Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Thursday Quiz XCI

The Thursday Quiz!

The Thursday Quiz is a twelve item is-it-or-isn't-it test of your knowledge, reasoning, stamina, and moxie!

Remember always the Fundamental Rules of the Thursday Quiz:

1. The Thursday Quiz is a POP quiz. No research, Googling, Wikiing, or use of reference books. Violators will never be able to look at themselves in the mirror again.

2. Don't get all stressed out about it! It's supposed to be fun!

Math Lingo!

You knew it in high school... but have you retained your knowledge? Which of the following terms are defined with both precision and accuracy? And which are but a load of crap?

1. Abscissa -- The horizontal or "x" value in any pair of "x,y" coordinates.

2. Coefficient -- A number or symbol multiplied with a variable or an unknown quantity in algebra. Examples: 7 in the term 7x; x in the term x(a + b)

3. Commutative Property -- A characteristic of addition and multiplication, that the same result is yielded regardless of the order the numbers being added or multiplied. Examples: ab = ba; a + b = b + a

4. Denominator -- The answer yielded when dividing one number by another.

5. Fibonacci Sequence -- The sequence of numbers that are the squares of integers. 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100, 121, etc.

6. Imaginary Numbers -- Any multiple of the square root of negative one.

7. Irrational Number -- A number that cannot be expressed as the ratio of two integers. Examples: pi; the square root of two

8. Isosceles Triangle -- Any triangle in which the hypotenuse is the longest of its three sides.

9. Median -- The average; the sum of a set of values divided by the number of values in the set.

10. Quotient -- The bottom of the two numbers in a fraction.

11. Tangent -- In a right-angled triangle, the length of the side opposite to an angle divided by the length of the adjacent side.

12. Tangent -- A line that touches an arc or circle at a single point, but does not intersect it.


Submit your answers in the comments. Show your work.

28 comments:

Elaine said...

1. No; that's the ordinate
2. Hmm, I think I am being tricked. I was going to say Yes, but then.... Oh, second guessing! I'll say okay...
3. Yes
4. No; that is the quotient
5. NO; each succeeding number is the sum of the two previous numbers
6. Yes
7. Hmm...no (I really do not recall; I just don't like the wording.)
8. No; two legs are of equal length
9. No; the median is the "middle number" of an array, while the average is the mean.
10. No, THAT is the denominator (the number of parts into which the whole is equally divided, thus "naming" the fraction--tenths, twelfths, etc.)
11. Sine, cos, tan...all of these have flown away from the place where Trig was stored!.... But this sounds wrong anyway.
12. Yes; geometry has obviously stuck around better.....

It has been.....42 years since I took any math! And my students...well, I did teach "denominator"......but the rest of these terms, no.

Elaine said...

Oh, and where is the Tomato Report? (she asked sadistically.)

PB said...

My father the math teacher would never forgive me if I didn't do pretty well on this.

1. False (ok, so I don't think I've ever heard the term before, but it doesn't seem right).
2. True
3. True
4. False - bottom half of a fraction
5. False - the sequence is the sum of the 2 previous numbers - 1,1,2,3,5, etc.
6. True
7. True
8. False - any triangle with 2 equal sides
9. False - that's the mean; I think the median is the middle number of a set of values.
10. False - see 4.
11. True - SOHCAHTOA, right?
12. True - from Latin tango, tangere = to touch

Eversaved said...

1-n
2-y
3-y!
4-n
5-n
6-n
7-y
8-y
9-n
10-n
11-n
12-y
I'm studying for the GRE. I don't think I'm retaining so much of the math side of things...Uhoh.

Yankee in England said...

Seriously this is worse than my nightmare where I show up to school in only my underwear. a squared + b squared = c squared there is the whole sum of my retained high school math experience. I have strong feelings that anything that contains letters should not be considered math.

lamanyana said...

It's sort of scary that the Thursday quiz that makes me think - "Oh, that one's easy" is a math one. That said, here goes:

1 isn't (this is the one I'm least sure of - the word is vaguely familiar, but the definition doesn't seem right.)
2 is
3 is
4 isn't - you stitched definitions between "denominator" and "quotient" .
5 isn't - 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13..
6 is!
7. isn't - irrational numbers can't be expressed as decimals ('cause they keep on going) Your examples are fine though.
8. isn't - Isosceles triangles have 2 sides of the same size (Iso=same sceles=sides?)
9. isn't - Median is the middle number in a range of numbers - half above, half below.
10. isn't - see number 4.
11 is. I originally wrote "isn't", but then something stirred in the deep storage in the back of my brain. I think I'd successful managed to black out much of high-school Trigonometry, but the mnemonic "SOHCAHTOA" (Sine equals Opposite over Hypotenuse, Cosine equals Adjacent over Hypotenuse,
Tangent equals Opposite over Adjacent) seems to have made it through, somehow.
12. is

The Calico Cat said...

I just as in Monday through Wednesday past, I took an Excel class & we talked about long hang math - for the old clunker in the class - me...
so here goes
1. no
2. yes
3. yes
4. no
5. no
6. yes
7. yes
8. no
9. no
10. no
11. yes
12. yes

Hey, I even remember some of those from HIGH SCHOOL!

d said...

i know for a fact that i have not retained any math knowledge. i can barely even add any more.

1n / 2y / 3n / 4n / 5y / 6n / 7y / 8n / 9y / 10n / 11n / 12y

god i'm glad that's over with.

mrs.5000 said...

1 uh, yes
2 yes
3 yes
4 no
5 no
6 yes
7 yes
8 no
9 no
10 no
11 uh, yes
12 yes
On second thought, just put me down for whatever Morgan says.

Anonymous said...

1. No
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. No, that's the quotient
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. No
8. No
9. No, that's the mean
10. No, that's the denominator
11. Yes
12. Also Yes

Elizabeth said...

1. Yes?
2. No.
3. Yes?
4. No.
5. No.
6. No.
7. Yes.
8. No.
9. Yes.
10. No.
11. Yes.
12. Yes?

Math is hard!

fingerstothebone said...

1. no
2. yes
3. yes
4. no
5. no
6. no
7. yes
8. no
9. no
10. no
11. no
12. yes

Anonymous said...

Poor Morgan! He is at camp this week with no Internet access.

Well, you know he would have gotten them all right, so just put him down for a gold star. Me? I don't believe I know any of them, but I gave birth to Morgan so put me down for a... um... purple rectangle.

DrSchnell said...

1. nope
2. yup
3. nope
4. nope
5. nope
6. yup
7. yup
8. nope
9. nope
10. nope
11. yup
12. yup.

MulchMaid said...

1. No idea at all.
2. Yes, I think
3. Yes
4. Not exactly
5. Yes, I think
6. No
7. Can't remember this
8. No, isn't that a right triangle?
9. Umm, I think this is a trick question, ummm, no it's the Mean... I think
10. No
11. No
12. Yes

Ben said...

First let me say that Morgan is going to be very disappointed to have missed this one--he's at camp away from computers (this is a good thing!) this week.

1. rubbish
2. could be
3. sounds right
4. poppycock
5. Shoot--I haven't read Dan Brown in a while... Let's just say it's true.
6. Yuppers
7. If that means that the decimals go on and on and on, then I'll buy it.
8. Hmmm... tempting, but something niggles, so I'm going to say nope.
9. I always get mean, median, and mode mixed up, but I'll say yes to this one.
10. nope. Swap with #4.
11. Are you getting tricky here because this word has multiple meanings? I seem to remember that it does. However, "length of the adjacent side" doesn't say WHICH side, so I'm going to have to say that this is crap.
12. Yes! Also the name of the town where my parents live.

Chuckdaddy said...

Yes! I taught math, I totally have this! (Scanning first question)... but it was only 8th grade math...

1. F
What a mean one to start with. Definitely the hardest. I have no idea, but I'll go w/ false

2. T
3. T
4. F
5. F
Forgot what Fibbonacci are, but I doubt they were just squares.

6. T
My favorite types of numbers.

7. T
8. F
Wrong! The hypotenuse is always the longest (or at least tied for it)

9. F
Now that's some 8th grade math. And where is mode, huh?

10. F
11. T
Soh Cah Toa, who says rote learning can't work

12. T
You think you're so tricky...

Please say I won my first star!

mhwitt said...

1. Abscissa -- Don't know, but I don't think so. (Uncertainty on question #1... a bad start.)
2. Coefficient -- Oh man, it's going to be one of those quizzes. I think not. No.
3. Commutative Property -- Yes, I'm pretty sure.
4. Denominator -- Nope.
5. Fibonacci Sequence -- Yes, I think so.
6. Imaginary Numbers -- Yes, pretty sure.
7. Irrational Number -- Yes, pretty sure of that one too.
8. Isosceles Triangle -- Heck no.
9. Median -- No. (You almost got me here.)
10. Quotient -- No.
11. Tangent -- No, don't think so.
12. Tangent -- 'Does not intersect it?' Not sure about that word intersect but I think the answer is Yes.

Michael5000 said...

1. Abscissa -- SURE. With 2 out of 15 getting this one wrong, I've triple-checked it, but I can't find any problem with it nor anything particularly tricky with the wording. Sorry man.

2. Coefficient -- YES

3. Commutative Property -- YES

4. Denominator -- NO. The definitions of Denominator and Quotient are flipped.

5. Fibonacci Sequence -- NAH. Fibonacci's all, like, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, etc.

6. Imaginary Numbers -- YES

7. Irrational Number -- YES

8. Isosceles Triangle -- NOPE

9. Median -- NOPE. That's the mean. Psych!

10. Quotient -- NO. The definitions of Denominator and Quotient are still flipped.

11. Tangent -- YES

12. Tangent -- ALSO YES.

Michael5000 said...

That means the TQXCI Gold Star goes to math prodigy Mrs.5000, who had the only perfect slate of answers. It's her fourth Gold, and her whopping 35th Star overall.

PB takes the Silver in style with 11/12; it's the third Star for PB.

Big week for The Calico Cat, who finally gets her first Blue Star. That completes her Star Collection, making her the 18th person to join the ranks of the Quiz Lengends. She also breaks into the top ten on the all-time leaderboard this week.

And, a Green Star this week going out to ChuckDaddy; it's his fourth Star.

Kudos to lamanyana and DrSchnell, who were right behind the pack with 10/12 each.

boo said...

Aw. I tried to get the painting done and get back to the net to take this in time, but no luck. At least now I know what abscissa means now.

Michael5000 said...

@Elaine: What, you want a Tomato Report every day? Well, I ate a tomato on Wednesday and then again on Thursday. Tomorrow: another tomato! I can only summon up so much mock trauma.

@PB: Your father the math teacher is, I'm sure, incredibly proud of your Silver Star!

@Yankee in England: Do you really have dreams where you show up to high school in your underwear? I had a nightmare last night where I had to go back to high school. I was fully clothed, though. I just couldn't relate with all the teenagers, was all.

@lamanyana: ...except, a number that can't be expressed as a decimal, but instead just keeps rolling along, is the same thing as -- wait, crap, that's not right, because 1/3 is .3333 and so on. But repeating numbers like that count as rational.

Think of it this way: a fraction is a ratio. So an ir-rational number....

@Calico: "long hang math"?

@Eliz: Will we ever have enough clothes? I love shopping!

@kate: As soon as Morgan gets home, have him email me a definition for "abssica." No hints. If he gets it right, you get a purple rectangle.

@Jane: Hi Jane!

@ChuckDaddy: Mean? Au contraire mon frere. Alphabetical order is not mean!

Word to everyone's mother.

Elaine said...

See? brain death sets in and you mix up ordinate and abscissa, and then pretty soon you don't even earn a fake ribbon, or star, or whatever. Let me just assure everyone: further humiliations await.

The only compensation is a chance to tweak M5000 for a daily Tomato Report, which I think is hardly too much to ask! A blogger blogs! Right?

Eversaved said...

I'm going to fail the GRE, again, just like I almost failed every math class I ever took since kindergarten, aren't I?

Elaine said...

Eversaved, if you are seeking entry into a program that emphasizes verbal reasoning, command of language, writing, etc., don't worry too much about the math portion. I took the GRE 5 yrs after college--had been teaching retarded kids, so believe me that I had not been using many big words or any advanced math! I attempted about 50% of the math portion and still got 67th percentile; that would not have gotten me into a math program, but for psychology all they cared about was my high score on the verbal section. Fear not!

Eversaved said...

Elaine, I took the GRE before my Master's program and I actually did fine on both sections. The issue is that I am planning on going back for my PhD and I am leaning towards sociology. With 0 background in stats I at least need to do better on the math side to get into a decent program. Thanks for the encouragement anyway! Guess I better go hit the books now...

The Calico Cat said...

I never said I could type!

The Calico Cat said...

Oh & I want to "see" these stars, now that I have collected them all!