voodoo math

Letters, numbers, and/or symbols that seemingly appear out of no where in relation to given mathematical context.

voodoo math:
Find the equation of the tangent plane to the surface x^2z-y^3z^5+xy=9 at the point P=(1,2,-1).
answer:
Tangent plane at P is z+1=1/3(y-2) or equivalently y-3z=5

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Voodoo Math

Also known as “Haiti Math”—voodoo is an unofficial religion practiced in Haiti. Math word problems that use zombies or monsters as their characters to teach dark problem solving.

An example of a grade two voodoo math question is: “The line graph shows the weekly number of zombies that were caught by the police during the six-week nationwide lockdown. Use the diagram to answer the following questions.

a) How many more zombies were caught in April than in May?
b) If the zombies were able to bite a victim before they were caught, what is the least number of zombie bites that took place during the entire lockdown?”

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