I wondered exactly how much students in the humanities know about root 2, so I took this up in a lecture on information mathematics. Root 2 is written √2 , and produces 2 when it is squared. I had my students discuss this value themselves to see what they would say. Students who didn’t know its value already made the following kinds of calculation 1.52 = 2.25 and 1.42 = 1.96 so 1.4 < √2 < 1.5
They explained how to obtain the value of root 2 within a certain level of
accuracy by means of written calculations using this bisective method. Some
students knew the values of root 2 and root 3 without the need for calculation
according to mnemonics like “I wish I knew -the root of two. O charmed was
he - to know root three. So we now strive - to find root five” (which encodes
the values 1.414, 1.732 and 2.235).
A4 and B4 copy paper sizes are of a familiar size, and the ratio of their
height and width is 1 to root 2, although surprisingly few people know this.
This ought to have been learned in junior high-school geometry classes or the
first year of high school, but whether mathematics was not necessary for their
examinations, or whether they just hated mathematics, many students forget
this fact. I therefore give students the following problem to think about.