2011

SUnknownThere is only One True Parabola

Wed, Mar 02, 2016

Matt is looking at geometric similarity. All circles are similar but not triangles. That makes sense because circles are all the same shape just with different sizes and positions while triangles can have different shapes. But what about parabolas which seem to fall in between.

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SUnknownThe Mathematics of Winning Monopoly

Wed, Dec 07, 2016

Hannah Fry visits Matt to see how their analyses of winning strategies for Monopoly compare.

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SUnknownWhat does i^i = ?

Mon, Sep 11, 2017

A simple exponent that you'll likely never encounter in real life which is comprised solely of imaginary numbers can be represented as a real number.

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SUnknownWhy Do Calculators Get This Wrong? (We don't know!)

Wed, Jul 15, 2020

When you enter the sixth power of eleven divided by thirteen on a Casio calculator the result provided is an improper fraction times pi. This is correct to twelve decimal places. By why did the calculator do this? Other examples are very elusive.

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SUnknownWhat is the biggest tangent of a prime?

Wed, Aug 19, 2020

Since the tangent function approaches infinity for odd multiples of pi/2 it should be no surprise that occasionally an integer is close to one of the multiples and has a very large tangent. But how many of these integers are prime?

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SUnknownOrbital Maths at NASA with Chris Hadfield

Thu, Aug 27, 2020

Matt examines the basics of orbital mechanics with astronaut Chris Hadfield. They also visit the Space Shuttle Atlantis which took Chris to space for his first mission. Then Chris shares his experience of docking with another spacecraft in orbit, in his case the MIR space station.

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SUnknownWhy Is there No Equation for the Perimeter of an Ellipse?

Fri, Sep 04, 2020

While there are simple equations for the area of a circle and an ellipse there is no equation for the perimeter of an ellipse. But there are ways to approximate it. Matt found a couple with his handy dandy laptop but he couldn't best Ramanujan. But it's best to use an infinite series - which is actually what Pi is. So each ellipse has it's own value of Pi.

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SUnknownWhy do Biden's votes not follow Benford's Law?

Tue, Nov 10, 2020

Benford's law is a method of plotting the distribution of first digit(s) in a collection of data to see if the data is random. Alternatively the last digit(s) can be used. Mark explains why these digits in the vote distributions for Chicago precincts in the Biden Trump presidential election results appear to be non-random and are sometimes incorrectly presented as evidence for voter fraud.

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SUnknownDo these scatter plots reveal fraudulent vote-switching in Michigan?

Fri, Nov 13, 2020

Matt reproduces Shiva Ayyadurai analysis of the 2020 Michigan election data where Ayyadurai's plot shows a negative correlation between the percentage of people who voted a strait Republican ballot versus voting for Donal Trump directly. The implication is that votes for Donald Trump were stolen. But the same analysis for Democrative-Biden votes show it is equally likely that votes were stolen from Biden.

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SUnknownCan you solve the banana puzzle?

Sun, Nov 22, 2020

Pulleys are kinda magical. Depending on how you hook one up you can lift a heavy object easier but it takes longer. Or you can lift an object faster but you have to work harder. Eather way it's counter-intuitive. But here's your chance to study up.

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SUnknownWhy Pi^Pi^Pi^Pi Could Be an Integer (For All We Know!).

Fri, Feb 26, 2021

Pi is a transcendental number so it defies definition with neat little algebraic expressions. Mathematical expressions of transcendental can sometimes generate integers but those tend to result directly from the definition of the number. Here's what take it would take to estimate pi to the pi to the pi to the pi.

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SUnknownWhy does this balloon have -1 holes?

Tue, Jun 29, 2021

How many holes are in pair of trousers? Suppose you sew the cuffs together. How many holes does it have now? That's right - the same number. What, that wan't your answer. I guess it's time to delve into topology, just a little bit, to see just how strange a pair of trousers are.

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SUnknownSolving the mystery of the impossible cord.

Thu, Sep 16, 2021

Along with a couple guests Matt looks at some untieable knots. That is they can be untied, despite appearances to the contrary. Not that they can't be tied because Matt does tie them. He also unties them. Because they weren't really tied in the first place.

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SUnknownWhy Do Bees Make Rhombic Dodecahedrons?

Tue, Oct 05, 2021

Every grade schooler knows bees create hexagonal cells in their honeycombs. But the bottom of the cells are not flat but rhomboid and alternate with the cells behind them. But since bees don't have protractors or compasses how do they do this.

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SUnknownCan you make a hole in a thing bigger than the thing?

Sat, Oct 30, 2021

Beacause a typical object, one without perfect symmetry, has differing cross sections from different angles; if you find the largest cross section and cut the edge off you can pass a same size object through the hole by rotating it. Matt demonstrates with a pumpkin, since it's Halloween, and makes a messy job of it.

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SUnknownWhy it's mathematically impossible to share fair

Wed, Nov 24, 2021

Apportionment is the assignment of a fixed number of indivisible resources, here Matt examines Congressional representatives, to groups of individuals, in this case states. The problem is what to do with the fractions of a group. Two unfair solutions arise; the Alabama paradox or violation of the quota rule. And you cannot eliminate one paradox without introducing the other.

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SUnknownIs there an equation for a triangle?

Tue, Nov 30, 2021

Matt demonstrates that there are simple equations for many shapes, lines, squares, circles, quadrilaterals making use of the absolute value function. But that doesn't work for triangles unless your're willing to accept the occasional undefined point. But there are other functions in the mathematical tool box. Let's try the 'sign' function.

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SUnknownThe Coupon Collector's Problem (with Geoff Marshall)

Fri, Feb 11, 2022

The coupon collector's problem is a classic example of selection probability with replacement. What is the most likely number of draws necessary to choose each coupon at least once.

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SUnknownChicago has a problem until the year 2083

Sun, Oct 29, 2023

Why Chicago's City Council should have paid better attention in math class and learned about finance as well.

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SUnknownThe 1,200 Year Maths Mistake

Mon, Feb 19, 2024

Manfred Laber's sculpture "Zeitpyramide" commemorating the anniversary of the town of Wermding Germany demonstrates a classic counting problem know as the off-by-one-error.

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