Mathematics is the science of numbers and shapes. Mathematics may also be considered a formal language to describe physics.
Questions tagged [mathematics]
59 questions
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Do number systems in native languages affect math performance?
This blog post said that Asians are good at math because Asian languages have less-confusing number systems:
So if it’s not the schools, what accounts for Asians succeeding in math across different education systems? As English speakers, we may be…
Ming-Tang
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22
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Was the mathematical genius of Gauss discovered at school?
It is often said that the genius of Carl Friedrich Gauss was first discovered when his teacher told the students to calculate the sum of all integers from 1 to 100 to keep them occupied and young Gauss did that in seconds.
How much truth is in that…
malina
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Did the precedence of operations in arithmetic change since 1917?
The internet has been so bored lately that it spent most of the week arguing about a simple math statement. That statement:
8 ÷ 2(2+2) = ?
Mostly, people are arguing that the answer is either 16 or 1. Depending on the order you calculate the…
user11643
20
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4 answers
Is Mecca at a special place on the earth's surface, dictated by the Golden Mean?
Mecca considered by Muslims to be the holiest city of Islam.
This video about the Mecca makes the following claims:
Mecca is at a special point on the Earth's surface in the sense that its proportion in distance to the South and North pole, and…
Jose Luis
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Do Imperial units make United States children worse at maths?
It is claimed on Cracked.com:
There's also some evidence that our jalopy measurement system [imperial, ndr] is part of what's making U.S. students bad at math. In Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, he suggests that Asian students may have a built-in…
Sklivvz
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Are Asian women better at maths when they think they're competing against European men?
In QI Series L, Espisode 9, Stephen Fry says (source):
If there was a maths test between men and women it will be more likely that the men will do better because women are constantly told that women are worse than men at maths. Similarly, Asian…
paj28
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Did Jason Padgett become a math genius after getting hit on the head?
There have been some news reports about a college dropout, Jason Padgett, becoming a math genius after getting hit on the head. Could this be true or how much of this could be true?
rest_day
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Can Bruce Bueno de Mesquita predict the future with mathematics?
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is called the "New Nostradamus". According to his claims he is able to predict (and has predicted) big economic events such as the 2009 economic crisis. Supposedly he has a mathematical model that he is unwilling to reveal.…
isJustMe
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Can you measure the area of a shape with a ruler and a bent coathanger?
This youtube video video from How Round is Your Circle? claims you can estimate area with a tool created from a bent coat-hanger.
I am a little skeptical about the claim which is why I am posting this here as opposed to math.se.
Is this really a…
picakhu
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Was Shakuntala Devi able to perform complex computations far faster than the best living human calculators?
I heard about Shakuntala Devi for the first time today, an Indian Savant who allegedly performed such feats as finding the 23rd root of a 201 digit number in 50 seconds, unaided.
There seems to be some documentation of these feats, but there also…
John Doucette
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Did ninjas use Pythagoras' theorem to determine the depth of moats?
Ninjas are alleged to have determined the depth of moats by taking a reed that's attached to the bottom of the moat, and measuring the height of the reed above water, and how far forward they had to push the reed until it was submerged, and using…
Andrew Grimm
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Did 800 people estimate the weight of an ox within 1% in 1906?
According to Wikipedia,
At a 1906 country fair in Plymouth, 800 people participated in a contest to estimate the weight of a slaughtered and dressed ox. Statistician Francis Galton observed that the median guess, 1207 pounds, was accurate within…
fi12
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Is it possible to solve problems without active thinking?
I am a mathematics major and I constantly hear people (including my professors) saying that when you are not actively thinking about a given problem and playing tennis for instance your subconscious keeps thinking about it.
When I take a rest after…
Xena
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Are there more 40-moves chess games than atoms in the universe?
I read this tweet recently:
"There are more possible games of
chess lasting 40 moves than there are
atoms in the entire universe.
Intriguing to know."
I find this highly doubtful.
Could anyone verify this for me please?
Vian Esterhuizen
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Did René Descartes develop the Cartesian coordinate system by watching a fly on the ceiling?
René Descartes was a French man who lived in the 1600s. When he was a child, he was often sick, so the teachers at his boarding school let him stay in bed until noon. He went on staying in bed until noon for almost all his life. While in bed,…
Zenon
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