Math & Numbers Facts for Kids
Mind-bending number facts
Pi is an irrational number, which means its decimal digits go on forever without ever repeating a pattern. Despite this, mathematicians have calculated it to over 100 trillion digits.
Butterflies are a beautiful example of symmetry in nature. In maths, symmetry means one half of a shape is a mirror image of the other half.
Fermat's Last Theorem, scribbled in a margin in 1637, was finally proved by Andrew Wiles in 1995 β 358 years later. It is one of the most famous proofs in mathematical history.
Skilled abacus users can add and subtract large numbers faster than someone using a calculator. In some countries, abacus training is still part of the school curriculum.
Bees build hexagonal honeycombs because hexagons tessellate perfectly with the least amount of wax needed. In 1999, mathematician Thomas Hales proved this is the most efficient way to divide a flat surface into equal areas.
In maths, addition is commutative β that means 3 + 5 always equals 5 + 3. The order doesn't matter!
Mersenne primes are prime numbers of the form 2^n minus 1. Every known even perfect number corresponds to a Mersenne prime, and finding new ones requires some of the most powerful computers on the planet.
A number line goes on forever in both directions β past zero into negative numbers on the left, and into positive numbers on the right. It never ends!
While most of the world uses base 10, other bases have been used throughout history. The Babylonians used base 60 (which is why we have 60 seconds in a minute), and computers use base 2 (binary).
The Monty Hall problem is a famous probability puzzle where switching your choice after a losing door is revealed gives you a 2/3 chance of winning, not 1/2 as most people think. Even professional mathematicians initially got it wrong.