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Middle School Archive

Browse Middle School Definitions

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Regular Decagon [03/25/2002]

Can you show me a picture of a regular decagon?

Regular vs. Equilateral Polygons [07/24/2003]

What is the difference between a regular polygon and an equilateral polygon?

Relatively Prime [10/07/1999]

What does the term relatively prime mean, and how can you determine if two numbers are relative primes?

Remember the Mean -- and the Median, and the Mode, and the Range, and the Outlier [04/12/2010]

Facing a big test, a student needs to quickly memorize the meanings of the terms mean, median, mode, range, and outlier. Doctor Peterson obliges with definitions and tips based on the connotations and associations of everyday language.

Rhombus and Square Comparison [01/14/2004]

Comparison of the definitions of rhombus and square as a way to answer the questions, 'Is a square a rhombus?' and 'Is a rhombus a square?'.

Rhombus vs. Rhomboid [08/27/2002]

What is the difference between a rhombus and a rhomboid?

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?

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