Math with Bad DrawingsCartoon Archive

Glass Half Full

June 1, 2018

Four answers to the half-full glass question, from optimist and pessimist to a physicist (mostly empty space) and a topologist (all glasses are equivalent).

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Free for classrooms, worksheets, slides and other non-commercial use under CC BY-NC 4.0, with credit to Ben Orlin.

Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2018-06-01-glass-half-full/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Transcript

[Title] "HOW FULL IS THE GLASS?"

Optimist: "It's half full." · Pessimist: "It's half empty." · Physicist: "The glass is 99.999999% empty space." · Topologist: "Empty and full glasses are isomorphic anyway."

Topics
Number & Arithmetic › FractionsNumber & Arithmetic › PercentagesGeometry › TopologyScience › Physics
Level
Middle SchoolHigh SchoolCollege
Themes
Famous QuotesMathematiciansNature & ScienceGrowth Mindset