Algebra Commons^™

Geometry Across The Curriculum, Corey Dunn

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

This project is designed for a multicalculus class already familiar with computing the arc length of a parameterized curve in space. The activity asks the student to first recall basic facts about arc length, and then introduces the notion of measuring lengths of vectors differently, depending on where their initial point is. This is a foundational concept in metric differential geometry, and, this activity attempts to motivate this generalization of computing lengths of vectors through this arc length activity. The activity concludes with a short discussion of basic concepts of Lorentzian geometry, including the idea that lightlike vectors have length …