The set helps the student realize the differences between a generic Chinese city and a generic American city. When watching the film, it is apparent that there is a convergence of cultures (western and traditional Chinese) in the clothing. Many of the tensions that arise in the story stem from the deviation from these cultural norms. The film revolves around some central themes in Chinese culture that include honor, respect for elders, and the importance of family. I found this interesting because it highlighted the tension between the Chinese and the Japanese. Early in the film, there is a man who stole a duck and was eating it with his hands and was apparently dealing with some brain complications that came from a bullet he took to the head from the Japanese. Ip is a virtuous man who is not concerned with money, but with teaching youth Kung Fu. The story begins with a struggling, yet very talented Wing Chun master. The Ip Man was a martial arts teacher who specialized in Wing Chun (a form of Kung Fu) and is best known for being the teacher of Bruce Lee. The film was directed by Wilson Yip and stars Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung and is based (loosely) on a true story. A few years ago, I watched the first IP Man and found it to be an entertaining film with a great story and really well produced.
Merry Christmas to all!Ĭomments welcome, please visit the House Of Maths Facebook Page NOTIFY ME OF NEW POSTS BY EMAIL (approx.I chose to watch IP Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all those Partidges in all those Pear Trees. Assuming the tower is solidly filled with the chocolates, the total number of chocolates in this tower is T(17), the 17 th tetrahedral number, which works out to be 969 chocolates – just what you need if you have lots of family visiting over the Festive Period. There was one chocolate on the first row, then 3 on the next, then 6, then 10 etc. Out of interest, here is a tower of Ferrero Rocher chocolates I snapped in the local supermarket. Replacing ‘n’ with the number 12 in this formula (we call this ‘substitution’), the twelfth tetrahedral number – and the answer to our puzzle – is T(12) = (1/6)(12)(13)(14) = 364, or one gift for every day of the year except for Christmas Day itself! Using a little algebra from A-level maths, it’s possible to work out a formula for the ‘nth’ tetrahedral number, allowing us to jump straight to the one we need without working out all the others in between: To solve our puzzle, we need the total number of gifts up to and including the twelfth day (the last day in the song), so we need the twelfth Tetrahedral number. The ‘nth’ tetrahedral number is simply the number of balls (or Clementines) required to make a TETRAHEDRON(Triangle-based Pyramid) with ‘n’ rows:Īnd these are also the number of gifts that my true love gave to me up to and including each of the first three days of Christmas! For instance, by the third day I’d received 1 (on the first day) + 3 (on the second day) + 6 (on the third day) = a total of 10 gifts up to and including the third day. Here are the first few Tetrahedral numbers. Adding up the first ‘n’ triangle numbers gives you the ‘nth’ TETRAHEDRAL NUMBER. Now, to find out the total number of gifts for all twelve days, we need to add up the first twelve of these Triangle numbers: so 1+3+6+10+15+… all the way up to the twelfth term. The ‘nth’ triangle number is simply the number of balls required to make a triangle with ‘n’ rows:Īnd these are also the number of gifts that my true love gave to me on each of the first five days of Christmas! For instance, on the fifth day I was given 5 (gold rings) + 4 (calling birds) + 3 (French hens) + 2 (turtle doves) + 1 (partridge in a pear tree) = 15 gifts. Here are the first few Triangular numbers. The keys to working out the total number of gifts over all 12 days are the Tetrahedral numbers, which are made up from the Triangular numbers. The song continues all the way to “12 Drummers Drumming” on day 12. On the third day I’m given Three French Hens, a further two Turtle Doves, and another Partidge in a Pear Tree so 3+2+1=6 gifts on day three, making 1+3+6=10 gifts in total so far. “On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Two Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree”: this is another 2+1=3 gifts, so 4 gifts in total so far. “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me: a Partridge in a Pear Tree”: 1 gift. House of Maths School Workshops Primary & Secondary in Dorset & South - HOW MANY GIFTS IN TOTAL IN “THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS”? How many gifts did “my true love give to me” in the traditional song?