Make a green bean matherole! (And other math-based Thanksgiving treats)

Maggie Koerth 7:07 am Wed Nov 21, 2012

Vi Hart is Khan Academy's professional mathemusician. (Yeah, I KNOW, right?) And, this year, she's making the most delightfully nerdy Thanksgiving dinner ever.

It begins with green bean matherole, topped with fried Borromean onion rings. But, besides the fact that it's finished with crispy, delicious hyperbolic geometry, what makes the matherole a matherole?

Vectors. Like the rings, vectors are part of geometry. They've got a magnitude (think: size of the green bean) and they've got a direction (think: which way the green bean is pointing). Most importantly, a single vector can be part of a field of vectors. And that, my friends, is an excellent starting point for a 9 x 13 pan full of beans.

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