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Department of Mathematics,
University of California San Diego

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Math 196 - Undergraduate Student Colloquium

John Eggers

UCSD

The Compensating Polar Planimeter

Abstract:

How does one measure area? As an example, how can one determine the area of a region on a map for the purpose of real estate appraisal? Wouldn't it be great if there were an instrument that would measure the area of a region by simply tracing its boundary? It turns out that there is such an instrument: it is called a planimeter. In this talk we will discuss a particular type of planimeter called the compensating polar planimeter. There will be a little bit of history and some analysis involving line integrals and Green's theorem. Finally, there will be a chance to see and touch actual examples of these fascinating instruments from the speaker's collection.

October 17, 2017

12:00 PM

AP&M B402A

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