"Buck Privates" page 1
Comments
This is a really good piece of movie mathematics to show off what is meant by an asymptote on a graph.
The movie clip appeals to all students but the mathematics of the asymptote is suited to Year 11, Year 12 or top Year 10 students.
You can almost get students to believe ....
Start at the scene where Abbott and Costello are on parade ground drilling. This gives students a chance to become used to Costello's high pitched voice.
The movie was made in 1941 in the middle of the World War 2. It has become a cult movie since.
The scenes for page 2 and page 3 are worth showing too.
Page 2 is a money lending tale and
Page 3 is about numbers.
Both are ridiculous! Several Abbott and Costello movies have mathematics written in them.
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Abbott and Costello " Buck Privates". Maths in the Movies. Project 7.
"BUCK PRIVATES"
Abbott and Costello made arithmetic shenanigans
the basis of a number of their comic dialogs.
Here is a dialog from their movie titled Buck Privates:
Abbott:
You're 40 years old, and you're in love with a little girl, say 10 years old. You're four times as old as that girl. You couldn't marry that girl, could you?
Costello:
No. ?
Abbott:
So you wait 5 years.
Now the little girl is 15, and you're 45.
You're only three times as old as that girl.
So you wait 15 years more.
Now the little girl is 30, and you're 60.
You're only twice as old as that little girl. ?
Costello:
She's catching up. ?
Abbott:
Here's the question.
How long do you have to wait before you and that little girl are the same age?
Costello:
What kind of question is that?
That's ridiculous.
If I keep waiting for that girl, she'll pass me up.
She'll wind up older than I am.
Then she'll have to wait for me!
Draw a graph of this.
On the vertical axis put (the man's age ÷ the girls age).
On the horizontal axis put (the girl's age).
Plot the points.
What happens?
Now does the girl's age ever catch up to the man's age?
Turn to page 2 for another problem from Buck Privates.
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