HighFour History of Mathematics
Category C: Grades 9 – 10
Round 7
Friday, March 11, 2016
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #1
Explanation:
apple
According to legend, Newton was sitting under an apple tree, an apple fell
on his head, and he suddenly thought of the Universal Law of Gravitation.
Newton, upon observing an apple fall from a tree, began to think along the
following lines: The apple is accelerated, since its velocity changes from
zero as it is hanging on the tree and moves toward the ground.
Answer #2:
Explanation:
“equal to” sign
The "=" symbol that is now universally accepted by mathematics for
equality was first recorded by Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde in The
Whetstone of Witte (1557). The symbol = shows that what is on the left of
the sign is equal in value or amount to what is on the right of the sign.
Answer #3
Explanation:
abacus
The abacus also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool that was in use
centuries before the adoption of the written modern numeral system and is
still widely used by merchants, traders and clerks in Asia, Africa, and
elsewhere.
Answer #4
Explanation:
George Boole
Boolean algebra is named after him, as is the crater Boole on the Moon.
The keyword Bool represents a Boolean datatype in many programming
languages, though Pascal and Java, among others, both use the full name
Boolean.
Answer #5
Explanation:
kilo
Kilo (from the Greek χίλιοι, literally a thousand) is a unit prefix in the metric
system denoting multiplication by one thousand. It has been used in the
International System of Units where it has the unit symbol k, in lower case.
It was originally adopted by Antoine Lavoisier's research group in 1795, and
introduced into the metric system in France with its establishment in 1799.
HighFour History of Mathematics
Category C: Grades 9 – 10
Round 7
Friday, March 11, 2016
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #6
Explanation:
Archimedes
According to Pappus of Alexandria, Archimedes' work on levers caused him
to remark: "Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth." Though
Archimedes did not invent level, he provided the explanation of the
principle involved in his work On the Equilibrium of Planes.
Answer #7
Explanation:
6
In number theory, a perfect number is a positive integer that is equal to the
sum of its proper positive divisors, that is, the sum of its positive divisors
excluding the number itself (also known as its aliquot sum).
Answer #8
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.
Answer #9
Explanation:
Archimedes
Archimedes died c. 212 BC during the Second Punic War, when Roman
forces under General Marcus Claudius Marcellus captured the city of
Syracuse after a two-year-long siege. According to the popular account
given by Plutarch, Archimedes was contemplating a mathematical diagram
when the city was captured. A Roman soldier commanded him to come and
meet General Marcellus but he declined, saying that he had to finish
working on the problem. The soldier was enraged by this, and killed
Archimedes with his sword.
Answer #10
Explanation:
Pythagoras
interesting fact that in the "Wizard of Oz", when the scarecrow receives his
brain, he incorrectly states the Pythagorean Theorem. He must have had
straw up there all the time!
HighFour History of Mathematics
Category C: Grades 9 – 10
Round 7
Friday, March 11, 2016
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #11
Explanation:
sigma
Sigma (upper-case , lower-case ) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek
alphabet, and carries the 's' sound. In the system of Greek numerals, it has
a value of 200.
Answer #12
Explanation:
protractor
A protractor is a measuring instrument, typically made of transparent
plastic or glass, for measuring angles. Most protractors measure angles in
degrees (°). Radian-scale protractors measure angles in radians. Most
protractors are divided into 180 equal parts.
Answer #13
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'.
Answer #14
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 #15
Explanation:
Sudoku cube
The Sudoku Cube or Sudokube is a variation on a Rubik's Cube in which the
faces have numbers one to nine on the sides instead of colors. The aim is to
solve Sudoku puzzles on one or more of the sides. The toy was created in
2006 by Jay Horowitz in Sebring, Ohio.
HighFour History of Mathematics
Category C: Grades 9 – 10
Round 7
Friday, March 11, 2016
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #16
Explanation:
Klein bottle
The Klein bottle was first described in 1882 by the German mathematician
Felix Klein. It may have been originally named the Kleinsche Fläche ("Klein
surface") and then misinterpreted as Kleinsche Flasche ("Klein bottle"),
which ultimately led to the adoption of this term in the German language as
well.
Answer #17
Explanation:
23
Hilbert personally presented ten of the problems (1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 13, 16, 19, 21
and 22) at the Paris conference of the International Congress of
Mathematicians, speaking on August 8 in the Sorbonne.
Answer #18
Explanation:
Archimedes’ Principle
Practically, the Archimedes' principle allows the buoyancy of an object
partially or wholly immersed in a liquid to be calculated. The downward
force on the object is simply its weight. The upward, or buoyant force on
the object is that stated by Archimedes' principle.
Answer #19
Explanation:
Paul Erdos
Paul Erdos engaged more than 500 collaborators, which is why his friends
created the so-called “Erdos number”. For his eccentric lifestyle Time
magazine called him “The Oddball’s Oddball”.
Answer #20
Explanation:
set(s)
A set is a well-defined collection of distinct objects. The objects that make
up a set (also known as the elements or members of a set) can be anything:
numbers, people, letters of the alphabet, other sets, and so on.