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Measure the distance from the ball to the hole along the path the ball travels in the challenge. Suppose the ball hits the boundary anywhere else on the way to the hole. Measure this other path and compare it to the first. What do you find?

Trace the diagram in the challenge on a sheet of paper. Insert thumb-tacks at the tee and the hole. Stretch a rubber band around the thumb-tacks. Place a protractor on the diagram and pull the rubber band to the center of the protractor as shown.

Slide the protractor until the angles marked 1 and 2 are the same size. Now measure the length of the stretched rubber band. If the angles are not the same size, how do you think the length of the rubber band will change?

 

The diagram below shows a beam of light entering a triangular box with mirrored walls. Trace the path of the light as it bounces off the walls. No matter where you start, what happens to the path?

Design a hole for a miniature golf course; then play a game with a friend to show how the ball can bounce off the sides and into the hole. (Try this on a computer.)

 

Tangent leads on.Still Want More?

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