How big is the number 1 million? 1 billion? Or 1 million billion? How can you think about these and even larger numbers so that you actually comprehend their immense sizes? Keep on listening to find out!
Jun 21, 2014•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast How many teams are playing in the 2014 World Cup? How many countries have ever won it? What are the odds that Brazil, this year's host country and 5-time winner, will win again? Keep on reading to find out and learn all about the math behind the World Cup.
Jun 14, 2014•6 min•Ep 202•Transcript available on Metacast What's the biggest prime number? Is it the 17,425,170 digit prime discovered in January 2013? While that may be the largest prime number known today, it's certainly not the biggest...because there isn't a biggest! How do I know? Keep on listening to find out.
Jun 07, 2014•7 min•Ep 201•Transcript available on Metacast What is math? Numbers, shapes, logic, stuff like that, right? Sure, but what do all of these things have in common? In other words, what is math...really? Keep on reading to find out!
May 30, 2014•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Find out why graduating from college isn't an excuse to forget all the math you've learned.
May 23, 2014•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Did you know that 1 = 2? Think that sounds ridiculous? OK, I'll prove it to you. Then I'll show you why this "proof" is indeed, as you suspected, ridiculous. And we'll see what it all has to do with the number zero.
May 17, 2014•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ever heard of the Monty Hall problem? If so, did the world famous brain teaser leave you flummoxed? If not, how does getting flummoxed—and then just as quickly un-flummoxed—sound? I hope you're up for the challenge (and the fun) because that's exactly what's in store for today!
Apr 19, 2014•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast You've probably heard about the recent discovery made by scientists in the South Pole. But what was it exactly and what does it mean for us? Math Dude explains.
Apr 11, 2014•9 min•Ep 194•Transcript available on Metacast What does the graph of a sine function look like? And how are sine functions related to the changing number of daylight hours throughout the year? Keep on listening to find out!
Mar 29, 2014•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast How many minutes of daylight does the northern hemisphere gain every day in March? How about in June? What's the astronomical reason for these changes? Keep on listening to find out!
Mar 22, 2014•6 min•Ep 191•Transcript available on Metacast What are the odds of winning Warren Buffet's $1 billion prize for picking the perfect 2014 NCAA tournament bracket? Should Mr. Buffet be worried about his money? And how are the odds of winning related to the famous rice and chessboard problem? Keep on listening to find out!
Mar 08, 2014•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast How should you think about subtraction and negative numbers in modular arithmetic? How does the modulo operator work in terms of the order of operations? Keep on listening to learn the answers to these questions and more!
Mar 01, 2014•7 min•Ep 188•Transcript available on Metacast What are the domain and range of a function? What's the vertical line test for functions? And what's the best way to picture the meaning of a function in the first place? Keep on listening to find out!
Feb 22, 2014•9 min•Ep 187•Transcript available on Metacast What is y = 3x - 2? An equation? Or maybe a function? Could it possibly be both? Keep on listening to learn all about functions and to find out how they're different from equations.
Feb 15, 2014•6 min•Ep 186•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever wondered if sines, cosines, and tangents are actually useful in the real world? If so, wonder no more! Today we're going to learn how the wonderful tools of trigonometry can be used to estimate the height of a tree.
Feb 08, 2014•7 min•Ep 185•Transcript available on Metacast Want to amaze your friends at that Super Bowl party you're going to? All you have to do is hit 'em with some Super Bowl math fun facts. Keep on listening to find out what I mean!
Feb 01, 2014•6 min•Ep 184•Transcript available on Metacast What's the difference between radians and degrees? Where did these units for measuring angles come from? And how do you convert from one to the other? Keep on listening to find out!
Jan 25, 2014•7 min•Ep 183•Transcript available on Metacast What do sines, cosines, and tangents have to do with right triangles? And what are the "sin," "cos," and "tan" buttons on your calculator for? Keep on listening to find out!
Jan 17, 2014•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast You've probably heard of sine, cosine, and tangent before. But do you actually know what they are? While they sound like complicated ideas, they're really not. Keep on reading to learn more about the origins and uses of trigonometry.
Jan 11, 2014•6 min•Ep 181•Transcript available on Metacast The number 9 is kind of amazing. How amazing? Listen for the exciting conclusion to Math Dude's story about the magical number 9.
Dec 14, 2013•7 min•Ep 178•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever noticed that the number 9 is kind of amazing? What's that…did I hear you say "NO?" Then prepare yourself to be amazed and keep on listening to learn all about the magic behind the mysterious number 9.
Dec 07, 2013•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Think of a number, add 3, double it, now subtract 4, divide by 2, and finally subtract your original number from the result. You get 1, right? How do I know? And what are some other fun math tricks that you can use to amaze your friends? Keep on listening to find out!
Nov 29, 2013•8 min•Ep 176•Transcript available on Metacast How do you turn a bunch of data into a super-handy graph? Keep on listening to learn the final 2 steps in my easy 4-step method for making graphs.
Nov 23, 2013•8 min•Ep 175•Transcript available on Metacast What are graphs? When are they useful? And how do you make one? Keep on listening to learn an easy 4-step method for making graphs.
Nov 16, 2013•8 min•Ep 174•Transcript available on Metacast Grammar Girl joins us to ask two grammar-related math questions.
Nov 01, 2013•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division work when you're dealing with significant figures? Keep on listening to find out!
Oct 19, 2013•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast How many significant figures does the number 1.25 have? What about 1.255? Or 1.250? What's the quick and dirty method that you can use to find out? Keep on listening for Math Dude's significant tricks!
Oct 11, 2013•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Do you know what significant figures are? Or why they matter? And what do significant figures have to do with making measurements and calculating things like speed and miles per gallon? Keep on listening to find out!
Oct 04, 2013•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast What's the percent increase in a population if it goes from 900 to 981? How can you figure out what 200 is 17% of? Keep on listening to learn the answers to these and more frequently asked questions about percentages!
Sep 28, 2013•7 min•Ep 168•Transcript available on Metacast Is there a difference between accuracy and precision? Is one more important than the other? When do the ideas of accuracy and precision show up in the real world? Keep on listening to find out!
Sep 20, 2013•7 min•Ep 167•Transcript available on Metacast