Denise Noe
“It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them

“It’s 5,050!”: Seeing the patterns in the numbers – and using them

The teacher wanted to keep a class of third-graders busy. The instructor assigned the kids a problem that seemed guaranteed to keep them grinding away for the hour: adding up all the numbers from 1 to 100.

After a few minutes, little Karl Frederich Gauss raised his hand.

The teacher recognized the kid.

“It’s 5,050!” the eager child exclaimed.

Gauss would distinguish himself as a brilliant mathematician when he grew up. How did he figure this problem out so quickly when but a wee lad?

What is 1 + 100? 101. What is 2 + 99? 101. What is 3 + 98? 101. There are 50 pairs of 101. 50 X 100 = 5,000. 50 X 1 = 50 and together they add up to 5,050.

While his classmates were adding 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 . . . young Gauss apprehended the patterns in the numbers. Much of mathematics – and much of what makes mathematics so interesting and enjoyable – is the understanding of the patterns in numbers and the relationships between numbers.

I myself have been extremely math-phobic and math-challenged throughout most of my life. One of the reasons I’ve been at such odds with this subject is that somehow – I don’t know how – I got the idea early on that figuring a problem out in anything other than a standard manner was somehow “cheating.”

However, the truth is that learning how to see the relationships between numbers is what makes math fascinating and can make it doable for many people for whom it has often been endlessly frustrating. For example, one easy way to multiply a number by 11 is first to multiply by 10 and then add the original number. One easy way to multiply by 9 is to multiply by 10 and then subtract the original number. An easy way to multiply by 5 is to multiply by 10 and divide it in half.

One of the most important things to know about math problems is that they can often be performed in two easy steps rather than one difficult one. This is also a key to finding this subject enjoyable.

Readers, what are some others?

Rate this post:

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

| Print This Post Print This Post | 191 views | Other posts by Denise Noe

Stumble It!

book mark “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them in del.icio.us | “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them to Slashdot.com | Submit “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them to Digg.com | Submit “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them to BoingBoing.net | Bookmark “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them in Furl | Bookmark “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them in Spurl | Bookmark “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them in Reddit | Bookmark “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them in Tailrank | Bookmark “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them in Newsvine | Bookmark “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them to Yahoo! | Bookmark “It’s 5,050!”: Seeing patterns in numbers — and using them to Fark

2 Comments »

  1. amfortas said,

    5 X 100 = 5,000.

    Yep, math-phobic.

    Or maybe scared of nothing (as in 0s)

    :)

    July 21, 2008 at 1:47 am

  2. Denise Noe said,

    amfortas said,

    5 X 100 = 5,000.
    Yep, math-phobic.

    Or maybe scared of nothing (as in 0s)

    (Denise) Thank you for pointing that out, editor amfortas. I corrected it to 50 X 100 = 5,000.

    July 21, 2008 at 2:45 am

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.

MND Opinion
editor's bio | article rss | comments rss | itunes podcast | tos | privacy policy
MensNEWSdaily®, mndnet.com, BlogWonks.com™, BlogWonk.com™, NewsWax.com™, YakVox.com™, DorkWatch.org™, CounterPulse.com™, JavaKing.com™ © 2001 - 2006 Java King, Inc.. Opinions found on this website are expressly those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of this publication, its editorial staff or contributors. Words, graphics, audio, video, and all other content published on this domain must adhere to our Terms of Service . JAVA KING, INC AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, ADVERTISERS, SPONSORS AND AFFILIATES, DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS OR ENDORSEMENTS HEREIN EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.
Site Meter
RETURN TO MENS NEWS DAILY
counter