Math Concepts

Math is often called the universal language because no matter where you're from, a better understanding of math means a better understanding of the world around you. Learn about math concepts such as addition, subtraction, fractions, ratios and more.

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How do you calculate absurdly high numbers without writing them out in numerals? You use scientific notation. We'll give you examples and show you how.

By Mark Mancini & Yara Simón

A dodecahedron has 12 flat faces, all shaped like pentagons. Here are 12 cool things you just may not know about them.

By Mark Mancini

Corresponding angles are what you get when two parallel lines are crossed by a third line, creating angles that have the same relative position at each intersection. They're easy to find once you know what to look for.

By Nathan Chandler & Austin Henderson

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We may think the butterfly effect means that a small change (like the flap of a butterfly's wings) can have huge consequences (a tornado in China). But what if it means the opposite?

By Nathan Chandler

Venn diagrams are an easy way to simplify information and visualize relationships between concepts or sets of data.

By Jesslyn Shields & Sascha Bos

It's easy to make a Mobius strip with some paper and tape, but your mind will be blown by the mathematical concepts it unlocks.

By Trevor English

Two lines that are perpendicular to the same line are parallel to each other and will never intersect.

By Mark Mancini

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It's an important question, so come with us and we'll show you how to figure it out.

By Jesslyn Shields

You may remember from math class that a prime number is a number that can only be divided by 1 and itself. But why are they important anyway?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Rational numbers can be expressed as the ratio of two integers, while irrational numbers, such as square roots of non-square numbers, cannot.

By Patrick J. Kiger & Austin Henderson

Bayes' theorem describes the probability of an event, based on prior knowledge of conditions that might be related to the event. Sounds intimidating, but we'll walk you through it.

By Mark Mancini

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Science requires that we make guesses, which is why we have confidence intervals.

By Jesslyn Shields

A reinterpretation of an ancient Babylonian tablet shows that trigonometry might be 1,000 years older than thought. But there's some disagreement.

By Jesslyn Shields

An imaginary number is a value that's the square root of a negative number. It can't exist on a one-dimensional number line. We'll explain.

By Patrick J. Kiger & Austin Henderson

Numerators and denominators, oh my! It sounds complicated, but learning how to multiply fractions is easy. It just takes three simple steps.

By Jesslyn Shields

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Dividing fractions is easy once you learn a couple of rules and remember three words - keep, change and flip.

By Jesslyn Shields

A perfect square is a number, but it can also be explained using an actual square.

By Jesslyn Shields & Austin Henderson

Real numbers are the opposite of imaginary numbers and include every number you can think of.

By Jesslyn Shields & Yara Simón

You can find the distance between two points by using the distance formula. It's an application of the Pythagorean theorem. Remember that from high school algebra?

By Mark Mancini & Desiree Bowie

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The very idea of trying to subtract one fraction from another may send you into convulsions of fear, but don't worry - we'll show you how.

By Jesslyn Shields & Austin Henderson

Want to know the area of your pizza or the kitchen you're eating it in? Come on, and we'll show you how to figure it out with an area formula.

By Thomas Harlander

We take the mystery out of reporting the percent error correctly and show you how to use it in real life.

By Mark Mancini

The Collatz conjecture can be worked on by 9-year-old math whizzes, but it's flummoxed some of the greatest minds of the past century. Will it ever be solved?

By Jesslyn Shields

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A new geometric shape called the "einstein" shape has been discovered and when you tile it, no repeating pattern emerges.

By Jesslyn Shields

Math is a language of symbols and equations and knowing the basic signposts is the first step in solving mathematical problems.

By Thomas Harlander