Math 220
Spring 2017
Instructions for term paper

One of the course requirements is a term paper on a mathematical topic to be chosen from the list below. The paper should be about 2,000 words long.

One of the most important considerations in drafting a paper is the intended audience. You should think of your audience as being other students in the course (not the instructor).

Writing this paper is a long-term project. Here is a set of milestones with due dates.

Choose a topic
Due January 26 (worth 2 points).
Students will all choose different topics from the list below—first come, first served. A sign-up list will be available in class and during office hours.
Write a proposal for the paper
Due February 9 (worth 8 points).
The proposal should be about five sentences describing what attracts you to the topic and what you hope to accomplish in the paper. Please submit the proposal online at eCampus; there is a submission link under the Content item of the course website inside eCampus.
Submit an outline
Due February 23 (worth 15 points).
Submit a draft of the paper
Due March 9 March 21 (worth 30 points). You should bring two hard copies to class on March 21 and also post a digital copy to eCampus.
Peer edit two other students’ drafts
Due March 30 April 4 (worth 15 points). Bring your edits to class on April 4 to give to the author, and also post a digital copy of your comments to eCampus. I have posted a template for your reviews both in pdf format and as an editable file that can be opened on the web.
Submit revised draft
Due April 25 (worth 30 points).

List of topics

You may choose a topic not on this list, subject to the instructor’s approval.

  • Apollonian circles [taken]
  • Archimedes cattle problem [taken]
  • arithmetic–geometric mean [taken]
  • Arrow’s impossibility theorem
  • Banach–Tarski paradox [taken]
  • Bertrand paradox
  • Cantor set
  • chaos [taken]
  • Collatz conjecture [taken]
  • Dedekind cuts
  • error-correcting codes
  • Euler characteristic [taken]
  • Fermat numbers
  • Fibonacci numbers [taken]
  • fractals [taken]
  • game of Life [taken]
  • golden ratio [taken]
  • Hausdorff dimension
  • Jordan curve theorem
  • Klein bottle [taken]
  • Koch snowflake [taken]
  • Lambert W function
  • magic squares [taken]
  • Mandelbrot set
  • Monty Hall problem [taken]
  • Nim [taken]
  • non-Euclidean geometry
  • P versus NP
  • Penrose tilings [taken]
  • prisoner’s dilemma [taken]
  • Pythagorean triples [taken]
  • Riemann hypothesis
  • Russell’s paradox
  • sangaku
  • space-filling curves
  • sphere packing [taken]
  • three-body problem
  • topologist’s sine curve
  • transcendental numbers [taken]
  • Zeno’s paradoxes [taken]