Math Terms
Across
- 5. n: the number of unique digits (including zero) that a positional numeral system uses to represent numbers, e.g. base 10 (decimal) uses 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 in each place value position; base 2 (binary) uses just 0 and 1; base 60 (sexagesimal, as used in ancient Mesopotamia) uses all the numbers from 0 to 59; etc
- 7. a mathematical structure consisting of a set together with an operation that combines any two of its elements to form a third element, e.g. the set of integers and the addition operation form a group
- 9. the point towards which a series or function converges, e.g. as x becomes closer and closer to zero, (sin x)⁄x becomes closer and closer to the limit of 1
- 11. a member of, or an object in, a set
- 14. object is exactly or approximately similar to a part of itself (in fractals, the shapes of lines at different iterations look like smaller versions of earlier shapes)
- 17. numbers: integers greater than 1 which are only divisible by themselves and 1
- 19. equation: a polynomial having a degree of 4 (i.e. the highest power is 4), of the form ax4 + bx3 + cx2 + dx + e = 0, the highest order polynomial equation that can be solved by factorization into radicals by a general formula
- 20. theory: an area of topology that studies mathematical knots (a knot is a closed curve in space formed by interlacing a piece of “string” and joining the ends)
- 21. triangle: a triangle (three sided polygon) containing an angle of 90°
- 22. in an algebraic expression or equation, either a single number or variable, or the product of several numbers and variables separated from another term by a + or - sign, e.g. in the expression 3 + 4x + 5yzw, the 3, the 4x and the 5yzw are all separate terms
Down
- 1. a smooth symmetrical curve with two branches produced by the section of a conical surface
- 2. square: a square array of numbers where each row, column and diagonal added up to the same total, known as the magic sum or constant (a semi-magic square is a square numbers where just the rows and columns, but not both diagonals, sum to a constant)
- 3. numbers: an extension of the natural numbers (different from integers and from cardinal numbers) used to describe the order type of sets i.e. the order of elements within a set or series
- 4. set: the set of points for a function of the form z2 + c (where c is a complex parameter), such that a small perturbation can cause drastic changes in the sequence of iterated function values and iterations will either approach zero, approach infinity or get trapped in loop
- 6. number: a real number which expresses fractions on the base 10 standard numbering system using place value, e.g. 37⁄100 = 0.37
- 8. a physical quantity having magnitude and direction, represented by a directed arrow indicating its orientation in space
- 10. number: a number with at least one other factor besides itself and one, i.e. not a prime numberbase n: the number of unique digits (including zero) that a positional numeral system uses to represent numbers, e.g.
- 12. a branch of mathematics that uses symbols or letters to represent variables, values or numbers, which can then be used to express operations and relationships and to solve equations
- 13. function: A function based on an infinite series of reciprocals of exponents (Riemann’s zeta function is the extension of Euler’s simple zeta function into the domain of complex numbers)
- 15. a number that will divide into another number exactly, e.g. the factors of 10 are 1, 2 and 5
- 16. an equality that remains true regardless of the values of any variables that appear within it, e.g. for multiplication, the identity is one; for addition, the identity is zero
- 18. line: a line on which all points correspond to real numbers (a simple number line may only mark integers, but in theory all real numbers to +/- infinity can be shown on a number line)