Regression: lines (and planes) of best fit.
Let’s suppose we have some data for height and weight of some adult humans. We suspect the weight depends on the height – so taller people tend to weigh more than shorter. How can we
What does “MATH ERROR” mean?
SHORT ANSWER: this means you have just asked the calculator to do a sum it doesn’t like. The three most common reasons for getting this error message are: 1) you have tried to divide by
WHAT’S ZERO TIMES BY INFINITY?
SHORT ANSWER: 0 x ∞ = anything you like! Intrigued? Read on… LONG ANSWER: the question seems absurd: after all, zero multiplied by anything is zero, yet any multiple of infinity is always infinity. But
THE GREATEST MISTAKE IN THE HISTORY OF MATHS:
This must surely be the exclusion of women from maths for most of our history, due to mathematics (and academia in general) being seen as an unsuitable activity or as simply “too hard” for women.
USING MATHS TO CHECK WORLD RECORD ATTEMPTS: PETE’S DIABOLO HIGH THROW
My friend Pete can throw a diabolo ridiculously high – check out this video of him in action! Pete thinks his throw is higher than the “official” world record of 23.92metres so asked me if
HIPPASUS
HIPPASUS: was an Italian born mathematician who lived around 500BC. Legend has it that Hippasus was drowned at sea after daring to suggest that some numbers cannot be written as one whole number divided by
Strange but True: IRRATIONAL NUMBERS
The first numbers we discover in childhood are the Natural Numbers: 1, 2, 3, … Next come the Integers (whole numbers) – which also include Zero and the negatives: … -3, -2, -1, 0, 1,
WHY THE ANGLES IN A TRIANGLE ADD TO 180°
Given any triangle: Rotate so that the longest side lies horizontally along the base. Extend the base, and draw a parallel line going through the uppermost corner (these two lines are shown in light blue).
What’s special about ZERO?
(or: Much ado about Nothing)
Zero doesn’t actually exist. Think about it: by definition it isn’t anything, it’s nothing!! Even so, here are 5 facts every mathematician should know about Zero:
PUZZLE OF THE WEEK
What shape goes in the intersection of this Venn Diagram?
Read on for the answer: