Measuring water purity

This week we showed our interview with one of the chemists, Joel, working at Encina Wastewater Authority in Carlsbad, CA where they treat wastewater so that it can be returned to the ocean. Water samples are tested for the amount of suspended solids as it arrives at the facility and at various stages throughout the treatment process. Joel showed us how he determines the level of solids, measured in milligrams per liter, and what math he does in the process.

The incoming water typically measures between 200 and 400 mg/L, and it leaves the facility at less than 5 mg/L before it heads to the ocean. That's a 99% reduction! 

We also mentioned the March Madness men's college basketball tournament beginning tomorrow. Many organizations offer cash prizes if you correctly predict the winners of all the games (there are 63 games in the tournament). One site is offering $12 million! Are they confident they won't have to award any money? Probably! On the program, we showed the astronomical odds of correctly picking all the right winners. No one has done it yet! Here is an interactive bracket you can fill out for fun on ESPN's website.

new contest!

As described above, we have a new contest running. You may need to use a little algebra! If you figure it out, you can be our official winner by calling us and giving us your answer on our next live broadcast (March 18). The phone number is (888) 762-1489. Good luck!

Ocean waves

On this week's broadcast we discussed many ways in which mathematics is used in the study of the movement of water in the ocean. It turns out that this is a pretty complicated issue. There are partial differential equations that are used to describe fluid flow, but solutions to these equations have been elusive thus far. Computers are used to estimate approximate solutions with research continually done to improve the results.

We also talked about how water waves resemble the graph of the sine function from trigonometry. A more accurate model is a "trochoid," the path formed by a point on a wheel as the wheel rolls along the ground. Both the sine graph and trochoids are based on circular motion which isn't too much of a surprise since ocean water actually moves in small circles as the shape of a wave moves across the surface.

For further information check out these links.

animation of ocean wave

Wikipedia entry on ocean waves

detailed article from SIAM on mathematics and the oceans

Feeding Whales

For our first episode of 2009, we visited SeaWorld in San Diego and met with one of their trainers Mike. We got to help feed the Beluga Whales there and Mike talked with us about the math involved in the animals' diet. The total amount of daily food intake is determined for each animal from several different variables such as gender, weight, age, and time of year. Then proportions of four different kinds of fish must be made for each animal to correctly balance different nutritional elements. These are basically "mixture problems" from an algebra class.

We also talked about methods to estimate the size of crowds, inspired by the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race that finished in Escondido over the weekend. The claim was that 300,000 spectators witnessed the final leg in San Diego county and over 2 million watched the race throughout California. How did they come up with those numbers?

This week's links:

SeaWorld San Diego

Wikipedia entry on Beluga Whales

Amgen Tour of California bicycle race

Math Questions Spring 2009

You can leave math questions for us here, as comments to this post, and we will solve them on the broadcast each Wednesday. 

If you aren't able to see the program live, record it for viewing later or you can watch it online when it is archived at www.collegemathline.com.

Mathline returns this week!

The College Mathline returns to its live broadcasts this Wednesday, February 25, at 5:00 PM. 

This semester the program can be viewed on AT&T U-verse channel 99 or as a live webstream available at www.collegemathline.com. The show is also rebroadcast on Saturdays at 6:00 PM.

Have a math question for us? Call us live during the program at (888) 762-1489. Or you can post your question here on the blog before or during the broadcast and we will solve it on the air. You can also email us your question at mathline@palomar.edu. If you aren't able to see the program live for the solution, record it or watch it online once it is archived at www.collegemathline.com.

on hiatus

We are ending the season a little early this semester. The television program is now on winter break. We expect to be back on the air in February. In the meantime, we encourage you to leave us feedback here if you have any comments or suggestions about the program. As budgets tighten for everyone, it is helpful to hear from anyone who benefits from the program!

Last week we unfortunately experienced technical difficulties during our last show of the year and the signal got knocked out at the end of the hour. We apologize for that, hopefully that won't happen again!

We wish everyone a great Thanksgiving and holiday season.