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Middle School Archive

Browse Middle School Definitions

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Rods and Links [03/28/2002]

How many rods are there in a foot? How many links?

Rounding to the "Nearer" or "Nearest" Cent? [10/18/2004]

Would you ever say "rounded to the nearer cent" instead of "rounded to the nearest cent"?

Rules for Significant Figures and Decimal Places [03/23/1999]

Accurate measurement: What are significant digits? When do we use them? Why?

Scalene Triangle [8/20/1996]

Construct a triangle PQR: PQ = 9cm, angle PQR = 38 degrees, and angle QPR = 67 degrees...

Scientific Notation and Engineering Notation [10/22/2003]

What is the difference between Scientific Notation and Engineering Notation?

Significant Digits and Zero [05/19/1999]

When are zeros significant and when are they not significant?

Simple Closed Curve [05/22/2001]

Why is a simple closed curve called just that?

Sine, Co-sine, and Tangent: SOHCAHTOA [03/28/1999]

I am having trouble figuring out what to use when solving a triangle problem.

Snub Cube [08/08/1998]

What is a snub cube?

Speed of a Knot [06/10/1999]

How fast is a knot?

Speed of Light [06/08/2001]

What's m s^-1? Why isn't it just m/s (meters per second) instead? What's the little "-1" at the end?

Square Feet [4/13/1996]

I need to know how to compute square feet for some cabinets that I have to move in a room.

Square Roots and Exponents [2/2/1996]

What is a "square root" of something? What are "powers to 7"?

Squaring the Circle [3/16/1996]

Where did the phrase "squaring the circle" come from? We found it in literature and wonder about its origins and what it means.

Statute Miles and Nautical Miles [5/11/1996]

What's the difference between statute miles and nautical miles, and why do they use statute miles for space shuttle launches?

Story Problems: Real, Realistic, Theoretical [10/24/2002]

I am trying to get the definitions for theoretical, realistic, and real problems to be able to determine different types of story problems.

Straight Angle vs. Line [09/07/1997]

Why is a straight angle (line) not considered an angle?

Subtend [07/23/1997]

Please give me the definition of the word "Subtends."

Subtrahend and Minuend [03/10/1997]

What are subtrahend and minuend? I think they have to do with subtraction.

Surds [05/17/2000]

Where does the term "surd" for square roots come from?

Surface Area and Volume: Cubes and Prisms [05/27/1998]

What is the definition of surface area and volume? What are the differences and similarities between surface area and volume?

Symmetry [04/29/2001]

What is symmetry?

Telling Time: A.M. and P.M. [10/30/2001]

What do A.M. and P.M. mean?

Tessellations? [8/29/1996]

What are tessellations?

Tesseracts and Hypercubes [05/22/1997]

Can you give me any good sources of information that a high school geometry student would understand?

Theta [04/14/1997]

What is Theta? Does it have a constant value?

Topology [05/10/1997]

What is topology? What is knot theory?

Topology [03/19/2001]

What is topology?

Traceable Mathematical Curves [10/27/1997]

Is there any way to tell just by looking if a curve is traceable or not? Is there some property of a curve that will tell you this? Do curves have formulas?

Translation [9/11/1996]

What does translation mean?

Translation, Reflection, Rotation [05/16/2001]

What is the difference between slide, flip, and turn?

Transversal - Meaning and Examples [11/14/1994]

I have a 7th grade student who would like to know the meaning and examples of "transversal".

Triangle Inequality Theorem [03/09/2001]

The lengths of the sides of a non-isosceles triangle, in size order, are 5, x, and 15. What are all possible integral values of x?

Trilogy, Tetralogy... [05/28/2003]

Why isn't there a numbering system for groups like trilogies?

Truncating [01/19/2002]

What does truncating mean?

Types of Triangles [02/24/2003]

What is the the difference between equilateral, isosceles, and scalene triangles? How can I remember which name goes with which triangle?

Using Mean, Mode, and Range [11/23/2002]

Examples of real-life uses of mean, mode, and range.

Vertical Angle [11/15/2001]

What are vertical angles? Are they equal?

Vertical Angles [10/27/1996]

What are vertical angles?

Volume vs. Capacity [05/01/2002]

Can you explain the difference between the terms volume and capacity? Also mass and weight.

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