math

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Brain Game: Math Square #68

The work week is upon is again, so here's the Monday Math Square, a puzzle designed to get your noggin in gear to help you kick things off. You'll find more multiplication and division in today's puzzle, which may alter the difficulty. Enjoy! The nine white squares inside the main red grid should be filled with the digits 1 through 9. Each digit should appear only once in this main grid (the red square). Place the digits 1 through 9 in their correct spots so that the mathematical equations work both... READ ON

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Learn Math With Donald Duck

Donald in Mathmagic Land was produced by Disney in 1959 to educate kids about math. After its theatrical release (and nomination for an Academy Award), the film was distributed to schools, and apparently children of the 60's learned some math from this trippy cartoon. I'd never heard of it until a friend posted a link on Facebook. My favorite exchange: [Pythagoreans are playing music with lutes and such.] Narrator: "Shh, it's a jam session." Donald Duck: "Give us something with a beat!"... READ ON

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How Random are Scratch-Off Lotto Tickets?

I'm not a lottery player -- I don't like throwing my money down a statistical hole in the ground -- but I'll admit that on occasion I have been the recipient of a scratch-off lottery ticket, and I have scratched it, and haven't won anything. What a bummer. But I recall one occasion as a kid when a friend of mine received 20 scratch-off tickets ($1 each) as a birthday present. He "won" $15 and was very excited about the affair. Two things about this bothered me: first, that his total birthday gift was... READ ON

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The Joy of Stats: Statistics Explained

Hans Rosling is best known for his visualization of statistics data: he makes engaging animated displays that show how statistics (like AIDS rates, economic data, and even census data) change over time. By animating the data, Rosling helps laypeople understand what the statistics mean over time, and how to draw meaningful comparisons between data points. Last month, fellow blogger Ransom posted a short clip from Rosling's documentary The Joy of Stats, an engaging hour-long look at Rosling's work, and an... READ ON

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Name A Mathematical Theorem After Your Loved One

Looking for a unique and memorable gift for the geeks in your life? Consider having a mathematical theorem named after them. How? By visiting the TheoryMine website and ordering a personalized theorem for your friends and family members, of course. For only 15 GBP (approximately $24), the company will name one of their newly discovered theorems (they constantly have robot mathematicians working to find new ones) after whatever you enter in their theorem naming process. Naturally, all names are subject... READ ON

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Amazing Aqueduct Architecture

Most people know that Romans were pretty good architects and added impressive aqueduct systems to most of the areas they conquered. But just how amazing these marvels of ancient architecture are is often overlooked. A recent WebUrbanist article takes an in-depth look at these marvels of design and also includes a number of stunning photos of those still in existence. The aqueducts are fascinating not only because they helped bring clean water into city centers, allowing the residents to thrive, but also... READ ON

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The True Size of Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest continent (Asia is #1), but gauging the actual size of something that seems so far away can be difficult. Fortunately, Kai Kraus has created this incredible visual aid to help put the mind-boggling size of the land mass into perspective. It is fascinating to see that the U.S., most of Europe, China and Japan still don't fill up the entire surface area of the continent. It would be interesting to see a few different models that contain other countries, such as... READ ON

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The Hardest Word to Guess in Hangman

Next time you want to trip someone up in hangman, try using the word "jazz." Mathematician Jon McLoone used a computer simulation that helped him uncover that "jazz" is the hardest word to guess in the game. The reason for this is simple: shorter words give the guesser fewer chances to get the right letter, and vowels are the most commonly guessed letters. The least guessed letters are those that are used less frequently in the English language, such as j, z, q, and v. Given that 2/3 of the letters in... READ ON

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Documentary: Fermat's Last Theorem

Fermat's Last Theorem is one of the most famous math problems in history, as it remained unsolved for well over 300 years -- and Fermat himself, before his suicide, had written a margin note claiming he had a solution. Fellow _floss blogger Casey Johnston described FLT like so last year: In 1637, Pierre de Fermat scribbled a note in the margin of his copy of the book Arithmetica. He wrote (conjectured, in math terms) that for an integer n greater that two, the equation an + bn = cn had no whole... READ ON

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Brain Game: Math Square #33

The nine white squares inside the main red grid should be filled with the digits 1 through 9. Each digit should appear only once in this main grid. One of these numbers is already provided for you. Place the other digits in the correct spots so that the mathematical equations work both across and down. IMPORTANT: Remember algebraic rules when solving the problems... multiplication/division should be performed in the first step, then addition/subtraction in the second. Good luck! Here is my SOLUTION.... READ ON