Ask Dr. Math

Middle School Archive

Browse Middle School History/Biography
Stars indicate particularly interesting answers or good places to begin browsing.

Selected answers to common questions:
    About Roman numerals.

---

Bach and Mathematics [04/16/1997]

What are some of the connections between music and math?

Bachet's Theorem [10/08/1998]

My maths teacher said that a mathematician discovered that you can make any number by adding together a combination of no more than 4 square numbers.

Bar over a Whole Number? [06/05/2001]

What does a bar over a whole number indicate?

Base of Roman Numerals [04/07/2001]

What is the base of the Roman numeral system, base 10 or base 5?

The Base of Roman Numerals [02/19/2004]

What base does the Roman Numeral system use?

Calculating the Date of Easter [04/04/2001]

How is the date Easter falls on calculated?

Calculating Using Dates AD and BC [11/25/2003]

How do you calculate how many years there are between dates where one is given in years B.C. and the other is in years A.D.? For example, how many years were there from 15 B.C. to 63 A.D.?

Chinese Rod-Numeral System [11/09/1998]

How exactly does the Chinese rod-numeral system work?

Commas and Decimal Points in Currency Notations [11/08/2007]

Why do Europeans use the comma in currency amounts instead of the decimal point as in the United States?

Contribution of Romans in Math History [12/18/2006]

How did the Romans contribute to math? What did they add to mathematics besides Roman numerals?

Converting from Hindu-Arabic Numerals to Roman Numerals [05/18/1999]

A conversion table, and recommendations for using bars over Roman numerals, with examples.

Converting Julian Date to Gregorian [03/20/2001]

Assume that the base date is 01/01/0001 and that a Gregorian date is expressed as DD/MM/YYYY...

Converting to Bushels [05/18/2002]

How can I convert cubic feet to bushels?

Counting in the Teens [09/10/1998]

Why do we count ten eleven twelve thirteen, instead of ten eleventeen twelveteen thirteen?

Counting Number Angles [10/13/2002]

I am trying to find the history of counting number angles.

Counting Sheep the Traditional Way [10/13/2003]

Do you know anything interesting about mathematics in England, say from 400 to 1200 AD?

Decimals and Roman Numerals [10/22/1998]

Is there any notation for fractions in Roman numerals?

Decimal System [08/12/2003]

Why the decimal system? Why not 12 as the base number?

The Degree Symbol [11/02/1998]

Do you know what the degree symbol stands for? What is its history?

Deriving Pi [05/10/2001]

I know that Pi is equivalent to 3.14, but what formulas are used to come up with 3.14?

Division with Roman Numerals [03/02/2004]

I'm having real problems trying to divide using a non place system, like with Roman numerals. The concept of using letters rather than numbers is confusing me. Can you please give me an example of a division calculation?

Egyptian Division [06/23/1998]

How did the ancient Egyptians do division?

Egyptian Equivalent of Pi [05/15/2003]

The ancient Egyptians used the formula (d-d/9)^2 for the area of a circle with diameter d. What value for pi does the formula yield?

Egyptian Fractions [03/21/1999]

Can you help me understand Egyptian fractions?

Egyptian Numerals [10/14/1998]

Can you give me some information or references on Egyptian numerals?

Etruscan Origins of Roman Numerals [12/07/2003]

In Roman numerals, what do the letters stand for? Are there words that they come from?

Etymologies of Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry [10/22/2001]

What are the origins and roots of the words geometry, algebra, and trigonometry?

Facts about e [11/09/1998]

Where does the number "e" come from and what uses does it have in the real world?

Famous Math Problems [6/27/1996]

Could you send me a listing of famous math problems?

Fibonacci [01/31/1997]

Where can I learn more about Leonard of Pisa?

Formula for Easter [06/12/1999]

Is there a formula for finding the month and the day on which Easter falls in a given year?

Galley or Scratch Method of Division [12/08/2002]

In the 15th century, what was the method for performing division?

Gallons and Cubic Inches [09/04/2001]

I know that 1 gallon is 231 cubic inches, based on the old English "wine gallon" unit. Why was the number 231 used?

Garfield's Pythagorean Theorem Proof [02/27/1997]

Which President of the United States wrote a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem? On what did he base his proof?

Geometry History [8/8/1996]

I'm looking information about the history of Geometry.

Golden Rectangle History [9/7/1996]

What is the history of the golden rectangle? When was it discovered and by whom?

Googol, Kasner, and Milton Sirotta [07/14/1999]

Who coined the phrase "googleplex," and when?

Greatest Mathematician [8/9/1996]

Who was the greatest mathematician ever?

Harmonic Mean [12/15/1996]

What is the harmonic mean and how do you use it?

Hebrew Mathematics [09/21/2000]

I need to write a one-page article on the Hebrew mathematics system.

Page: [<prev]  1  2  3  4  5 [next>]