Are Electric vehicles the way to go? A mathematical look at the economics of EVs

There have been a lot of items in the news about electric cars recently – many states have rebate for new vehicles, and federal tax incentives will be a complicated and interesting opportunity next year. The car company website would certainly say you will save a lot purchasing their vehicles, but there is a surprisingly easy way to estimate for yourself whether an EV is cost effective.

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Optimal placements and unsolved math problems

Optimal placements and unsolved math problems are among the interesting problems discussed in the book, Tomorrow’s Math, Second Edition by C. Stanley Ogilvy. On chapter two, pg.23-24 he asks how a land’s defenses may be best defended by n defense stations on a disk shaped land area? They state it had known answers for n<6, and “a general solution seems remote at present”.

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