(a4ndreas/iStock/Getty Images Plus)Each year on March 14, math enthusiasts celebrate Pi Day, honoring one of the most famous irrational numbers. Represented by the Greek letter π and approximated as 3.14, pi highlights both the practicality and beauty of mathematics.Pi defines the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, an unending, non-repeating decimal. Unlike...
Credit: PixabayBreaking a Six-Year Drought in Prime DiscoveriesA recent participant in the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) has broken a six-year stretch without new discoveries in the quest for large prime numbers, among the usual composites.This new prime number has an impressive 41,024,320 decimal digits—it would take months to write out in full....
Credit: PixabayYou’ve likely used math to solve common tasks, like figuring out a restaurant tip or calculating a room's square footage. But how does math contribute to tackling more complex challenges, such as finding a cure for a disease?As an applied mathematician, I use mathematical tools to analyze and solve complex biological problems. My...
"What's the date three years from July 28?"Image credit: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.comA new study by physicists explores a common frustration: scheduling meetings. The central question is how challenging it is to find a time when everyone is available. As expected, the results weren’t encouraging.“We wanted to understand the odds,” said Harsh Mathur, a physics professor at...
Credit: DepositphotosMathematics has many abstract concepts that are often difficult to grasp, but we assumed the meaning of 'equals' was well understood. However, it appears that mathematicians disagree on the exact definition of equality, which could pose challenges for computer programs increasingly used to verify mathematical proofs.This academic debate has simmered for decades but...
Credit: CanvasIn high school math classes, play often disappears from the learning process. However, Kathy Sun is finding new ways to make math playful in high school.According to Sun, students usually focus on mastering procedures in math, rather than understanding math's broader contributions and community aspects. Sun, who is a researcher and professor at...
Credit: PixabayA recent study indicates that assigning math homework to students can have adverse effects, especially when the tasks are overly complex, making it difficult for children to complete them even with parental assistance.Researchers from the University of South Australia and St. Francis Xavier University in Canada conducted interviews with eight Canadian families....
Logic, as we delve into its depths, reveals itself as more than just a set of rules; it's a systematic exploration of reasoning governed by strict principles.Logic, as we delve into its depths, reveals itself as more than just a set of rules; it's a systematic exploration of reasoning governed by strict principles. In...
Credit:Unsplash / Dan Cristian Pădureț.Carl Friedrich Gauss famously declared mathematics the "queen of the sciences." However, as history's renowned mathematician, he might have been slightly biased. Ask a physicist, and she might retort with the provocative analogy that "physics is to mathematics what sex is to masturbation."But regardless of whether mathematics wears the crown, it undoubtedly stands...
Night boosts winning odds. Tim Hortons’ Roll up the Rim contest, a fixture since 1985, remained unchanged for 25 years until 2020. The shift to digital due to the pandemic altered the game. Entries, acquired through purchases, transitioned to the loyalty app for later use, turning into "digital rolls" in the renamed contest, Roll...
