Tanton, James. (2022). Bicycle Math. In S. Bowen (Ed.), Math Circle Activity Database. American Institute of Mathematics. https://mathcircles.org/activity/bicycle-math
Bicycle Math
Contributor(s): James Tanton
Math Circles: MTC Network
You are brought to a crime scene. You are told that a thief just made off with a bag full of diamonds, escaping on a bicycle. You come across a pair of bicycle tracks in the snow, no doubt made by the fleeing thief. But which way did the thief go? Just by looking at the shapes of the tracks, can you determine which way the thieving cyclist went: left to right or right to left?
Activity Guide
This guide looks at the activity in detail and goes into the underlying math.
