Chika Ofili, a Nigerian boy, 12-year-old living in London just discovered a new Formula for divisibility by 7 in maths. Multiply the last digit by 5 and add it to the remaining numbers. For Example 532 53+2 x 5 = 63 which is a multiple of 7. So, 532 is divisible by 7. Chika Ofili has been presented with a special Recognition Award for making a new discovery in mathematics. A Proof for his Discovery: If x+5b=0 mod 7 then multiplying by 10 we get 10x+50b=0 mod 7. But 50 is just

In 1975, Steve Selvin sent a letter to the American Statistician posing a probability brain teaser to his respondent. Little did he know, this one problem would be one of the most controversial problems to ever exist! What is this problem that stumped most of the world? Let’s say you are on a game show. You are given the choice of three doors: 1, 2, and 3. Behind one door is a brand new car and behind the other two are goats. Your goal is to attempt to choose the door leading

One of the most famous examples of a magician and world-renowned mathematician is Prof. Diaconis at Stanford University. At the age of 14 he ran away from home to work under the magician, Dai Vernon. Fast forward a few years, he was admitted to Harvard University’s graduate statistics program on the strength of a recommendation letter from the famed mathematics writer Martin Gardner who was impressed with his card tricks. Now a professor of mathematics and statistics at Stanf

Sitting on her comfortable chair reading this newspaper article, Melony grew frustrated at this incorrect, as she believed it to be, article about the medication safety in Mathopolis. She sets out to prove the error in this article. She begins by taking notes from her prior knowledge, just from reading the article. Just then, it strikes her. Melony rushes to apply the Bayes Theorem to solve this problem, which is one of the most important ones in probability theory. What is t

Challenge Yourself! You start with a single lily pad sitting on an otherwise empty pond. You are told that the surface area of the single lily pad doubles every day and that it takes 24 days for the single lily pad to cover the surface of the pond. If instead of 1 pad you start with 8 lily pads (each identical to the single pad), how many days will it take for the surface of the pond to get covered? ANSWER BELOW If you figure out the relationship between 8 pads and one lily p

Cicadas are large insects that appear periodically in massive numbers. They are known as a symbol of resurrection because of their interesting life cycle, based on prime numbers. Cicada in Princeton, NJ Although Cicadas spend most of their life underground, they eventually have to come up to the surface for sunlight and reproduction. While on the ground, these insects mate and lay their eggs on tree branches. These eggs then take about 6-7 weeks to hatch, after which they bur