HighFour History of Mathematics
Category B: Grades 6 – 8
Round 10
Friday, June 3, 2016
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #1
Explanation:
March 14
Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14) around the world. Pi (Greek
letter “ ”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant —
the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is
approximately 3.14159. Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits
beyond its decimal point.
Answer #2
Explanation:
500
In the Roman system, I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, and
M = 1000. One of the rules in this system is that the same symbol cannot be
used more than three times in a number.
Answer #3
Explanation:
Division
The obelus is also used alone to represent the division operation itself, as
for instance as a label on a key of a calculator. Although previously used for
subtraction, the obelus was first used as a symbol for division in 1659 in the
algebra book Teutsche Algebra by Johann Rahn.
Answer #4
Explanation:
Magic square
In recreational mathematics, a magic square is an arrangement of distinct
numbers (i.e. each number is used once), usually integers, in a square grid,
where the numbers in each row, and in each column, and the numbers in
the main and secondary diagonals, all add up to the same number.
Answer #5
Explanation:
Fields Medal
The medal was first awarded in 1936 to Finnish mathematician Lars Ahlfors
and American mathematician Jesse Douglas, and it has been awarded every
four years since 1950. Its purpose is to give recognition and support to
younger mathematical researchers who have made major contributions.
HighFour History of Mathematics
Category B: Grades 6 – 8
Round 10
Friday, June 3, 2016
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #6
Explanation:
Binary System
The modern binary number system was devised by Gottfried Leibniz in
1679 and appears in his article Explication de l'Arithmétique Binaire.
However, systems related to binary numbers have appeared earlier in
multiple cultures including ancient Egypt, China, and India.
Answer #7
Explanation:
Aryabhatta
Aryabhata or Aryabhata I was the first of the major mathematicianastronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian
astronomy. His works include the Āryabhaṭīya and the Arya-siddhanta.
Answer #8
Explanation:
The Mayan civilization
This civilization had settled in the region of Central America from about 2000
BCE, although the so-called Classic Period stretches from about 250 CE to 900
CE. At its peak, it was one of the most densely populated and culturally
dynamic societies in the world.
Answer #9
Explanation:
Pascal’s triangle
The pattern of numbers that forms Pascal's triangle was known well before
Pascal's time. Pascal innovated many previously unattested uses of the
triangle's numbers, uses he described comprehensively in what is perhaps
the earliest known mathematical treatise to be specially devoted to the
triangle, his Traité du triangle arithmétique (1653).
Answer #10
Explanation:
Hipparchus
Hipparchus, 190-120 BC, is also known for comparing observations of a
solar eclipse in Syene and in Alexandria to determine the distance from the
Earth to the Moon. 'Commentary on Aratus and Eudoxus' is Hipparchus's
only surviving writing, but it was not one of his major works. Most of what
is known about Hipparchus was obtained from Ptolemy's writing 'The
Almagest'.
HighFour History of Mathematics
Category B: Grades 6 – 8
Round 10
Friday, June 3, 2016
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #11
Explanation:
Rene Descartes
René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist.
Dubbed the father of modern philosophy, much of subsequent Western
philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this
day.
Answer #12
Explanation:
Lewis Carroll
He is also known for adding words to the English language such as 'chortle',
which came from the poem "Jabberwocky".
Answer #13
Explanation:
Golden Ratio
The golden ratio, also known as the divine proportion, golden mean, or
golden section, is a number often encountered when taking the ratios of
distances in simple geometric figures such as the pentagon, pentagram,
decagon and dodecahedron.
Answer #14
Explanation:
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei, was an Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher,
and mathematician who played a major role in the scientific revolution
during the Renaissance.
Answer #15
Explanation:
cogito ergo sum
Descartes understood "certainty" as the primary characteristic of valid
knowledge. He conducted a series of thought experiments (regarding
methodic doubt) in order to find the indubitable, self-evident truth
expressed by this phrase. The interpretation of this phrase has been subject
to numerous philosophical debates. The phrase expresses a skeptical
intellectual climate which is indicative of early modern philosophy.
HighFour History of Mathematics
Category B: Grades 6 – 8
Round 10
Friday, June 3, 2016
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #16
Explanation:
Rene Descartes
Ever since he was young Descartes had been in poor health, and his
doctor's recommendation was that he spend his mornings in bed.
Unfortunately, the Swedish princess he was tutoring had an insatiable urge
to draw tangents at 5 in the morning, and Descartes soon caught
pneumonia and died.
Answer #17
Explanation:
John Napier
John Napier is best known as the inventor of logarithms. He also invented
the so-called "Napier's bones" and made common the use of the decimal
point in arithmetic and mathematics.
Answer #18
Explanation:
Niels Henrik Abel
Niels Henrik Abel was a Norwegian mathematician who made pioneering
contributions in a variety of fields. His most famous single result is the first
complete proof demonstrating the impossibility of solving the general
quintic equation in radicals.
Answer #19
Explanation:
Charles Babbage
The construction of modern computers, logically similar to Babbage's
design, have changed the whole of mathematics and it is not an
exaggeration to say that they have changed the whole world.
Answer #20
Explanation:
2
Euler formula states that for any convex polyhedron, the number of
vertices and faces together is exactly two more than the number of edges.
Symbolically v – e + f = 2.