VCU Math Circle

ellipsis-shaped enclosure inside the college of humanities and sciences stem building at v.c.u.

Dates: Sunday, Nov 17, 2024 – Sunday, Apr 13, 2025

Start time: 10 AM

End time: 12 PM

Location: 817 W. Franklin St, Math Exchange

Audience: 8th - 12th grade students

We welcome all 8–12th graders with an interest in math and who like to learn new ideas through interactive exploration! The sessions cover novel and entertaining uses of math. They are not a continuation of the usual school curriculum, so no particular prior knowledge is needed. Light refreshments will be served.

November 17 

Faculty Leader

Dr. Punit Gandhi

Topic

The Chaos Game!

Abstract

Where we’ll start: Pick any point within an equilateral triangle to begin. Randomly pick one of the corners and move half the distance toward that corner. What does the path look like after many repeated iterations of this process?

Where we’ll finish: Surprising patterns can emerge from simple and/or random processes when iterated many times. We'll investigate when this does and does not happen in the context of the chaos game described above. We'll also explore properties of the patterns when they do appear.

December 8

Faculty Leader

Dr. Allison Moore

More information coming soon!

February 9

Information to be announced soon!

March 2

Information to be announced soon!

April 13

Information to be announced soon!

Registration

Please email mathcircle@vcu.edu to register (include name, grade, and school). This is a free event and you may sign up any time for any of our sessions! Further information will be emailed to those registered shortly before the meeting.

Event contact: Hilary Cassil, mathcircle@vcu.edu