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How many handshakes?
Read more: How many handshakes?Fifty people enter a room. If each wants to shake the hand of every other person once, how many handshakes will take place? This problem is a classic of mathematics and we will solve it with the help of some visuals.
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Don’t trust your intuition. Part 2: How to win a car on a game show?
Read more: Don’t trust your intuition. Part 2: How to win a car on a game show?The Monty Hall Problem is a problem that comes from a segment of the TV game show, Let’s Make a Deal, once hosted by presenter Monty Hall. The game, in its mathematically tidy version, goes like this: There are three closed doors. Behind one of them is a car. Behind the other two is a…
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Don’t trust your intuition. Part 1: How many batting lineups for a cricket team?
Read more: Don’t trust your intuition. Part 1: How many batting lineups for a cricket team?In the game of cricket, two teams take turns to bat or bowl. While only some players bowl, all eleven team members take part in batting. The bowling team aims to dismiss batters, one at a time, and the batting team sends out a replacement, in predetermined order, for each dismissed player. The order in…
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The Secret Mathematical Lives of Rabbits
Read more: The Secret Mathematical Lives of RabbitsIn 1202, an Italian mathematician, best known as Fibonacci, proposed the following problem: Table 1 below illustrates the development of the rabbit population in the first 6 months. The small rabbit pairs are ones that are less than a month old. We can see that, in February, we have the same original pair. It has…
Numbers for Words people is a blog that explains mathematics in plain language. The aim is to show the beauty of mathematics from first principles. For regular updates, subscribe by typing your email address in the box at the top of the page.