2008
Wed
20
Aug
Miss Loi avatar

Till Death Do Us Part

(0)

On a quiet day, Miss Loi sat in a lotus position in the Zen-like confines of The Temple to mark her students’ homework.

The gentle air-con breeze caressed her silky hair as, with a singular mind and soul that’s free from the worries of the world, she proceeded to ruthlessly splash red ink across those horrid lines of unintelligible workings.

A buzzing sound broke the Zen-like calm, as a fly settled on an opened page of the Vectors Chapter of her E-Maths textbook.

Down came Miss Loi’s 1000-Newton 如来神掌 (Explosive Buddha Palm???) upon the poor fly, to deliver swift justice for its trespassing.

Or so it seemed.

As someone who prides herself as a one-hit-one-kill ace, she watched in disbelief as the fly did a little flight of triumph before settling on another part of the Vectors page of the textbook.

Down came another 1000-Newton 如来神掌 … and another … and another, with the wily fly constantly able to avoid its fate at the last minute with each passing slam.

Nursing her swollen red palm, it suddenly dawned on her that, given The Temple’s propensity to heighten the learning abilities of all living things in its proximity, the fly might have actually been reading and understanding the Vectors Chapter that it rested on, for it somehow managed to fly away with just the right speed (magnitude) and direction regardless of where Miss Loi’s lethal palm came hurling from.

But as a great leader once hypothesized, complacency can affect all of us. After the latest miss by Miss Loi, the fly was apparently finished with its Vectors page and settled instead on a piece of graph paper this time, taunting her with an arrogant glint on its eyes …

Vector Grid

With the grids on the graph paper to guide her, Miss Loi pin-points the fly at position P. Recalling her mathematical powers, she calculated that she needs to place her palm at a starting position Q and slam the fly at point R.

  1. Write down an expression for vec{OP} in terms of a and b.
  2. Mark and label clearly on the grid the point Q such that vec{OQ} = a - b.
  3. The point R is such that vec{OR} = h vec{OQ} and vec{PR} = kb.

    1. Mark and label clearly on the grid the point R.
    2. Find the value of h and k.

Note: Grids are labeled here to facilitate readers’ answers. They are normally unlabeled in actual exams as you’ll need to plot out the answers directly on the paper itself.

Can you help Miss Loi to 如来神掌 the fly into oblivion once and for all?

Vectors questions in your E-Maths exam can be broadly classified into two types:

  1. Those that end up asking you to mark on a grid diagram certain points that are expressed in terms of other vectors (like in the question of this blog post) or using the grid to find some column vector [matrix{2}{1}{a b}].
  2. Those that end up asking you to make use or calculate the ratios of two areas or lines like in this example, often requiring knowledge from other topics like similar triangles as well.

Regardless of the type of question, you’ll frequently end up using these basic vector properties:

Vectors Fundamentals



2008
Sun
17
Aug
Miss Loi avatar

Cruel Summer

(2)

Sweet Overseas Gifts

On a day when a nation celebrated Jφss Sticks’ 200th post and a historic ping pong victory by their foreign talents, Miss Loi taught her final lesson to her own class of ‘foreign talents’.

It’s a cruel, cruel summer
Leaving me here on my own …

… says Bananarama in that eternal Ah Lian retro anthem.

It was literally going to be a “cruel summer” for a handful of overseas Singaporean students the moment word of the fabled existence of Miss Loi’s Temple reached the shores of their adopted homeland.

And so for a month of summer, The Temple was turned into a mini United Nation of sorts, with devotees hailing from from Beijing to Zürich to London, as they journeyed a thousand miles to burn those exotic made-in-Singapore joss sticks in its virtuous, sterile environs, while their counterparts partied away in sinful environs like Ibiza.

It proved to be an eye-opening experience for both students and Miss Loi alike, with the former marveling at the supposed grandeur of Singapore’s killer Math Syllabus, while the latter marveled at the … umm … unique ways that some of their workings were expressed.

Furthermore it was enlightening to know that in some countries,

  • reference and assessment books are difficult to find. No Popular Bookstores, unfortunately.
  • assessment books are often rented from schools - kawaii multi-coloured notes strictly prohibited on their sacred pages.
  • only 20% of the textbooks are typically used.
  • math homework are given out at an average rate of once per two weeks.

… which led to one of Miss Loi’s local student exclaiming

I want to migrate!!!

That aside, even cruel summers have to come to an end, and it’s now time for goodbyes.

Miss Loi's Piggy

Sweet Overseas Gifts
More Sweet Overseas Gifts

Thank you for your cute little gifts and for gracing the Temple during this summer vacation. It has been fun and it was an absolute pleasure teaching all of you and exchanging shopping tips for various cities.

Make sure you go through the questions we’ve done again by yourself and may you pwn your peers back home with your newly-acquired mystical Singapore Math powers!

Goodbye! Tschüs! 再见!


2008
Wed
13
Aug
Miss Loi avatar

The Infinite Steps To Salvation

(4)

… continued from here.

Night has fallen again.

After two nights of playing catching with the Chinese Vampire, Miss Loi finally obtained the Divine Coefficient and stopped the maths-tuition-deprived 僵屍 in its track.

But there was no time to lose. Making sure she remembered to take the precious Gucci bag that she bought with a big discount in the last GSS, she quietly tip-toed past the paralyzed vampire.

As the movie script fate had it, a gust of wind swept into The Temple when she opened the door, blowing that yellow Post-It off the vampire’s head.

As the 僵屍 began hopping again, Miss Loi now had to flee (as fast as her pair of cheap Charles & Keith shoes would let her) down the 38 Steps towards her own salvation - passing the Three Signs to The Temple along the way - an irony considering that hundreds have climbed in the opposite direction towards their salvation.

The Final Sign Just Outside Miss Loi's Temple The Second Sign To Miss Loi's Temple The First Sign To Miss Loi's Temple

As the 僵屍 began hopping again, Miss Loi now had to flee (as fast as her pair of cheap Charles & Keith shoes would let her) down the 38 Steps towards her own salvation - passing the Three Signs to The Temple along the way - an irony considering that hundreds have climbed in the opposite direction towards their salvation.

The Final Sign Just Outside Miss Loi's Temple The Second Sign To Miss Loi's Temple The First Sign To Miss Loi's Temple

As the 僵屍 began hopping again, Miss Loi now had to flee (as fast as her pair of cheap Charles & Keith shoes would let her) down the 38 Steps towards her own salvation - passing the Three Signs to The Temple along the way - an irony considering that hundreds have climbed in the opposite direction towards their salvation.

The Final Sign Just Outside Miss Loi's Temple The Second Sign To Miss Loi's Temple The First Sign To Miss Loi's Temple

After developing stomach cramps from all that running, Miss Loi whipped out her ancient Nokia N73 again to call the moonlighting temple medium friend:

HEY WHAT’S GOING ON?! Why am I seeing the same scenes over and over again like I’m being COPY-AND-PASTED?! I don’t remember the stairs being so long!

After a brief moment, came this reply:

天灵灵地灵灵 …

Oh my Sexy Maths Tutor, you are now trapped in the realm of the Undead, somewhere in the region bounded by the following inequalities:

  1. x2 - 11x + 18 > 0
  2. x2 - 11x < 0

To return to the Realm of the Living, you have to use the above inequalities to find the region bounded by range of x that satisfies the inequality

|x2 - 11x + 9| < 9

As the 僵屍 began hopping again … Miss Loi would like to remind all students that for a typical quadratic function f(x) with two real distinct roots (α and β) and a positive coefficient of x2 (it’s always a good practice to make this positive as a first step), the ranges of x for its regions of quadratic inequalities can be summarized as follows:

Quadratic Inequalities

Please pay particular attention for the case of f(x) > 0 - students tend to get caught by 僵屍s here!



2008
Sun
10
Aug
Miss Loi avatar

The Tuition Enquiry From Hell

(11)

It’s midnight.

Joss sticks offerings
It’s that time of the year again.

A hardworking Miss Loi remained behind at The Temple to mark her student’s homework diligently, even as the last glow had long faded from the dying cinders of joss sticks in the area.

The silence was deafening, since the last noisy Jφss Sticks session ended hours ago, and no getai has ever been held to ruffle the eerie tranquility of Novena during certain times of the year.

A sudden cold chill swept through the air, as the sound of someone knocking on the Temple Gates unsettled the deathly stillness of this moonless night.

Verifying that she didn’t accidentally lower the environmentally-friendly 25° temperature of her aircon, Miss Loi went outside the room to find a tall, expressionless man at her doorway, dressed in traditional Chinese costume.

Wah! You just come from the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony or did NDP ended late? Can I help you Sir?

asked Miss Loi.

I need mathematics tuition.

replied the man in a soulless voice.

Which level are you? When are you available for tuition?

I take Imperial Examination. Only available 12-6am.

Errr … sorry we’re closed during those hours and … umm … how old are you?

Next week my 300th birthday. Must pass Imperial Exam. Must have tuition! MUST HAVE MISS LOI!

With that, the man raised his arms outwards and started hopping menacingly towards a terrified Miss Loi.

While retreating, Miss Loi quickly whipped out her ancient Nokia N73 to call a friend who happens to be moonlighting as a temple medium:

HELP! I’M BEING ATTACKED BY A 僵屍! HOW?!

After a brief moment, came this reply:

天灵灵地灵灵 …

Each term in the expansion of (x^2 - {2/x})^n represents each of the n hops that the 僵屍 makes.

Given that the fifth term is independent of x, you must write the coefficient of the middle term on a piece of yellow paper and paste it on his forehead in order to stop the 僵屍.

Luckily, a stack of bright kawaii yellow Post-It notes lay within reach on Miss Loi’s desk. Now all she needs is the value of that coefficient.

Having just taught a class on Binomial Theorem, she recalled that it’s a pretty straightforward topic with questions that should easily be done in 10-15 minutes to bag your 6-8 marks (provided you can recall the two formulae corresponding to generally two kinds of questions for this topic:

  1. The ones that require you to expand an expression.
  2. Or the kinds (like this question) that require you to find a specific term and/or its coefficient in an expansion, utilizing heavily the following formula:

    In the expansion of (a + b)2, the (r+1)th term:

    Tr+1 = nCr an-rbr

    *Note that the Binomial Coefficient nCr can be denoted by (matrix{2}{1}{n r}) = {n!}/{r!(n-r)!}

So unless you’re attempting this question alone in the middle of the night, it should be easy for you to find the coefficient before the 僵屍 grabs Miss Loi by the neck and drags her to the netherworld to conduct maths tuition!

N.B. Some of you should find this question familiar ;)



2008
Fri
8
Aug
Miss Loi avatar

Miss Loi Meets The MP Of Novena

(10)

It’s that time of the year again.

Let's Celebrate!
It’s celebration time!

A time for celebration, a time for students to enjoy a half-day in school, a time to win $8 million, a time for parking tickets, and a time for the nation to fly the Flag in a massive display of patriotism.

Novena Condos
The sprawling condominiums of Novena

It’s also a time when we’re all gently reminded of who actually lords over us represents the noble interests of the residents in our respective constituencies.

Signboard outside Revenue House

While Miss Loi is no resident of Novena, she does feel a sense of belonging to the place, since The Temple is now like a second home to her.

But she was finally snapped out from her illusion of The Temple’s location on Novena this morning, when the bare facts show that it’s actually sitting 5km away (as the crow flies) in Tanjong Pagar.

Welcome to Tanjong Pagar
Welcome to Tanjong Pagar

Her political ignorance was further affirmed as she stood face to face with the MP of Novena Tanjong Pagar Novena Tanjong Pagar Novena (ok let’s just assume it’s Novena for now) for the first time.

MP Lui Tuck Yew
The MP of Novena Tanjong Pagar Novena Tanjong Pagar Novena

Though this is the first time she gets the honour of seeing him, Miss Loi swears that she has seen his charismatic face somewhere before …

.

.

.

.

.

MP Lui Tuck Yew vs 大口青

… on some TVB Hong Kong Drama!

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY to all in Singapore and may you be able to catch up on your TVB dramas over this long weekend ;)

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