MATH TRIVIA

The numerical digits we use today such as 1, 2 and 3 are based on the Hindu-Arabic numeral
system developed over 1000 years ago.
Different names for the number 0 include zero, nought, naught, nil, zilch and zip.
The smallest ten prime numbers are: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23 and 29.
2 and 5 are the only prime numbers that end with a 2 or a 5.
The golden ratio of approximately 1.618 between two quantities such as lengths often appears in
nature (tree branching, uncurling ferns, pine cone arrangements etc) and has been used
throughout history to create aesthetically pleasing designs and art works such as Leonardo da
Vincis Mona Lisa.
Fibonacci numbers are named after Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa (better known as
Fibonacci) who introduced them to Western Europe after they had earlier been described by
Indian mathematicians. They are related to the golden ratio and proceed in the following order: 0,
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, .... Can you see the pattern?
The number Pi (the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle) cant be expressed as a
fraction, making it an irrational number. It never repeats and never ends when written as a
decimal.
Here is Pi written to 100 decimal places:
3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751
058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679
What comes after a million, billion and trillion? A quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion,
octillion, nonillion, decillion and undecillion.
The name of the popular search engine Google came from a misspelling of the word googol,
which is a very large number (the number one followed by one hundred zeros to be exact).
A googolplex is the number 1 followed by a googol zeros, a number so ridiculously big that it
cant be written because there literally isn't enough room in the entire universe to fit it in!
Check out some more big numbers.
You might have heard the word infinity before or seen its symbol that looks like the number 8
placed on its side. Infinity means a limitless quantity or something that goes on forever. While its
not really a number like 1, 2 or 3, infinity is often used in math as part of equations and formulas.
111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321
12 + 3 - 4 + 5 + 67 + 8 + 9 = 100
Enjoy some more fun numbers for kids.
It is believed that Ancient Egyptians used complex mathematics such as algebra, arithmetic and
geometry as far back as 3000 BC, such as equations to approximate the area of circles.
Babylonians measured the circumference of a circle as approximately 3 times the diameter,
which is fairly close to todays measurement which uses the value of Pi (around 3.14).
Chinese mathematics developed around the 11th century BC and included important concepts
related to negative numbers, decimals, algebra and geometry.
Greek mathematics developed from around the 7th century BC, producing many important
theories thanks to great mathematicians such as Pythagoras, Euclid and Archimedes.
The Hindu-Arabic numeral system began developing as early as the 1st century with a full system
being established around the 9th century, forming the basis of the numerical digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8 and 9 that we use today.
The symbols used for addition (+) and subtraction (-) have been around for thousands of years
but it wasn't until the 16th century that most mathematical symbols were invented. Before this
time math equations were written in words, making it very time consuming.
The equals sign (=) was invented in 1557 by a Welsh mathematician named Robert Recorde.
Mathematical developments increased rapidly around the time of the Italian Renaissance in the
16th century and continued through the scientific revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries,
becoming increasingly abstract in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The basic arithmetic operations used in mathematics are addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division.
Modern mathematics has advanced greatly thanks to the incredible computing power of todays
computers.
These days mathematics is important in many different types of jobs, including those related to
engineering, business, science, medicine and more.
Tolstoy: "Some mathematician, I believe, has said that true pleasure lies not in the discovery of truth, but in the search for it."
Carl Friedrich Gauss: "I have had my results for a long time: but I do not yet know how I am to arrive at them."
Carl Friedrich Gauss: "Mathematics is the queen of science, and arithmetic the queen of mathematics."
John von Neumann: "If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated
life is."
Plato: "I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning."
Archimedes: "Give me a place to stand, and I will move the earth."
Rene Descartes: "Perfect numbers like perfect men are very rare."
Isaac Newton: "If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood on the shoulders of giants."
Isaac Newton: "Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things."
Benjamin Franklin: "No employment can be managed without arithmetic, no mechanical invention without geometry."
Johannes Kepler: "Where there is matter, there is geometry."
Blaise Pascal: "It is not certain that everything is uncertain."
If you liked those then check out our funny math quotes, as well as our Albert Einstein math quotes and famous mathematician
facts.


Triangles are polygons with the least possible number of sides (three).
The three internal angles of a triangle always add to 180 degrees.
An equilateral triangle has three sides of equal length and three equal angles.
An isosceles triangle has two sides of equal length and two equal angles.
A scalene triangle has no sides of equal length and no equal angles.
A right angle triangle has one angle that is 90 degrees.
An obtuse triangle has one angle larger than 90 degrees.
An acute triangle has angles that are all less than 90 degrees.
The longest side of a right angle triangle is called the hypotenuse, it is always found opposite the right angle.
Trigonometry is the study of the relationship between the angles of triangles and their sides.
Triangle shapes are often used in construction because of their great strength.
Now that you're an expert on triangles, try learning about squares,quadrilaterals and other 2D polygon shapes.

Equilateral triangle

Right angle triangle

Equilateral triangle

Isosceles triangle


Right angle triangle

Obtuse triangle

Acute triangle
Check out our famous mathematician facts for more.
Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras lived around the year 500 BC and is known for
his Pythagorean theorem relating to the three sides of a right angle triangle: a + b = c
Greek mathematician Euclid is often referred to as the Father of Geometry for his revolutionary
ideas and influential textbook called Elements that he wrote around the year 300 BC.
Archimedes of Syracuse lived around the year 250 BC and among other things, developed a
method for determining the volume of objects with irregular shapes.
Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa (better known as Fibonacci) lived between the years 1170
and 1250 and is best known today for Fibonacci numbers, the number sequence named after
him. Fibonacci introduced the number sequence to Western Europe in his book Liber Abaci after
they had been described earlier by Indian mathematicians.
The Fibonacci sequence: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, ....
In the 17th century Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler made important discoveries relating to
planetary motion and orbits.
German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz lived between 1646 and 1716, developing important
calculus concepts and mathematical notation practices.
Isaac Newton discovered the laws of physics and brought together many important concepts of
infinitesimal calculus.
Much of the work done by Leibniz and Newton is based on theories by French philosopher Rene
Descartes. As well as his many contributions to philosophy, Descartes also had a huge impact on
mathematics, creating analytical geometry, developing a system that describes geometry using
algebra, contributing to optics and much more.
Born in France, Pierre de Fermat was an amateur mathematician who is best known for Fermats
Last Theorem.
In 1642 French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented the mechanical calculator.
Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler was probably the most influential mathematician of the 18th
century, making discoveries in graph theory and introducing many modern mathematical words
and notations among other things.
Born in 1777, German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss contributed brilliant work in geometry,
statistics, number theories, algebra and much more.
Bernhard Riemann was an influential German mathematician who contributed to differential
geometry and analysis, paving the way for the development of general relativity by Albert
Einstein.

Isosceles triangle

Scalene triangle

Obtuse triangle

Acute triangle


Scalene triangle
Born in 1882, Emmy Noether was a German mathematician who made important contributions to
abstract algebra and theoretical physics, described by Einstein as the most important woman in
the history of mathematics.
Alan Turing was a British mathematician and computer scientist who cracked German ciphers
(codes) in the Second World War, contributed to mathematical logic and played an important role
in the development of algorithms, artificial intelligence and the modern computer.
Born in 1953, British mathematician Andrew Wiles is most famous for proving Fermats Last
Theorem.
I am an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What number am I?

Answer: Seven (take away the s and it becomes even).
Using only addition, how do you add eight 8s and get the number 1000?

Answer: 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1000
Sally is 54 years old and her mother is 80, how many years ago was Sallys mother three times
her age?

Answer: 41 years ago, when Sally was 13 and her mother was 39.
Which 3 numbers have the same answer whether theyre added or multiplied together?

Answer: 1, 2 and 3.
There is a basket containing 5 apples, how do you divide the apples among 5 children so that
each child has 1 apple while 1 apple remains in the basket?

Answer: 4 children get 1 apple each while the fifth child gets the basket with the remaining apple
still in it.
There is a three digit number. The second digit is four times as big as the third digit, while the first
digit is three less than the second digit. What is the number?

Answer: 141
What word looks the same backwards and upside down?

Answer: SWIMS
Two girls were born to the same mother, at the same time, on the same day, in the same month
and in the same year and yet somehow theyre not twins. Why not?

Answer: Because there was a third girl, which makes them triplets!
A ship anchored in a port has a ladder which hangs over the side. The length of the ladder is
200cm, the distance between each rung in 20cm and the bottom rung touches the water. The tide
rises at a rate of 10cm an hour. When will the water reach the fifth rung?

Answer: The tide raises both the water and the boat so the water will never reach the fifth rung.