10 fun math facts to use in the classroom or at home

1. “Forty” is the only number that is spelt with letters arranged in alphabetical order.
2. There used to be two kinds of “hundred”. A short hundred which means 100, and a long hundred which means 120. Source.
3. From 0 to 1000, the only number that has the letter “a” in it is “one thousand”.
4. The symbol for division (i.e. ÷) is called an obelus. Source.
5. It only takes 23 people to enter a room to give you an evens chance that two of them have the same birthday. With 60 people in the room the chances rise to 99 per cent! Source.
6. The numbers on opposite sides of a dice always add up to seven.
7. A year isn’t exactly 365 days — it’s about 365.242 days! That’s why we have a leap year every four years. Source.
8. The average person has 100,000 hairs on their head! Source.
9. The fastest gust of wind ever recorded on Earth was 253 miles per hour. This was recorded in 1996 during a tropical cyclone in Australia. Source.
10. The longest place name on the planet is 85 letters long and it’s in New Zealand! Taumatawhakatangihanga-koauauotamateaturipukakapikimaung-ahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu. Source.

Bonus fact!

1. The deepest place on Earth is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. It’s 36,201 feet (11,034m) deep. That’s almost seven miles! Source.