and so on, but never to zero"
I incessantly refused the whole idea. "The lines intersect at one point, they have too! If the graph with a horizontal asymptote is at, for example, y=9 trillion, hasn't the curve touched the line yet?"
My mom always told me, "no, the distance is just a very very small number."
After throwing a small fit and having a few reoccurring nightmares about this mathematical concept, I accepted it-although I never quite understood it. I learned the information, took the test, got an A. But while sitting in calculus my freshman year, I was again plagued by the infinite nature of an asymptote. It's similar to the idea of outer space-when does it ever end? When does the asymptote end--or intersect that line? I took to googling asymptotic theory and using real world asymptotic behavior to try to find that intersection. As hard as I tried, I could not disprove my mother's words: "the distance never becomes zero." However, that elementary math lesson that I never quite understood spurred research that led to more learning. I am now at peace with the idea of the asymptote and no longer have nightmares about where it all ends.
Help me with grammar and making it shorter!! And any other criticism is very welcome. Thanks!
My mom explained to me that "It goes from, for example, 1/8 to 1/16 to 1/32 to 1/64 and so on, but never to zero"
I incessantly refused the whole idea. "The lines intersect at one point, they have too! If the graph with a horizontal asymptote is at, for example, y=9 trillion, hasn't the curve touched the line yet?"
My mom always told me, "no, the distance is just a very very small number."
After throwing a small fit and having a few reoccurring nightmares about this mathematical concept, I accepted it-although I never quite understood it. I learned the information, took the test, got an A. But while sitting in calculus my freshman year, I was again plagued by the infinite nature of an asymptote. It's similar to the idea of outer space-when does it ever end? When does the asymptote end--or intersect that line? I took to googling asymptotic theory and using real world asymptotic behavior to try to find that intersection. As hard as I tried, I could not disprove my mother's words: "the distance never becomes zero." However, that elementary math lesson that I never quite understood spurred research that led to more learning. I am now at peace with the idea of the asymptote and no longer have nightmares about where it all ends.
Help me with grammar and making it shorter!! And any other criticism is very welcome. Thanks!
