HighFour History of Mathematics
Category A: Grades 4 – 5
Round 4
Monday, December 7, 2015
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #1:
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 #2
Explanation:
100
A googol is 10 to the 100th power (which is 1 followed by 100 zeros). A
googol is larger than the number of elementary particles in the universe,
which amount to only 10 to the 80th power.
Answer #3
Explanation:
quadrilateral
Quadrilateral means "four sides" (quad means four, lateral means side).
Answer #4
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. Today, abaci are often constructed as a bamboo frame with
beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beans or stones moved in
grooves in sand or on tablets of wood, stone, or metal.
Answer #5
Explanation:
Euclid
Euclid was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of
Geometry". His Elements is one of the most influential works in the history
of mathematics, serving as the main textbook for teaching mathematics
(especially geometry) from the time of its publication until the late 19th or
early 20th century.
HighFour History of Mathematics
Category A: Grades 4 – 5
Round 4
Monday, December 7, 2015
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #6
Explanation:
Euler
Euler was the most eminent mathematician of the 18th century and is held
to be one of the greatest mathematicians in history. He is also widely
considered to be the most prolific mathematician of all times.
Answer #7
Explanation:
Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles L. Dodgson, author of the
children's classics "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the
Looking-Glass."
Answer #8
Explanation:
Archimedes
Legend has it that Archimedes was killed by invading soldiers after he
refused to get up from the math problem he was working on.
Answer #9
Explanation:
Hypatia
The mob, which according to some stories was led by monks, assaulted her
in the street. Her death is symbolic for some historians. For example,
Kathleen Wider proposes that the murder of Hypatia marked the end of
Classical antiquity, and Stephen Greenblatt observes that her murder
"effectively marked the downfall of Alexandrian intellectual life".
Answer #10
Explanation:
Descartes
Cogito ergo sum is a Latin philosophical proposition by René Descartes
usually translated into English as "I think, therefore I am". The phrase
originally appeared in French as je pense, donc je suis in his Discourse on
the Method, so as to reach a wider audience than Latin would have
allowed.
HighFour History of Mathematics
Category A: Grades 4 – 5
Round 4
Monday, December 7, 2015
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #11
Explanation:
Fibonacci
Fibonacci was born in Pisa around 1170. He gained his nickname
"Fibonacci" due to his father's nickname (Bonaccio - "good natured").
Fibonacci is derived from filius Bonacci, which literally means "son of
Bonaccio"). He was also known by the nickname "Bigollo", which may be
taken to mean loafer, and may have expressed the general lack of interest
in the purely theoretical mathematics.
Answer #12
Explanation:
Archimedes
Archimedes drew a very large circle. Archimedes drew regular polygons
(straight-sided figures with sides of equal length) around the circle, and
inside the circle. He started with 12-sided figures, then 24-sided, 48-sided
and finally 96-sided. The small arc lengths approximated to straight lines, so
the value of pi could be related to the radius. The numbers may seem an
odd choice, but exactly six chords of length equal to the radius fit exactly
inside a circle. Continually halving the length leads to the numbers he
chose.
Answer #13
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 #14
Explanation:
The sieve of Eratosthenes
In mathematics, the sieve of Eratosthenes, one of a number of prime
number sieves, is a simple, ancient algorithm for finding all prime numbers
up to any given limit.
Answer #15
Explanation:
Ursa Minor, aka Little Bear, aka Little Dipper
The constellation Ursa Minor contains the group of stars commonly called
the Little Dipper. The handle of the Dipper is the Little Bear's tail and the
Dipper's cup is the Bear's flank. The Little Dipper is not a constellation itself,
but an asterism, which is a distinctive group of stars. Another famous
asterism is the Big Dipper in the constellation Ursa Major.
HighFour History of Mathematics
Category A: Grades 4 – 5
Round 4
Monday, December 7, 2015
The use of calculator is not required.
Answer #16
Explanation:
rhombus
In Euclidean geometry, a rhombus, plural rhombi or rhombuses, is a simple
(non-self-intersecting) quadrilateral all of whose four sides have the same
length. Another name is equilateral quadrilateral, since equilateral means
that all of its sides are equal in length.
Answer #17
Explanation:
Degree Symbol (°)
The degree symbol (°) is a typographical symbol that is used, among other
things, to represent degrees of arc (e.g. in geographic coordinate systems),
hours (in the medical field), degrees of temperature, alcohol proof, or
diminished quality in musical harmony. The symbol consists of a small
raised circle, historically a zero glyph.
Answer #18
Explanation:
constant(s)
Answer #19
Explanation:
March 14
Answer #20
Explanation:
Pi Approximation Day