The Math Dude Quick and Dirty Tips to Make Math Easier

300 TMD Math Is a Playground…So Play!

24 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What’s the point of learning math? Why is it so important that kids are exposed to mathematical thinking? And what do parents and teachers need to k...

077 TMD How Are Distances and Absolute Values Related?

18 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Learn how to use absolute values to find distances between numbers and places. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2lPuJQ7 Hosted on Acast. S...

299 TMD How to Use Math to Fly Rockets to Space

10 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What does it really mean for a satellite to orbit the Earth? What’s the math behind it? And what’s the math behind the rockets that get those sate...

227 TMD Polygon Puzzle: How Many Degrees Are In a Polygon?

03 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How many degrees are in the interior angles of a pentagon? Or a hexagon? An octagon? Or any polygon? Keep on listening to The Math Dude to learn how t...

298 TMD The Simple Math Behind Crunching the Sizes of Crowds

27 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How large was the crowd at the recent U.S. presidential inauguration? Or the inauguration 8 years ago? Or at last Saturday’s Women’s March in Wash...

226 TMD Math Tips for Smart Shopping

20 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Would you rather get a 33% bigger coffee for no extra charge or pay 33% less for the regular size? Do you know how to avoid being tricked into buying ...

250 TMD How to Measure Time Without a Stopwatch

13 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How can you measure time without using a stopwatch? You could use the movement of the Sun across the sky, you could watch a pendulum swing, or you cou...

297 TMD 4 More FAQs About Percentages

06 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How do you quickly calculate 25% of a number? Or 33% of a number? Or 50%? And how can you quickly calculate percentage increases? Keep on listening to...

193 TMD The 5 Steps of Problem Solving

30 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Do "word problems" make you cower in fear? Do you ever find yourself stuck on math problems before you even get started? If so, keep on list...

296 TMD How Many Gifts Are In the 12 Days of Christmas?

23 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How many gifts should one's true love be given on each of the 12 Days of Christmas? If you stick to the recommendations from the classic song, the ans...

179 TMD Christmas Math 101

16 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How long does Santa have to hang out when he's dropping presents off at your house? And how fast do his reindeer fly? Keep on listening to find out ab...

295 TMD What Is the Probability that Alien Life Exists?

09 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Are we alone in the universe? If so, why? If not, where is everybody? Thankfully, math can help us with these astronomically profound questions. Keep ...

127 TMD How to Quickly Calculate Percentages

02 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Learn a quick and dirty tip to help you calculate pesky percentages in your head. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2h6A1rU Hosted on Acast...

294 TMD How Are Turkeys and Extraterrestrials Related?

25 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How many turkeys are consumed each year in the U.S. on Thanksgiving? And how many extraterrestrial civilizations might exist in the universe? Umm…wa...

134 TMD What Are Mixed Fractions?

18 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Learn what mixed fractions are and find out how they're related to regular fractions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

293 TMD Why Were the 2016 U.S. Presidential Polls Wrong?

11 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The 2016 U.S. presidential election is over. And if you'd been following the polls, the results might have been surprising. What went wrong with those...

206 TMD How Big Is the Universe?

04 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The solar system is big, the distances between stars bigger, and the distance to the center of the galaxy in which we live is even bigger than that. B...

292 TMD How to Think About the Size of the Earth

28 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Do you have a good feel for the size of the Earth? If you’re like most people, you know that it’s big but you don’t have a sense for exactly how...

210 TMD 5 More Tips for Understanding Weights and Measures

21 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How much is a gram? An ounce? Or a ton? If you don't have an intuitive feel for exactly how much mass these quantities represent, keep on listening! R...

291 TMD How Does Geometry Explain the Phases of the Moon?

14 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What causes the Moon to change phases throughout the month? Why is it sometimes visible only during the day and other times only at night? What’s th...

221 TMD What Are Polygons? (Reissue)

07 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What do a triangle, a rectangle, and a pentagon all have in common? They’re all polygons. What makes a polygon a polygon? And why do they matter? Ke...

290 TMD How to Win Every Bet

30 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Wiseman, author of 101 Bets You Will Always Win, joins Math Dude, to talk about how to use probability and mathematics to win bets. Read the f...

204 TMD What Is Angular Size?

23 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How good are your eyes at seeing really tiny things that are really far away? How much better is the Hubble Space Telescope at doing the same thing? W...

289 TMD How to Use Geometry to Calculate the Size of Earth

16 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Can you think of a way to measure the size of the Earth? Or the distance to the Sun? Or the nearest star? Want to know how ancient Greek mathematician...

257 TMD 3 Numerical Fun Facts About NFL Football

09 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What do uniform numbers tell you about NFL players? How can you estimate how fast a wide-receiver is running? Read the full transcript here: http://bi...

288 TMD What Is a Light Year?

02 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Do you know what a light year really measures? Do you know why so many people find it confusing? And why they shouldn’t? Keep on listening to find o...

197 TMD What Are the Odds of Successfully Navigating an Asteroid Field?

26 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What are the odds of successfully flying through an astroid field like the one in the movie The Empire Strikes Back? Are they really 3,720 to 1 as sug...

287 TMD Why Are There Ties in Olympic Swimming?

19 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Did you notice all the ties in the swimming events of this year's Olympics? Did you wonder why they didn't (or maybe couldn't) simply use more precise...

229 TMD How FOIL Can Help Your Math Skills

12 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Have you heard of FOIL? Not the aluminum kind, but the one that can help your multiply faster? Keep on listening to The Math Dude to learn more! Read ...

286 TMD 5 Numerical Fun Facts About the Olympics

05 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How fast do Olympic swimmers swim and Olympic sprinters sprint? How do these speeds compare to the speed at which you could race walk to the games? Or...

205 TMD How Big Is the Solar System?

29 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How big are the planets of the Solar System compared to the enormous Sun at its center? How far would you have to travel to reach each of them? And ho...

285 TMD What Are Polynomials?

22 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What are polynomials? How are they built? What can you do with them? And why are they important? Keep on listening to find out! Read the full transcri...

235 TMD Phone Keypad Number Puzzle

15 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

You know your phone’s keypad is arranged into three rows and three columns of numbers, but did you know there’s a pretty cool math puzzle hidden i...

284 TMD 4 Numerical Fun Facts About the Juno Spacecraft

08 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Did you hear the exciting news that NASA just successfully put the Juno spacecraft into orbit around Jupiter? Want to learn 4 super-cool numerical fun...

211 TMD How to Use Google as a Calculator

01 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What's the cube root of 29? The sine of 55 degrees? Or the value of π/4? Do you need to search for your trusty calculator or pull out your phone to f...

283 TMD How to Solve the Famous Coffee and Cream Puzzle

24 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Summer is brain-teaser season in my house. And since summer has now officially arrived, it’s officially brain-teaser season for The Math Dude. What’...

231 TMD What Is a Nautical Mile?

17 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever heard of a nautical mile? Have you ever wondered what in all the world’s oceans that could be? Keep on listening to The Math Dude to l...

282 TMD How to Prove the Pythagorean Theorem

10 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What does the Pythagorean Theorem tell us about triangles? Is it always true? And how can you prove this famous theorem arts-and-crafts style? Keep o...

234 TMD How to Estimate Hours Left Until Sunset

03 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that math can help you survive? I’m not talking about the jobs, money, and feeding yourself kind of surviving—I’m talking about the...

281 TMD How to Think About Division: Part 2

27 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean to divide an integer by a fraction? Or a positive number by a negative number? Or even a negative number by another negative number?...

216 TMD Why Does a Triangle Have 180 Degrees?

20 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How many degrees do the three angles of a triangle contain? They've got 180 of 'em, right? Why 180 and not some other number? And do all triangles rea...

280 TMD How to Think About Division: Part 1

13 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What does it really mean to divide two numbers? Or two variables? How can you visualize these processes? And how are they related to the process of mu...

198 TMD The Equation for a Happy Mother's Day

06 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What's the most important holiday in May? Obviously it's Mother's Day. Did you know there's an equation that can help you celebrate? Keep on reading t...

279 TMD How to Think About Multiplication: Part 2

29 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean to multiply a positive number by a negative number? What does it mean to multiply two negative numbers? How about two variables? Or ...

129 TMD How to Simplify Fractions

22 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Learn how to simplify the fractions in your life. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/1VGjSXN Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

278 TMD How to Think About Multiplication: Part 1

15 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when you multiply one number by another? Is there a right answer to this question? What does it tell us about how you should think about ...

030 TMD How to Use Math to Send Encrypted Messages

08 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Learn what one-time pad encryption is, how it has been used throughout history, and how to use math to send your own encrypted messages. Questions go ...

277 TMD 3 Numerical Fun Facts About the NCAA Tournament

01 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How can you quickly figure out how many games are needed to determine the winner of a tournament? What are the odds of predicting the winner of each a...

213 TMD What Are the Odds of Winning the Lottery?

25 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What are the odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery jackpot and striking it rich? How long would you need to play before having a 50-50 chance of w...

276 TMD How to Think About Subtraction: Part 2

18 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Do you really know what subtraction is? By which I mean do you really feel it in your gut? Here's part two of the series that will help you do so! Rea...

190 TMD 3.14 Fun Facts About Pi

11 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Happy Pi Day 2014! What is pi? Why does it have its own holiday? And what are some fun (and useful) facts to know about this famous number? Keep on li...

275 TMD How to Think About Subtraction: Part 1

03 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What is subtraction? Like its close cousin addition, you no doubt “know" the answer to this question. But do you really feel the answer in your...

138 TMD How to Add and Subtract Like an Egyptian

26 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Learn how the ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics to do math. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/1XTw70S Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...

274 TMD How to Think About Addition

19 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What is addition? Of course you know the answer to this question, but do you really feel the answer—do you feel addition deep down in your gut? Keep...

196 TMD How Is Rainfall Measured?

12 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How is rainfall measured? What does it mean when it rains an inch? And how many gallons of water fall on your roof in a storm? Keep on listening to le...

273 TMD How to Combine Like Terms

05 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Do you know what “like terms” in algebra are? Do you know the best way to think about them? And how to combine them? Keep on listening to find out...

114 TMD How Many Grains of Sand are on Earth's Beaches?

29 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Learn to use math to quickly estimate tough-to-calculate numbers. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/1NYWIlK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

272 TMD What Does Half-Life Mean?

22 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What are half-lives? And what do they have to do with measuring the age of the solar system and predicting the effects of a morning cup of coffee? Kee...

271 TMD What Do Analog and Digital Mean?

15 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What do the terms “analog” and “digital” mean? What are some of the analog and digital things in your life? And what does this have to do with...

270 TMD What Is a Pie Chart?

08 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that a lot of people in the world think that pie charts are a really terrible kind of chart? Keep on listening to find out why! Read the ...

028 TMD How to Use Statistics to Understand Poll Results

01 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Learn how to use statistics to understand the significance of the latest political polling results and to keep yourself from being duped by misleading...

269 TMD How to Use Histograms to Fix Your Pictures

25 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever adjusted the exposure and brightness of a photo? Did you know you were really adjusting your picture’s photo histogram? Keep on listen...

268 TMD How to Use Histograms to Take Better Pictures

18 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What can a histogram tell you about a photo? How can it help you take better pictures? And how can it improve the pictures you’ve already taken? Kee...

267 TMD What Is a Histogram?

11 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Do you know how to make a histogram? When to make one? And what you can learn from it once you do? Keep on listening to find out! Read the full transc...

266 TMD What Is a Bar Graph?

04 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What are bar graphs? How do you make them? And what are they useful for? Keep on listening to find out! Read the full transcript: http://bit.ly/22eO3G...

222 TMD Thanksgiving and Black Friday After-Math

27 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How much turkey do Americans eat on Thanksgiving? How fast can a turkey run? And how much money do Americans spend in the days following their big fea...

265 TMD How to Use Stem-and-Leaf Plots

20 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Why are stem-and-leaf plots useful? How are they related to the kind of stems and leaves that fall from trees this time of year? Keep on listening to ...

264 TMD What Are Stem-and-Leaf Plots?

13 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How do you make stem-and-leaf plots? Why might you want to? How are they related to the stems and leaves that fall from trees? Keep on listening to fi...

263 TMD How to Solve Archimedes’ Volume Puzzle

06 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever heard the story of Archimedes and his famous “Eureka!” moment? Want to know how to use his discovery to measure the volume of a pump...

172 TMD Halloween Math and More Percentage Questions

30 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How can you figure out what number 200 is 17% of? How do you calculate the original price of something before a 30% markup? What math makes the Hallow...

262 TMD How to Find the Volume of a Pumpkin

23 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How can you find the volume of a pumpkin? How is this related to finding the volume of an ellipsoid? And what does any of this have to do with Archime...

261 TMD How to Resolve Zeno’s Paradox

16 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Who do you think would win a race between the mighty Greek warrior Achilles and a very clever tortoise? Obviously, Achilles would clobber the tortoise...

260 TMD What Is a Mathematical Limit?

09 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Do you know what a limit is in math? Do you know how to define a circle using this idea? And do you know why you might want to? Keep on listening to f...

259 TMD What Is Euler's Number?

02 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What makes an exponential an exponential? Are any exponentials more special than others? And what does Euler's number have to do with any of this? Sta...

258 TMD What Is Exponential Growth?

25 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever heard that something is growing exponentially? Or that it's accelerating at an exponential pace? Or that it's getting exponentially bett...

256 TMD Imaginary Numbers in the Real World

11 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Although every complex number has a so-called “imaginary" part, in many ways they're just as “real” as real numbers. And complex numbers ha...

255 TMD What Are Vectors?

04 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Behind every acceleration you make and every press on the brake is a vector. Behind the arrangement of each limb on a tree and the flight of a bumbleb...

254 TMD What Are Complex Numbers?

28 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What do you get when you put a real and an imaginary number together? A complex number. No, not a complicated number (although it kind of is), we’re...

253 TMD What Are Imaginary Numbers?

21 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever heard of imaginary numbers? Have you always thought they must be some kind of made-up numbers that don't have anything to do with realit...

252 TMD How to Use the Stars to Find Your Latitude

14 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered how people figured out their latitude back in the days before the Internet? Did you know you can use the same math trick they u...

251 TMD How to Calculate Density

07 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What does density measure? What are the densities of common things like air and water? How can you tell if something will float in a bathtub? Keep on ...

249 TMD 3 Tips for Calculating Percentages

24 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How quickly can you calculate 25% of 70? Or 40% of 50? Or 75% of 160? Keep on listening to learn 3 easy tips for calculating percentages. Read the ful...

248 TMD 3 More Numerical Fun Facts About Pluto

17 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How big does the Sun look from Pluto? How bright would it be? And, if you could travel to Pluto, what would the sky look like? Keep on listening to fi...

247 TMD 5 Numerical Fun Facts About Pluto

10 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How far away is Pluto? How many years does it take to fly there? How long does Pluto take to orbit the Sun? How fast is it traveling? And how fast is ...

111 TMD How to Find the Distance to Fireworks and Thunderstorms

03 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Learn how to find the distance to fireworks and thunderstorms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

246 TMD Martin Gardner's 3 Penny Puzzle

24 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Are you a fan of brain teasers? If so, you’ll love today’s probability puzzler. And if not, hopefully you will be a fan after today. Regardless, h...

245 TMD Why Does a Circle Have 360 Degrees?

19 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Where do the 360 degrees of a circle come from? When did this way of divvying up a circle come into common practice? Who made this choice? And why? Ke...

244 TMD What Are Combinations? Part 2

12 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What amazingly clever trick can help you count combinations of objects? How does it relate to our quest to find the total number of hypothetically col...

243 TMD What Are Combinations? Part 1

06 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In math, sometimes order matters, and sometimes it doesn’t. When it comes to permutations and combinations, it matters a lot. Keep on reading to fin...

242 TMD What Are Permutations?

30 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Combinations and permutations. Permutations and combinations. What's the difference between the two? And how do you calculate each of them? Keep on li...

241 TMD How to Solve the Famous Clock Puzzle

21 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How many times each day do the minute and hour hands of a clock cross? At precisely what time does each crossing occur? Keep on listening to learn how...

173 TMD You Are NOT Bad at Math

15 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What's the secret to being good at math? If you think it's all about being blessed with good math genes, think again. Keep on listening to find out wh...

240 TMD How to Think About Small Numbers, Part 2

09 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Now that we know how to think about size scale as small as 0.000001 meter, it’s time to shrink ourselves down even more and think about really, real...

239 TMD How to Think About Small Numbers, Part 1

02 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How can you understand the sizes of numbers that are unimaginably minuscule? By shrinking yourself down to an equally unimaginable tiny size! How does...

011 - What are Numerators and Denominators?

24 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Learn a quick tip to help you understand exactly what the numerator and denominator of a fraction tell you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

238 TMD The Infamous “Cheryl’s Birthday” Puzzle

18 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Who is Cheryl? Why has the world suddenly become obsessed with finding her birthday? And when is it? Keep on listening to The Math Dude to learn how t...

237 TMD When Is the Next Leap Year?

11 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

When is the next leap year? Why do we ever need to leap? And how much do we leap at a time? Keep on listening to The Math Dude to find out! Read the t...

109 TMD How to Square Two-Digit Numbers in Your Head

03 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Learn how to quickly and easily calculate the square of any two-digit number in your head. Read the episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/1y9x5y0. Ho...

236 TMD A Perplexing Geometry Fun Fact

28 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

A golf ball and the Earth walk into a belt shop and ask how much longer their belts would need to be if they gained an extra inch or two around the mi...

162 TMD 5 Tips for Faster Mental Multiplication

20 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Ever dreamed of being able to multiply numbers lickety-split…and completely in your head? Wouldn't it be great if you could quickly solve problems l...