Math History
This ancient Greek's book "Elements" was used as a geometry textbook for over 2,000 years — longer than any other textbook in history.
Who is Euclid
How many strings does a standard guitar have?
What is 6?
Baristas and bakers rely on this kind of math every time they double or halve a recipe.
What is ratios/proportions?
What's the next number in the Fibonacci-style sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, __?
What is 8?
What shape is a stop sign?
What is an octagon?
This Persian scholar's 9th-century book title, "al-jabr," is where we get the word for this branch of math.
How many bones are in the adult human body?
What is 206?
This popular puzzle game involves clearing lines by fitting falling shapes made of exactly four connected squares.
What is Tetris?
Multiply 9 by any whole number from 1-9, then add the digits of the result together. What number do you always land on, no matter which digit you started with?
What is 9?
What shape do you get when you cut a cone straight across, parallel to its base?
What is a circle?
This English mathematician and physicist developed calculus independently around the same time as Leibniz, sparking a bitter priority dispute between the two.
Who is Isaac Newton?
How many time zones does Russia span, more than any other country?
What is 11?
This mathematical pattern, where a stock's price movements look statistically similar whether you zoom into a single day or zoom out to a whole year, is a hallmark of chaotic systems.
What is a fractal?
A number is "perfect" if it equals the sum of its own divisors (excluding itself). 6 is one (1+2+3=6). What's the next perfect number after 6?
What is 28
If you slice a bagel with one straight cut through the middle, what shape is each cross-section?
What is a ring?
This self-taught Indian mathematician sent his unconventional work to Cambridge professors, and despite having almost no formal training, produced thousands of stunning results, many about infinite series.
Who is Srinivasa Ramanujan?
How many years did the Hundred Years' War actually last?
Daily Double
What is 116?
Chess engines and AI opponents in video games use this branch of math and by searching through millions of possible move sequences to decide their next move.
What is game theory?
The ratio of consecutive Fibonacci numbers approaches a famous irrational constant as you go further in the sequence. Name it.
What is the golden ratio (φ ≈ 1.618)?
Only three regular polygons can tile a flat floor perfectly with no gaps, using just one shape repeated. Name all three.
What are triangles, squares, and hexagons?
This ancient civilization used a base-60 number system instead of base-10, which is why we still have 60 seconds in a minute and 360 degrees in a circle today.
Who are the Babylonians?
At sea level, water boils at this many degrees Fahrenheit.
What is 212?
Casinos are built entirely on this one mathematical concept. The built-in mathematical edge that guarantees the house wins over time, even though any single player might win big.
What is the expected value or "house edge"?
A single fold of paper doubles its thickness. Starting from a sheet 0.1mm thick, about how many folds would it take to reach the Moon (about 384,000 km away)?
What is 42 folds?
Take a strip of paper, give it a half-twist, and tape the ends together to form a Möbius strip. If you cut all the way around it lengthwise, right down the middle, what do you end up with?
What is one single, longer loop with two full twists?