Math & Numbers Facts for Kids
Mind-bending number facts
The number pi (Ο) has been calculated to over 100 trillion decimal places by computers. It starts 3.14159 and never repeats or ends.
The three interior angles of any triangle always add up to exactly 180 degrees. This is true for every triangle, no matter how big or small.
Roman numerals have no symbol for zero. The concept of zero as a number was developed in India and later spread to Europe through Arabic mathematics.
Six is the smallest perfect number because its divisors (1, 2, and 3) add up exactly to itself: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. The next perfect number is 28.
Computers use binary code, which consists only of the digits 0 and 1. The number 10 in binary is written as 1010.
Ancient Egyptians multiplied numbers using a method called doubling, repeatedly doubling one number and adding selected results. This method appears in papyrus scrolls over 3,500 years old.
The square root of 2 is an irrational number, meaning it cannot be expressed as a simple fraction. The ancient Greeks were so unsettled by this discovery that, according to legend, they kept it secret.
Bees build their honeycombs in hexagonal cells because a hexagon is the most efficient shape for storing the most honey using the least wax. Mathematicians call this the honeycomb conjecture.
If you add consecutive odd numbers starting from 1, you always get a perfect square: 1 + 3 = 4, 1 + 3 + 5 = 9, 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16. This pattern continues forever.
At exactly β40 degrees, the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales show the same number. This is the only temperature where both scales agree.