Maths is Useless Trivia Quiz

Answer: Babylonian

The Babylonians seemingly have a lot to answer for as not only did they give rise to the widespread use of the dreaded quadratic equation, but, they were responsible for bringing us the idea of the wonderful tax system.
The quadratic equation is great at splitting opinion with many people looking at the formula as being a rather unenjoyable toy for mathematicians; like a present one might expect from a vicious aunt. Many others find the quadratic equation the start of something beautiful and elegant and even have the desire to go through the process of deriving the formula (something a lot more complicated and devours a lot more time).

FT player incainca informed me and I verified that the Babylonians used a crude form of quadratic calculation which would more correctly be labeled as algorithmic problem solving using the completing the square method. This would form the basis of the quadratic equation as we now know it.

Answer: Greek

Mathematicians generally try to find the easiest and most efficient way of solving a problem and more often than not, the end result tends to be aesthetically pleasing. It seems fitting therefore, that mathematics and science tend to use the Greek alphabet for notation as it is, in the eyes of a lot of people, stylish and graceful.
The golden ratio is approximately 1.618 and is used by architects in building and construction design.

Answer: Parthenon

Architects would implement the golden ratio as it is suggested to make the building better to look at. Other people have suggested that we shouldn't be so sure that the golden ratio was used including mathematics author Keith Devlin, who said,"Certainly, the oft repeated assertion that the Parthenon in Athens is based on the golden ratio is not supported by actual measurements.

In fact, the entire story about the Greeks and golden ratio seems to be without foundation..." The golden ratio is also used in art and is particularly extensive in Piet Mondrian's "Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red".

Answer: Determining braking distances

Determining braking distances is vitally important in road safety. Driving theory tests often have questions that ask, given a certain speed/velocity, what is the braking distance.
Braking distances can be ascertained simply by manipulating formulae established by Newton in his laws of motion. For example, a car is travelling at 30 metres per second (ms-1) and subsequently brakes causing an average deceleration of 5 metres per second, per second (ms-2) over a period of 10 seconds. The equation s = (ut) + [a(t^2)]/2 can be used in this instance to determine the braking distance, s, where u = initial velocity, a = acceleration/deceleration and t = time. By inputting the values above (the five is negative as it indicates deceleration):
s = (30x10) + [(-5x100)/2]
s = 300 - 250 = 50 metres.

Answer: Gravity

Generations of pre-teens pretending to be soldiers, James Bond fans and the folks interested in paint-balling all succumb to the elegance of the quadratic equation!
The basics of the quadratic equation in ballistics are that, neglecting air resistance, when a bullet is shot from a gun it travels at a velocity horizontally (x-axis or abscissa). Also, depending on the angle of the shot, the bullet will travel in the vertical direction (y-axis or ordinate). Now as the air resistance is being neglected, Galileo stated that the only thing that changes as the bullet is travelling horizontally is time as the abscissal velocity will remain constant. The vertical movement is a little more involved as now gravity plays its part. To cut a long explanation short, the same movement applies to the vertical as to the horizontal but with the added constant of gravity.
This particular quadratic equation will map the path of anything from a bullet to a rugby ball being kicked over the posts. Isn't it wonderful, thousands of people turning up to watch a fly-half perfect the age old quadratic formula!

Answer: Aviation

The equation (u^2/2) + P = h, where u = speed of air, P = air pressure and h = height of air particle, is useful in the engineering of planes to assure efficient flight. What was discovered from this equation is that (where the height of the air particles (h) are constant) when the speed of air increase, the air pressure decreases. One remarkable aspect of the Bernoulli effect is that it took humans centuries to discover how to achieve efficient flight, but, the wings of birds and other flying creatures have evolved and naturally incorporate this technique. Birds achieve flight, similar to aircraft, in that their wings have an aerofoil shape whereby the upper face of the wing has more curvature than the under face.

This shows that, far from being useless, mathematics is about understanding the world around us and it gives us a greater appreciation of how truly beautiful nature is.

Answer: Electronics

Schrödinger's equation (which would be a nightmare to try and replicate on FunTrivia!) can be used in many electrical appliances. Herr Schrödinger came up with an equation which predicted the movement of particles, particularly electrons, and subsequently made it possible to create circuits with phenomenal numbers of components.

This quantum physicist opened up a new world with his seemingly useless mathematical equation; the new world of advanced technology. Modern computers, MP3/4 players, telecommunication systems and global positioning technology were all made possible by mathematics and physics and have transformed the world on a massive scale.

Answer: Fibonacci

You could be forgiven for thinking that, like everything in mathematics, this is elegant but utterly useless, however, it is rather important in economic and financial circles. A variation of the Fibonacci sequence is called the Fibonacci fan and is used to illustrate one of the fundamentals of economics - supply and demand.

The Fibonacci fan is quite a complex graph to construct but provides great visual representations of the compromises between support and resistance. In stocks and shares, support is the increase in prices by influxes of sustained purchase and resistance is the reduction or freezing of prices by the seller.

The Fibonacci fan is useful in showing who has more effect on trading prices at any one time.

Answer: Determination of Halflife

Calculus is the mathematical study of how things change by functions such as differentiation and integration. It has uses in a wide variety of fields from engineering to medical physics and pharmacology. Halflife is defined as the time taken for 50% of a sample of radioactive particles to decay.

Its measurement in medicine, using calculus, is important as there needs to be a compromise. The compromise between efficiency of the radioactive isotope so it can be diagnostically useful and the limitation of the exposure time of the isotope to the patient. If the isotope stays in the patient for too long, id est a long halflife, there is a risk of damage and the causation of cancer.

Answer: pH Value of Substance

pH is the measurement of how acidic (or alkaline) a substance is. The scale is generally seen as going from zero to fourteen where seven is considered neutral. However, as pH is ascertained logarithmically, it is possible to have negative pH values as well!
The lasting memory of logarithms for many maths students before the widespread use of the calculator is the log book; a book full of charts containing the values of logarithms and antilogarithms of certain numbers. Quite dire really!

So as you can see maths is utterly useless! Thanks for playing.