The Flying Colours Maths blog has been running posts twice weekly since 2012, covering maths from the basics to… well, the most advanced stuff I have a clue about.
Here they all are, sorted by date. Some day, other ways to filter them will be possible.
A few weeks ago, the Mathematical Ninja explained how to divide by 9 on the fly. This week, it’s multiplying that’s on his mind - a more common thing to have to do. The multiplying method is easier, too. It’s just a case of adding and taking away - and writing a few numbers down. …
St David’s Day! Any questions? What would happen if you put 20,000 leeks under the sea? How do you get two whales in a mini? That sort of thing. The sillier the better.
“I don’t know if you were actually working stuff out there, or if you just muttered at random for a bit and guessed,” said the Mathematical Ninja’s cheeky student. Stung, the Mathematical Ninja was forced to explain how he figured out $\left(1 - \frac{1}{8}\right)^{19}$. …
It’s 22/2, or - it you’re in the US, 2/22. It’s half-term here in Dorset, which means you’re probably starting to get serious about your revision. (About time, if you ask me!) Drop me a comment below with any burning questions you have!
If you ever bother to run a search for ‘basic maths’ on twitter - something you may not generally do, as you’re probably not the author of a book called ‘Basic Maths For Dummies’ - you’ll find the breakdown of tweets looks something like this: 47%: Teenagers …
One of the Mathematical Ninja’s favourite tricks is squaring biggish numbers. He’d secretly like to be Art Benjamin one day. So (inspired partly by Barney), he’s been looking at quick tricks to help him square numbers. He knows the first 25 square numbers by heart (and so should …
Look at that calendar flying by! It’s half term next week, already the middle of February - that means only a few more months until those big exams. So what’s on your mind? Any burning questions?
In my ‘best-selling1 book n Mathematical Quotations (Where n ~ 100), my favourite joke is: “Maths is a game played according to certain simple rules with meaningless marks on paper.” — David Hilbert (1862-1943), infinite hotelier, mathematical revolutionary, native of Königsberg with 23 …
Like the most-celebrated rock stars, the most famous mathematicians live fast and die young. Evariste Galois was 20 when he went to meet the Supreme Fascist, on the wrong end of a bullet in a duel. It’s not clear who his opponent was. He’s held up as a romantic hero: the story goes that …
I’m sure you must have a silly question you’d love to have answered. Something that’s always bothered you. Something you might write in the comments and wait for me to answer.
I suppose I must have learned about Bayes’ Theorem at sixth form. In those days, maths was Pure and Applied, so I could - and did - largely avoid statistics until midway through my PhD I was roundly mocked by my future boss for not knowing what ‘significant’ meant. I quickly put …
The Mathematical Ninja sighs. “Say that again?” “I hope it’s an easy paper!” says the student, brightly. Wearily, the Mathematical Ninja goes to the board and sketches two curves. They look a little like boa constrictors that have swallowed elephants. …
February? One of the most popular months for silly questions. You’d be missing out if you didn’t leave one in the comments!
When I gave a talk about the Curious Maths Of Alice In Wonderland recently, I was extremely proud of myself for coming up with the slide title ‘Here’s Looking At Euclid’. I even flagged it up as the best joke in the talk. You can imagine my horror to discover that that’s the …
Dividing by 9 has always been an awkward one for the mathematical ninja - it ought to be a simple operation, but for some reason it’s never stuck. However, there IS an easy way that involves not much more than adding up and (possibly) using your fingers to track a carry. Allow me to show you …
It’s not only Burns’ Night, but it’s also Impala The Koala’s birthday! You can celebrate either or both of these by asking a question in the comments - I’ll answer as nicely as I can!
It’s typical of James Grime to ask a really interesting question just as I’m going to bed. I was going to sleep like a log, but suddenly I was awake liking logarithms. Now, the question isn’t quite perfect as specified: in fact, there are an infinite number of bases that work …
Despite what you may have heard, Einstein probably never said that compound interest was the greatest force in the universe. It is, however, an interesting beastie. The Mathematical Ninja likes quick fixes. The Mathematical Ninja LOVES estimating powers of e, but he loves quick-and-dirty estimates …
Go on, give me a question. You know you want to!
This is the third and final part of the how to think about co-ordinate geometry series. Due to a failure of calendar-reading, I appreciate this is going out a few days after the C1 and C2 exams, but hey-ho. If you’re relying on this blog for your revision tips, you should have asked for me to …
[caption id=“attachment_2335” align=“alignleft” width=“286”] Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). [/caption] My current hero of mathematics - like Ramanujan - died before he was 40. Like Ramanujan, he’d already revolutionised maths by that point. Blaise Pascal (born …
Another Friday? Already? It’s as if they come around more or less weekly. What questions do you have this week? Leave them in the comments and I’ll answer if I can!
This is part two of a three-part series about co-ordinate geometry. In part I last week, I went into tedious detail about the equation of a line. This week, I’m going to take it a bit further and go into curves. Next week, you get to see circles. So, what is a curve? You don’t really need a …
The Mathematical Ninja makes ample use of mnemonics to remember how to do just about everything. He was quite upset when Pluto was demoted, because “My Very Easy Mnemonic Just Serves Up Nine” doesn’t make any sense. In particular, the Mathematical Ninja has a creed. A strict set of …
Happy new year, everyone! Largely useless factoid: 2013 is $3 \times 11 \times 61$. What silly questions do you have for me this year?
Pretty much every C1 student I’ve ever worked with has said the same thing: I don’t get the big questions at the end of the paper. The ones with the curves and the equation of a line and the tangents and the turning points — what’s that all about? So, I thought I’d put together a guide on how to …
Today’s the day you should be outside looking for the man with as many noses are there are days left in the year! However, if you’ve spotted him, you could turn your attention to something all mathematicians have trouble with: knowing what day of the week it is. This is something Lewis …
Between Christmas and New Year is a silly time to ask anyone anything… so go ahead and bring on your silliest questions!
) “I attribute my success to one thing: I never gave or took any excuse.” - Florence Nightingale
— Thanks to Rosalind for showing me this trick. It’s one of the questions in the GCSE that looks like it ought to be easy: What is $0.1\dot{4}3\dot{6}$ as a fraction? But it’s a lot less easy than it seems at first. I’ve taught the longwinded way for years. It turns out there’s a ninja shortcut you …