Tower of Hanoi

Do Now

The Tower of Hanoi (also known as The Tower of Brahma and The End of The World Puzzle) was invented in 1883 by Edouard Lucas, a French mathematician. It is said that he designed the puzzle based on a legend of a Hindu Temple. In the beginning of time the priests in the temple were given a tower of 64 gold disks, each smaller in size then the disk beneath. They were to transfer the disks from one of three poles to another without allowing any disk to be placed on top of a smaller one (as the weight from the disk will crush the one beneath it). It is said that when the day the priests successfully transfer the 64 disks from one pole to another, the world will crumble and vanish. If this legend was true, could there be a way of predicting the end of the world?

The Tower of Hanoi is a classic puzzle for all ages as the number of disks creates endless levels of difficulty and fun. Though the aim of this game is simple, it reveals many mathematical concepts and patterns through the process of playing the puzzle. These patterns will be explored and analyzed and the legend of The Tower of Hanoi will be put to the test.

Agenda

Quiz Makeup or Tower of Hanoi (40 Minutes)

Tower of Hanoi

The task is to find out how many moves it takes 64 disks to transfer from one pole to another pole of the Tower of Hanoi. Solving the puzzle using a smaller number of disks will be easier to analyze and understand. Let’s look at how the Tower of Hanoi is solved using 1, 2, and 3 discs.

Today's work

Students will have an opportunity to improve their quiz score before the end of the marking period. You will receive a new quiz (same question type with different numbers). You can earn back half of the points that you lost on each questions by completing that question correctly. Example, I earned (+0/6) points on question 2 on the old quiz. I can complete question 2 on the new quiz and earn 3 points back. The highest percentage I can receive is an 80 so 17/21.

Students who already have an 80 (or those who are very close) will work on a separate project. The students listed below will work on the Tower of Hanoi assignment in Google classroom.