Marketing Department . 10/16/24 Marketing Department . 10/16/24

Math in… Global Positioning Systems

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) help you find your way around by figuring out where you are. But how does it work, and how does geometry help?

Marketing Department . 10/9/24 Marketing Department . 10/9/24

Math in… Fair Division

Some things are as easy as pie, but fairly dividing a pie between friends might not be one of them! How can mathematics help everyone get their fair share?

Marketing Department . 10/2/24 Marketing Department . 10/2/24

Math in… Conveyor Belts

While many things in factories just need to get from one place to another, some might also need to be flipped over along the way. How do factories do it, and how can math explain how this works?

Marketing Department . 9/25/24 Marketing Department . 9/25/24

Math in… Surveying

Measuring our world is important for a wide variety of reasons. But how do people do it? And how do they use math to make it all work?

Marketing Department . 9/18/24 Marketing Department . 9/18/24

Math in… Video & Audio Sampling

Have you ever seen a video of a helicopter that appears to float while its propeller stands still? Why do cameras do that, and how can math explain it?

Marketing Department . 9/12/24 Marketing Department . 9/12/24

Math in… Road Trips

Planning a trip with multiple stops can be tricky. The order in which you visit each stop can significantly impact your travel time. So how do you choose the best order?

Marketing Department . 8/28/24 Marketing Department . 8/28/24

Math in… Card Shuffling

Shuffling a deck of cards can be fast and fun, but how many shuffles should you perform so that the deck is random enough?

Marketing Department . 8/21/24 Marketing Department . 8/21/24

Math in… Grocery Shopping

When products are the same size, comparing prices is straightforward. But when products are different sizes, how do you find the cheaper one?

Marketing Department . 8/14/24 Marketing Department . 8/14/24

Math in… Art and Perspective

Creating art that uses camera angles and perspective is cool, but how do artists use math to create brain-tricking images?

Marketing Department . 8/7/24 Marketing Department . 8/7/24

Math in… Password Protection

When you send a password or credit card number across the internet, how can you ensure it stays safe?

Rana Chan 7/31/24 Rana Chan 7/31/24

Math in… Road Trip Restaurants

If you want a nice road trip meal without needing to backtrack along the highway, can you use math to help out?

Rana Chan 7/25/24 Rana Chan 7/25/24

Math in… Swimming

Swimming fast is tiring work! Olympic athletes have trouble performing at their peak as the race wears on. How can mathematicians help swimmers perform at their best?

Rana Chan 7/12/24 Rana Chan 7/12/24

Math in… School Districts

Bias is present in how we divide geographic areas, from school zoning to gerrymandering. Can math provide a possible solution?

Rana Chan 7/11/24 Rana Chan 7/11/24

Math in… Pizza

Rana Chan 7/4/24 Rana Chan 7/4/24

Math in… Flag Design

As more states and territories join the United States, flag designers need to accommodate more stars. How can they use math to make visually appealing designs?

Rana Chan 6/26/24 Rana Chan 6/26/24

Math in… Nature

Rana Chan 6/12/24 Rana Chan 6/12/24

Math in… Video Games

Video games are a ubiquitous part of everyday modern life. But how can some blinking lights on a screen create an image?

Rana Chan 6/5/24 Rana Chan 6/5/24

Math in… Flowers

Today’s Math in Real Life is on the phenomenon of phyllotaxis spirals. There are a lot of myths and silly math out there about the golden ratio and Fibonacci numbers in nature, but this one’s the real deal!

Rana Chan 5/29/24 Rana Chan 5/29/24

Math in… Leopard Spots

Do you know where the stripes and patterns come from on animals in our ecosystem? Whether you do or not, we've left equations for you to spot that relate to the phenomenon. Check out this week's Math in Real Life to find out more!

Rana Chan 5/22/24 Rana Chan 5/22/24

Math in… Social Networks

Two vertices are adjacent if they share an edge and a neighborhood of a vertex is the set of its adjacent vertices…

If you’re reading that over and over to figure out what it means, today’s Math in Real Life can help you understand how social networks are created. We hope our breakdown makes it easy for you to visit SUMM’s neighborhood on Facebook and Instagram by liking/following us!