Ask Dr. Math

Middle School Archive

Browse Middle School About Math
Stars indicate particularly interesting answers or good places to begin browsing.

Selected answers to common questions:
    Art and mathematics.
    Law and mathematics.
    Medicine and mathematics.
    Music and mathematics.
    Poetry and mathematics.
    What is mathematics?
    Was math invented or discovered?

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About Basic Geometry [10/14/1998]

Who developed basic geometry? What is it used for? Who uses it?

Art and Mathematics [2/8/1996]

Do you know ways that art can be linked to mathematics?

Definition of Opposite Sides [01/18/2001]

What is the formal definition of 'opposite sides' of a polygon? Does a regular pentagon have opposite sides? Does a concave polygon have opposite sides? How can we define it consistent with our intuition?

Difference Between Math and Arithmetic [11/06/2001]

My students haven't heard the word arithmetic. No one seems to be able to tell the difference, if there is one, between arithmetic and mathematics. Is there a difference, and what is it?

How Can Math Be Made More Interesting? [08/30/2001]

What can I do to help me be more interested in math?

Mathematics in the Applied Sciences [02/24/1997]

How do civil engineers and others use math in their work?

The Number e [6/3/1996]

Is "e" a number like Pi? How does "e" relate to continued fractions?

Numbers: Cardinal, Ordinal, Nominal? [10/25/1999]

Which group of numbers - cardinal, ordinal or nominal - does "time" fit into? Are there other types of numbers as well?

Purpose of Algebra [10/15/1996]

What is the purpose of algebra and who came up with the idea?

Ten Commandments of Math [07/05/1997]

What are the Ten Commandments of Math?

The Third Millennium [01/23/2000]

When does the Third Millennium begin? Are there any inherent predictions or unverifiable assumptions within math?

What is Calculus? [05/06/1997]

What is calculus and how does it work?

Why Does Math Need Proofs? [03/24/2000]

Why does math need to have proofs?

Why Is Math Important? [01/02/2002]

Some of it we don't need to know in the real world, so why do they teach us things we won't need to know?

Why Study Practical Geometry? [04/26/1997]

What can I do to help my students to see just how important Geometry and all Math is?

Why There are 12 Tones in a Scale [12/28/2000]

Why are there 12 tones in an octave? Can you explain the significance or the equation r^n = 2^m? Also, what's so special about a fifth? Why should the scale be based on the fraction 3/2?

Wording Division Problems [08/10/1998]

How would you clarify the wording of division problems like "divide into" or "divide by"?

Year 2000 (Y2K) Problem [07/26/1998]

Can you explain the Year 2000 problem in layman's terms? Why is it so hard to fix?

Are Calculators Smart? [06/02/2001]

How come calculators are so smart?

Are Math Symbols Universal? [05/22/2004]

Do Russian math students use the same math symbols that Americans do? For example, do they use '+' for addition?

Are Subtraction and Division Commutative and Associative Operations? [05/15/2008]

I don't agree that subtraction and division are not commutative operations. If we define a - b as a + (-b), then it commutes correctly into (-b) + a. So why does everyone say subtraction is not commutative?

Avoiding Careless Mistakes [01/30/2002]

How can I avoid careless mistakes?

Careless Mistakes [02/04/2002]

When it asked me for the range, domain, and inverse of ordered pairs, I just put the inverse because I misread the question...

Checking Your Work [9/9/1996]

I've had problems keeping myself from making little mistakes like not putting commas in, putting the decimal point in the wrong place, and writing down the wrong number... How can I stop doing this?

Chefs and Algebra [02/05/2002]

I hope to become a chef someday, and I would like to know how algebra (specifically polynomials, the quadratic formula, factoring, etc.) could possibly relate to my future career and my life beyond high school.

Connecting Algebra and Geometry [07/11/2002]

What are the mathematical connections between algebra and geometry?

The Difference between Science and Mathematics [09/18/2006]

Is there any difference between a science project and a math project? We have a science fair coming up and I wanted to do some math, but my friend says that the scientific process is very different from math.

Doctors and Math [10/27/1998]

How do doctors use math?

Don't Use Calculators [12/18/2000]

When children should not use calculators to do math.

Do We Really Need to Learn Math? [11/19/2002]

Why do we need to know math if we can have a calculator do it?

Estimation in 3rd Grade [12/16/1996]

How do you learn to estimate? What is its importance?

Etymology of the Word Mathematics [12/10/2001]

Why do you call maths maths?

The Fairness of Democracy [09/16/1998]

What are some ideas to think about with regard to the fairness of democracy?

Help in Studying for Math [08/17/1999]

I was wondering if you had any suggestions or comments that might help me out a little bit.

How Do I Learn Basic Math as an Adult? [08/02/2004]

I'm an adult hoping to take a statistics course, but I haven't thought about math in 20 years and was never very good at it. How can I learn all those basic things I missed back then?

How Do Lawyers Use Math? [01/26/2001]

I have to write a two-page paper on how lawyers use math.

How Many Formulas? [11/25/2002]

How many formulas do you actually have to learn?

How Numbers Will Change in the Future [10/29/2003]

I'm asking my students to develop new number systems. I was hoping to show them what other people are speculating about future number systems, but I was unable to find anything.

The Importance of Geometry Constructions [12/29/1998]

Why are geometry constructions important? What do we learn from them? Where have they appeared in math history?

The Importance of Math [08/23/2000]

Why is math a core subject?

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