Episodes
Learn what math is actually all about.
Published 02/24/17
Learn how to use absolute values to find distances between numbers and places. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2lPuJQ7
Published 02/18/17
What does it really mean for a satellite to orbit the Earth? What’s the math behind it? And what’s the math behind the rockets that get those satellites into orbit? Keep on listening to find out! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2l9sIAz
Published 02/10/17
How many degrees are in the interior angles of a pentagon? Or a hexagon? An octagon? Or any polygon? Keep on listening to The Math Dude to learn how to solve this polygon puzzle! Visit the website: http://bit.ly/1IF5Uu1
Published 02/03/17
How large was the crowd at the recent U.S. presidential inauguration? Or the inauguration 8 years ago? Or at last Saturday’s Women’s March in Washington D.C.? Keep on listening to find out how crowd sizes are estimated. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2kAq43R
Published 01/27/17
Would you rather get a 33% bigger coffee for no extra charge or pay 33% less for the regular size? Do you know how to avoid being tricked into buying more than you need? Keep on listening to The Math Dude to learn about the numbers behind savvy shopping. Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1FiHHNz
Published 01/20/17
How can you measure time without using a stopwatch? You could use the movement of the Sun across the sky, you could watch a pendulum swing, or you could burn some very special string. Keep on listening to find out how it works! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/1E8ZcuF
Published 01/13/17
How do you quickly calculate 25% of a number? Or 33% of a number? Or 50%? And how can you quickly calculate percentage increases? Keep on listening to learn the answers to these frequently asked questions about percentages. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2i46GPA
Published 01/06/17
Do "word problems" make you cower in fear? Do you ever find yourself stuck on math problems before you even get started? If so, keep on listening because Math Dude's simple 5-step method for solving math problems can help! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2hZORNn
Published 12/30/16
How many gifts should one's true love be given on each of the 12 Days of Christmas? If you stick to the recommendations from the classic song, the answer can be calculated using a bit of clever math. Keep on listening to find out how. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2hDDkm7
Published 12/23/16
How long does Santa have to hang out when he's dropping presents off at your house? And how fast do his reindeer fly? Keep on listening to find out about the incredible math behind Santa's magical night! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2iEKwAa
Published 12/16/16
Are we alone in the universe? If so, why? If not, where is everybody? Thankfully, math can help us with these astronomically profound questions. Keep on listening to learn all about the probability of extraterrestrial life. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2isqx83
Published 12/09/16
Learn a quick and dirty tip to help you calculate pesky percentages in your head. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2h6A1rU SPONSOR: Try GotoMeeting with HDFaces Today Free for 30 Days!
Published 12/02/16
How many turkeys are consumed each year in the U.S. on Thanksgiving? And how many extraterrestrial civilizations might exist in the universe? Umm…wait…what?! Although these seem like unrelated questions, they’re not. As we'll soon find out, they’re united by math. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2fUBPnD
Published 11/25/16
Learn what mixed fractions are and find out how they're related to regular fractions.
Published 11/18/16
The 2016 U.S. presidential election is over. And if you'd been following the polls, the results might have been surprising. What went wrong with those polls? It has to do with statistical and systematic uncertainties. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2gnNRpX
Published 11/11/16
The solar system is big, the distances between stars bigger, and the distance to the center of the galaxy in which we live is even bigger than that. But all of that is tiny compared to the distance to the edge of the known universe! Just how big is that? The Math Dude breaks it all down. Visit the website to read the full transcript: http://bit.ly/UBERxy
Published 11/04/16
Do you have a good feel for the size of the Earth? If you’re like most people, you know that it’s big but you don’t have a sense for exactly how big. Today we’re going to change that! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2eVwubz
Published 10/28/16
How much is a gram? An ounce? Or a ton? If you don't have an intuitive feel for exactly how much mass these quantities represent, keep on listening! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2dWyR0G
Published 10/21/16
What causes the Moon to change phases throughout the month? Why is it sometimes visible only during the day and other times only at night? What’s the relationship between these times and the Moon’s phases? The answer in all cases is geometry. Keep on listening to find out how it works! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2ebEjeY
Published 10/14/16
What do a triangle, a rectangle, and a pentagon all have in common? They’re all polygons. What makes a polygon a polygon? And why do they matter? Keep on listening to find out! Visit the website: http://bit.ly/1ANCZEg
Published 10/07/16
Richard Wiseman, author of 101 Bets You Will Always Win, joins Math Dude, to talk about how to use probability and mathematics to win bets. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2dkwBio
Published 09/30/16
How good are your eyes at seeing really tiny things that are really far away? How much better is the Hubble Space Telescope at doing the same thing? What do these two questions have to do with the mathematical concept of angular size? Keep on listening to find out! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2d9FpGH
Published 09/23/16
Can you think of a way to measure the size of the Earth? Or the distance to the Sun? Or the nearest star? Want to know how ancient Greek mathematicians did exactly this over 2,000 years ago? Keep on listening to find out! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2duvgGw
Published 09/16/16