Math Terms

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Across
  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 11. a member of, or an object in, a set
  5. 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)
  6. 17. numbers: integers greater than 1 which are only divisible by themselves and 1
  7. 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
  8. 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)
  9. 21. triangle: a triangle (three sided polygon) containing an angle of 90°
  10. 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. 1. a smooth symmetrical curve with two branches produced by the section of a conical surface
  2. 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. 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. 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
  5. 6. number: a real number which expresses fractions on the base 10 standard numbering system using place value, e.g. 37⁄100 = 0.37
  6. 8. a physical quantity having magnitude and direction, represented by a directed arrow indicating its orientation in space
  7. 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.
  8. 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
  9. 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)
  10. 15. a number that will divide into another number exactly, e.g. the factors of 10 are 1, 2 and 5
  11. 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
  12. 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)