Protractors and Co-ordinates, TMA39 (Readme.txt ver 22 June 00)
This free little program is provided....
a) To help people master angles and the use of a protractor
b) To encourage you to seek out and try further software from
the same source.
It is freeware. This means you may use it free of charge. You may also
distribute it freely for others to enjoy. Other than that, as author and
copyright (10/99) holder, TK Boyd retains his rights to his creation.
The user is given a problem consisting of drawing two angles on a
piece of paper with a grid on it. Someone once complained that involving
pencil and paper was not to their liking. I think he/she missed the point
of the main use of this program: It is to give a user practice with the basic
skills of using a protractor. Obviously, there are many programs which
could be written ABOUT angles, which would NOT require pencil and
paper.... but this isn't one of them. I'll make an analogy: I could write a program about cooking. However.. if I wanted to write a program to help someone be a better cook, the activities directed by the program
might well involve pots and pans.
There is another use to which the program can be put. Some users who
already know a bit about angles might using the program without
the pencil, paper and protractor. They try to get the answer by visualising
what less experienced users would draw.
The program should run in any Windows 3.x or 9x computer without
hassle, without any further files. There is no 'install' program because
all that you have to have to use it is the one file TMA39.exe. ("TMA?",
you ask: "Teach MAthematics", I reply. The program will not write
other things to your disc when it runs. To uninstall the program
delete the file. (If you obtained it by way of a zip file, that file
will have had things like this text file in it that you may have extracted
from the zip. You delete those, too, if you are no longer interested in
TMA39)
If the program misbehaves in any way, please don't hesitate to get in
touch to "complain". People do not complain enough in this world!
However, if you want to moan about features that are lacking think
first about the cost of this program. It WILL do what it sets out to do...
give a user practice with using a protractor or in estimating angles.
It will give the user immediate feedback so that the user may improve
his/ her skills. You want more? What would you pay for it?
To contact author: 100665.1141@compuserve.com
or... http://www.arunet.co.uk/tkboyd/offers.htm
or... use Altavista or similar and search for boyd, sheepdog, shareware
Teachers of mathematics: Read no further... I very much doubt that
anything in the program will not be obvious to you.
A little lesson in mathematics....
A convenient way to identify points on a plane is to draw two sets of
evenly spaced lines on it. The two sets of lines are at right angles to
one another. They are numbered. It is not mathematically necessary
to specify the separation of the lines. If they are evenly spaced the
system works better if you wish to specify a point which is not at the
intersection of two lines. (intersection: the place they cross.)
These lines are commonly called the "horizontal" and "vertical"
axes. Unless you have the piece of paper taped to a vertical wall,
the descriptions are ridiculous... but most of us learned in school
to ignore the ridiculous, so I'll press on.
If a point is on the "5" line of the horizontal axis and on the "7" line
of the vertical axis, mathematical shorthand for that is to say
"The point is at 5,7."
Points on planes are often identified by letter names, i.e. a point
to be called "A" could be at 0,0 and a point to be called "B" could
be at 20,0.
If you drew "a line" (more properly called a line segment, if you wish
to be accurate) from A to B, it could, in mathematics, be called AB.
Now imagine a third point. If it was at 0,5 and you called it C, and
you drew line segment AC, you would have something looking like a
very stunted "L". The point (A) where the two line segments meet
is the vertex of an angle (Two angles, actually. See the other one?).
That angle is like the corner of a book. Such an angle is called a
"right angle" (I haven't come across any wrong angles, I'm afraid.)
Mathematicians also say that the size of such an angle is
90 degrees. They measure existing angles, or draw new angles to
pre-determined sizes using a tool called a protractor.
The angle we have just been talking about would be called "angle
BAC"... or... "angle CAB". It would NOT however be called "angle
ABC", or any of the other 3 possible combinations of the three
letters.... the "trick" is that letter naming the point which is at
the angles vertex goes in the middle of the angle's name.
NOW.... if you....
put a two grids of evenly spaced lines on a piece of paper
put a point called A on a grid at 0,0
put a point called B on a grid at 20,0
draw a 59 degree angle using AB and having the vertex at A
draw a 16 degree angle using AB and having the vertex at B
... you will find that the non-AB arms of the angles cross
(unless you have done one "above" AB and the other "below" it.)
The non-AB arms of the angles cross at 3,5
If you call the point where they cross C, then the angles you drew
were BAC and ABD. You did not need to know where C was before
drawing the lines to make the angles the right size.... if you had
a protractor and knew how to use it.
=====================
I generally close such things with "Enjoy"... but I don't think that
practising using a protractor is ever going to be enjoyable.
Enjoy: being able to do something more interesting sooner if
you use this program to help you master the skill faster.
Enjoy: some of the things that protractor users CAN do that
nonusers can't.
=====================
While there is no charge for use of the program, I would appreciate
a quick email or postcard (Box 367, Essex, CT, 06426, USA) giving
brief details of where you are (just town, state, country is fine... I'm
not planning to send junk mail or spam), and what your use of it is,
e.g. "own family", "class of 9 year olds in state funded day school".
I would also be grateful if you would check out some of my other
software, maybe even... gasp... some of the programs that you have
to pay for if you decide you want to continue using them after trying
