Chapter 4 Collaborative Investigation 193

COLLABORATIVE INVESTIGATION

A Perpetual Calendar Algorithm

In this chapter we examined some alternative algo- Day Key Century Key
rithms for arithmetic computations. Algorithms Saturday 0 1700s 4
appear in various places in mathematics and computer Sunday 1 1800s 2
science, and in each case give us a specified method of Monday 2 1900s 0
carrying out a procedure that produces a desired re- Tuesday 3 2000s 6
sult. The algorithm that follows allows us to find the Wednesday 4
Thursday 5
day of the week on which a particular date occurred or Friday 6
will occur.
In applying the algorithm, you will need to know The algorithm works as follows. (We use October 12,
whether a particular year is a leap year. In general, if 1949, as an example.)
a year is divisible (evenly) by 4, it is a leap year. How-
Step 1: Obtain the following five Example
ever, there are exceptions. Century years, such as 1800
numbers.
and 1900, are not leap years, despite the fact that they
1. The number formed by the 49
are divisible by 4. Furthermore, as an exception to the
last two digits of the year
exception, a century year that is divisible by 400 (such
2. The number in Step 1, divided 12
as the year 2000) is a leap year.
In groups of three to five students, read the by 4, with the remainder
algorithm and then work the Topics for Discussion. ignored
3. The month key (1 for 1
October in our example)
4. The day of the month 12
THE ALGORITHM (12 for October 12)
5. The century key (0 for the 0
This algorithm requires several key numbers. Key
1900s)
numbers for the month, day, and century are deter-
Step 2: Add these five numbers. 74
mined by the following tables.
Step 3: Divide the sum by 7, and retain
the remainder. 747  10,
Month Key with remainder 4)
Step 4: Find this remainder in the day
January 1 (0 if a leap year)
February 4 (3 if a leap year) key table. (The number 4
March 4 implies that October 12, 1949
April 0 was a Wednesday.)
May 2
June 5
July 0
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
August 3 1. Have each person in the group determine the day
September 6
of the week on which he or she was born.
October 1
November 4
December 6
(continued)

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194 CHAPTER 4 Numeration and Mathematical Systems

2. Among the group members, discuss whether the 3. Determine the day of the week on which
following poem applies. (This is all in good fun, the following important historical events
of course.) occurred.
(a) December 7, 1941 (the bombing of Pearl
Monday’s child is fair of face,
Harbor)
Tuesday’s child is full of grace.
(b) November 22, 1963 (assassination of John F.
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Kennedy)
Thursday’s child has far to go.
(c) July 4, 1976 (bicentennial of the United
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
States)
Saturday’s child works hard for a living.
(d) January 1, 2000 (the “dreaded” Y2K day)
But the child that is born on the Sabbath
(e) September 11, 2001 (the terrorist attacks on
day is bonny and good, happy and gay.
the United States)

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1. For the numeral , identify the numer- Answer the questions in Exercises 17 – 19.
17. For addition of whole numbers, what is the iden-
ation system, and give the Hindu-Arabic equivalent.
tity element?
2. Simplify:
18. For multiplication of rational numbers, what is the
8  103  3  102  6  101  4  100. inverse of 3?
3. Write in expanded notation: 60,923. 19. For any whole numbers a, b, and c, a  b 
Perform each operation using the alternative algorithm c  b  a  c. What property does this illus-
specified. trate?
20. Describe in general what constitutes a mathematical
4. 37  54 (Russian peasant or Egyptian method) group.
5. 236  94 (Lattice method)
A mathematical system with the operation V is defined by
6. 21,325  8498 (Nines complement method)
the table here.
Convert each of the following to base ten. V a e i o u

7. 424five 8. 100110two 9. A80C sixteen a o e u a i

e u o a e i
Convert as indicated. i e u o i a
o a e i o u
10. 58 to base two u i a e u o
11. 1846 to base five 21. (a) Is there an identity element in this system?
12. 10101110two to base eight (b) If so, what is it?
13. B52 sixteen to base two 22. (a) Is closure satisfied by this system?
(b) Explain.
Briefly explain each of the following.
23. (a) Is this system commutative?
14. the advantage of multiplicative grouping over simple (b) Explain.
grouping 24. (a) Is the distributive property satisfied in this
15. the advantage, in a positional numeration system, of system?
a smaller base over a larger base (b) Explain.
16. the advantage, in a positional numeration system, of 25. (a) Is the system with the operation V a group?
a larger base over a smaller base (b) Explain.