Squangular numbers
Simon has created a Python program that looks for “squangular” numbers. 36 is both a square number (6×6 square of things makes 36 things) and a triangular number (8×8 triangle … Continue reading Squangular numbers
Category: Murderous Maths
Latin Square Puzzle
This is called a Partially-Filled Latin Square. There’s a theorem stating that a partially solved Latin Square can always be completed such that every row has each symbol and every … Continue reading Latin Square Puzzle
Ways to construct an ellipse
Simon has been greatly inspired by the Tech Square website and tutorials on tech drawing. We have also ordered a drawing kit from their company based in Ireland but haven’t … Continue reading Ways to construct an ellipse
Year two of the World Science Scholars program
The new cohort of World Science Scholars (a World Science Festival program for young math talents from across the world) seems to be more active than last year’s group. Or … Continue reading Year two of the World Science Scholars program
A “quirky way to add, subtract and multiply in binary”
Simon has shown me an interesting way to add, subtract and multiply in binary using what is called a Napier’s Checkerboard (or Napier’s Chessboard), something he learned from his new … Continue reading A “quirky way to add, subtract and multiply in binary”
Autumn in the skies
Autumn started with the death of our dear aunt Noor in The Netherlands, which came as a shock. It also brought about the second wave of COVID-19. That second wave … Continue reading Autumn in the skies
Back to Integral Calculus
Simon’s back to the Integral Calculus course on Brilliant.org, picking up where he left off in July: trigonometric integrals. His private teacher says that in a Belgian high school, this … Continue reading Back to Integral Calculus
The Perfect Sorting Algorithm
Simon showed us this guessing game where we had to guess the correct sequence of cards with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 while the cards are all flipped upside down. … Continue reading The Perfect Sorting Algorithm
Smoothing
Something else I forgot to post from back in July: Simon explaining linear smoothing and exponential smoothing. You can play with Simon’s smoothing sketch at https://editor.p5js.org/simontiger/sketches/ABdeWZVvs The white circle is … Continue reading Smoothing
Some thoughts on the dimensions of polyhedra and polygons: How to make a 3D polygon with no area
A polyhedron is just a bunch of faces connected by edges. All the vertices are closed, so there’re no open bits. So there’s no rule that a polyhedron has to … Continue reading Some thoughts on the dimensions of polyhedra and polygons: How to make a 3D polygon with no area
How efficient is a base?
I defined the efficiency function in JS, I turned the crank and I got this table. So what this is is the efficiency in bases 2 through 8 for the … Continue reading How efficient is a base?
“Triangular” Roots
Simon trying to work out what number you have to triangulate to get a given number, a “triangular root”. Just like a square root is basically how many dots there … Continue reading “Triangular” Roots
Geeks out of the box 