Author: qdtstaging
In the last article, we discovered that integers alone are not sufficient to fully describe the world around us—we need the fractions existing between the integers too. (In learning that, we also learned that fractions are not integers.) In fact, eventually, we’re going to discover that even fractions won’t fully satisfy our needs! But we’ll leave that for a future article—there’s still much to learn about the fractional world first. In particular, today we’re going to take a deeper look at fractions and learn a few quick tips to help you understand exactly what numerators and denominators tell you. What…
Some math is functional. Some math is fun. And some math is simply stunning. If that last description sounds improbable to you, then today just might change your mind. Because now that we’ve covered enough ground, we’re going to take a look at some of the surprising, elegant, and downright mysterious ways that the Fibonacci sequence shows up in the world around you. Recap of the Fibonacci Sequence In the last article, we talked about how a seemingly innocent question about the growth of rabbit populations led Fibonacci to the sequence of numbers that now bears his name—the Fibonacci sequence:…
Quick, what’s 1/4 + 3/4? If you remember your math from school, you probably know that the answer is 1. How about 1/5 + 3/4? Not so easy this time, right? Adding 1/4 to 3/4 is fairly straightforward because the denominators of both fractions are the same. But adding 1/5 to 3/4 is not so simple, and that’s because the denominators are different. So how do we solve problems like this? We start by finding what’s called a common denominator. Which is exactly what we’re going to learn how to do today. Numerators and Denominators Before we learn how to…
How to calculate percentages can be easier than you may realize. Keep reading for some simple tricks. Long time math fans may remember our first foray into the world of percentages way back in the 12th and 13th episodes of the podcast. In those shows we learned what percentages are, how they’re related to fractions, how to use percentages to easily calculate tips at restaurants, and how to use percentages to easily calculate sales prices when shopping. If you’re not sure how to perform any of those handy calculations, or if you’re just in need of a general percentage refresher,…
To multiply any two-digit number by 11, simply add the digits of the number together and then put this sum between the original two digits. For example, to quickly find the answer to 11 x 53, start by adding the two digits of the number 53 together to get 5+3=8. Next, put this new number between the original two digits to get 583. That’s the answer! If the sum of the two digits is greater than 9, carry the 1 over to the tens digit. So for a problem like 11 x 94, start by adding the two digits of…
Two weeks ago we looked at how to quickly test whether or not a number is divisible by 2 or 3, and last week we learned a few clever tricks that you can use to test whether or not a number is divisible by 4, 5, or 6. So what’s the logical next step for us? Well, today we’re going to finish up this series by learning how to test whether or not a number is divisible by 7, 8, or 9. How to Tell if a Number is Divisible by 7 The quick and dirty tip to test a…
In the last article, we learned how to turn simple repeating decimal numbers into fractions. Specifically, we learned how to convert decimals in which the same number repeats over and over again starting right after the decimal point. But that’s not the only type of repeating decimal that you need to know how to convert. So today we’re going to continue where we left off last time and learn how to turn more complicated types of repeating decimals into fractions too. Recap: How to Turn a Repeating Decimal Digit Into a Fraction But before we get too far into today’s…
Over the last several articles we’ve learned that many of the numbers we deal with in our daily lives are what are known as rational numbers. The fact that these numbers are rational means that we can write them either as terminating decimals that stop after some number of digits or as repeating decimals with a pattern of digits that repeats forever. In the last episode we learned how to turn rational numbers that can be written as terminating decimals into fractions. Today, we’re going to continue where we left off and talk about how to turn repeating decimals…
The numbers we use in our daily lives can be broken up into two main groups: rational and irrational numbers. Irrational numbers cannot be written out exactly in decimal form since you’d need an infinite number of decimal digits to do so. Rational numbers can be written as decimal numbers that either stop after some number of digits or keep repeating some pattern of digits forever. In today’s article, we’re going to learn how to take a decimal representation of a rational number and turn it into an equivalent fraction. What are terminating and repeating decimals? Before we get into…