-
The Curious Range of √x²
Imagine you are given this function: y = √x^2. This function takes the square root of the square of a number, which sounds a lot like the square root and the exponent of 2 cancel…
-
Why are percentages reversible?
In school, you’ve probably learned how to find 10% of 25 or 50% of 4 or something along those lines. While you may be able to do 50% of 4 in your head, as 50% means half and…
-
Explaining Bases and Exploding Dots
Have you ever wonder why our numbers have a ones place, a tens place, a hundreds place, etc.? The numbers we are used to are on a system called base ten. This means…
-
What is “e”? (Euler’s Number)
You may have come across “e,” Euler’s number, in math if you’ve learned about half-life, exponential functions, or compound interest. But where does this irrational number come from? Why is it important…
-
Another Way of Thinking About The Y-Intercept
In algebra, school teaches you to find the y-intercept of a function by plugging in 0 for x. But why? What is the underlying math that makes such a simple task work? I love visuals…
-
When is it your 7/12th birthday?
Many people know when their half birthday is: 6 months after their birthday. But have you ever looked at the date and saw your birthday’s day in a different month and…
-
Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” Playlist Algorithm
How does Spotify know what kind of music you’ll like? Whether you have Spotify Premium or not, every Spotify user can find a playlist every Monday called “Discovery Weekly.” This…
-
The Importance of Distributing the Negative
The distributive property applies when you multiply a number by a sum or difference of two numbers. You can also use the distributive property by multiplying a negative to this sum…
