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 know about learning real math? Keep on listening to find out! Read the full transcript here: http

077 TMD How Are Distances and Absolute Values Related?

Feb 18th, 2017 6m 58s

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

299 TMD How to Use Math to Fly Rockets to Space

Feb 10th, 2017 7m 57s

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 satellites into orbit? Keep on listening to find out! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2l9

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

Feb 3rd, 2017 6m 26s

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 to solve this polygon puzzle! Visit the website: http://bit.ly/1IF5Uu1

298 TMD The Simple Math Behind Crunching the Sizes of Crowds

Jan 27th, 2017 7m 8s

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 Washington D.C.? Keep on listening to find out how crowd sizes are estimated. Read the full transcript

226 TMD Math Tips for Smart Shopping

Jan 20th, 2017 6m 46s

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 more than you need? Keep on listening to The Math Dude to learn about the numbers behind savvy

250 TMD How to Measure Time Without a Stopwatch

1 Jan 13th, 2017 6m 26s

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 could burn some very special string. Keep on listening to find out how it works! Read the full tr

297 TMD 4 More FAQs About Percentages

Jan 6th, 2017 9m 58s

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 learn the answers to these frequently asked questions about percentages. Read the full transc

193 TMD The 5 Steps of Problem Solving

Dec 30th, 2016 7m 31s

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 listening because Math Dude's simple 5-step method for solving math problems can help! Read the full transcr

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

Dec 23rd, 2016 9m 39s

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 answer can be calculated using a bit of clever math. Keep on listening to find out how. Read the

179 TMD Christmas Math 101

Dec 16th, 2016 5m 51s

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 about the incredible math behind Santa's magical night! Read the full transcript here: http://bi

295 TMD What Is the Probability that Alien Life Exists?

Dec 9th, 2016 9m 45s

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 on listening to learn all about the probability of extraterrestrial life. Read the full transc

127 TMD How to Quickly Calculate Percentages

Dec 2nd, 2016 7m

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

294 TMD How Are Turkeys and Extraterrestrials Related?

Nov 25th, 2016 8m 18s

How many turkeys are consumed each year in the U.S. on Thanksgiving? And how many extraterrestrial civilizations might exist in the universe? Umm…wait…what?! Although these seem like unrelated questions, they’re not. As we'll soon find out, the

134 TMD What Are Mixed Fractions?

Nov 18th, 2016 5m 54s

Learn what mixed fractions are and find out how they're related to regular fractions.

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

Nov 11th, 2016 9m 2s

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 polls? It has to do with statistical and systematic uncertainties. Read the full transcript h

206 TMD How Big Is the Universe?

Nov 4th, 2016 7m 12s

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. But all of that is tiny compared to the distance to the edge of the known universe! Just how bi

292 TMD How to Think About the Size of the Earth

Oct 28th, 2016 6m 57s

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 big. Today we’re going to change that! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2eVwubz

210 TMD 5 More Tips for Understanding Weights and Measures

Oct 21st, 2016 6m 37s

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! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2dWyR0G

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

Oct 14th, 2016 8m 21s

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 the relationship between these times and the Moon’s phases? The answer in all cases is geometry. K

221 TMD What Are Polygons? (Reissue)

Oct 7th, 2016 6m 46s

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? Keep on listening to find out! Visit the website: http://bit.ly/1ANCZEg

290 TMD How to Win Every Bet

Sep 30th, 2016 8m 21s

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 full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2dkwBio

204 TMD What Is Angular Size?

Sep 23rd, 2016 6m 29s

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? What do these two questions have to do with the mathematical concept of angular size? Keep on l

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

Sep 16th, 2016 8m 27s

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 mathematicians did exactly this over 2,000 years ago? Keep on listening to find out! Read the full transcri

257 TMD 3 Numerical Fun Facts About NFL Football

Sep 9th, 2016 6m 30s

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://bit.ly/1Vc3ZZs