At first when Mrs. Mariner asked us where we use math in secret, my mind went blank. To be honest, I really enjoy math, but the whole "apply what you learn" thing, doesn't usually cross my mind when I am going on about life. I wish I thought that way, but I'm not THAT smart (; After these thoughts finished crossing my mind, I thought about the question again.
Somewhere that I definitely use math or see math being used, is in ski racing. I ski race on a competitive ski team that competes at United States Ski Association races. For my age group, there are certain rules that MUST be followed for these races. One of the things that is important when choosing a ski that will fit the requirements and provide you maximum success, is the turn radius of the ski.
For example, for slalom, you do not want to have a ski with a too turn radius. In slalom, the gates are closer together and you want to make tighter, quicker turns. Therefore, you have to make sure that the slalom ski you purchase has the right sized turn radius. Contrary to a small turn radius, for Giant Slalom, you can have a ski with a smaller turn radius. Giant Slalom is just what it sounds like it is. The gates are much farther apart than in slalom and you have more time to make larger turns.
Turn radii are very important in ski racing. This is a way that math applies to my life that I had not recognized until now. It is kind of cool to see that something I am so passionate about has math involved in many ways, one of those being what I just talked about.
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