Holy Octothorpe!
Trivia Topic: MathMy eldest son is in pre-algebra. Egad. I've been having to revisit the world of positive and negative integers and equations. It isn't pretty. I SO don't belong there.
Anyway, I've got math on the brain lately, so here is some interesting trivia about math.
The names of the division bar (like in fractions,) the division slash (also in fractions,) the number sign (#,) and the division sign (the bar with the dots above and below) are vinculum, virgule, octothorpe, and obelus, respectively. Who-da thought?
In Great Britain, what we call a billion, they call a thousand million.
The first prime number after 1,000,000 is 1,000,003.
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
Assuming Rudolph is in front, there are 40,320 ways to arrange the other eight reindeer.
posted by Kate Willoughby at 9/22/2006
2 Comments:
I was never good at math and can barely pronounce those words. Vinculum? Virgule? Why do they even need names, why not just call it the division sign, etc.? LOL.
Interesting, and it's a good way to use another part of your brain. As a writer, I'm used to seeing words, so numbers are a nice change. I've recently taken up Sudoku puzzles for that very reason.
Sudoku are fun but torture! Did you read my post a few days ago about sudoku? There's a website where you can play... *evil laugh*
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