IRRATIONAL NUMBERS
The first proof of the existence of irrational numbers is usually attributed to a follower of this Greek philosopher and polymath whose famous theorem states that "in a right-angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the two other sides."
Who is Pythogoras?
Celebrated every February 14, this holiday is associated with love, hearts, and sending cards or chocolates.
What is Valentine’s Day?
This adjective describes someone who avoids certain foods and can be very particular about what ends up on their plate.
What is picky?
The Greek letter used in math to represent summation.
What is sigma?
This is the number of factors of 36.
What is 9? (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 36)
This is the name for a common technique to prove sqrt{2} is irrational by first assuming it is rational.
What is a proof by contradiction?
On April 14, 1865, this U.S. president was shot at Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth.
Who is Abraham Lincoln?
This adjective describes something done very quickly or in a fast-moving way.
What is rapid?
In geometry and trigonometry, this Greek letter commonly represents an unknown angle in a triangle.
What is theta?
The solution to the equation
sqrt{x^2+24}-2=x
What is 5?
Unlike the rational numbers, which are "countable", Cantor’s diagonal argument proves that the set of irrational numbers is this type of infinite set.
What is uncountable?
On August 14, 1945, Japan announced its surrender, effectively ending this global conflict.
What is World War II?
This adjective describes someone who is full of energy, enthusiasm, or determination.
What is spirited?
DAILY DOUBLE
This Greek letter is commonly used to represent a “change in a quantity” in math and science and plays a prominent role in calculus.
0!
What is 1?
When this famous irrational number, named for the mathematician Euler, is added to pi it is still unknown whether the result is rational or irrational.
What is e? (It is not known if
pi+e is irrational.)
DAILY DOUBLE
On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote this poem after witnessing the British attack on Fort McHenry, later set to music.
This adjective describes something extremely important or central to a situation.
What is pivotal?
In statistics, this Greek letter represents the population mean.
What is mu?
If you randomly draw 20 cards from a standard 52-card deck, this is the expected number of diamonds you would get.
What is 5?
In this century, Johann Heinrich Lambert was the first to prove that the number pi is irrational.
What is the 18th century? (In the 1760s.)
On July 14, 1789, this fortress was stormed in Paris, marking the start of the French Revolution.
What is the Bastille?
This adjective describes someone or something that stands out clearly and is easy to notice.
What is conspicuous?
This Greek letter looks like a horseshoe and is used in physics to represent ohms.
What is omega?
In binary, this number is written as 1001.
What is 9?