NUMBERS
Now, I was never much of a mathematician.
At school, I hardly shone when it came to algebra and even long division had the ability to bring me out in a cold sweat!
BUT, I have long been fascinated by Numbers….
They have been around a long time.
It is thought that the first real system that used them was formulated circa 3,400 BC, although markings discovered on animal bones indicate that humans have been doing simple maths since around 30,000 BC!
And numbers are extremely useful things to have around when you sit down and think about it.
So, after some numerical delving, I have compiled some interesting and hopefully informative facts pertaining to them that I would like to share:
Seven is statistically proven to be the world’s favourite number.
According to Alex Bellos, a British Author with a specific interest in Mathematics, having polled 44,000 people in an online survey, almost 10% chose 7.
Another thing Alex discovered was that when you ask people to choose a number between 1-10, the majority will choose 7!
Apparently, number Three, with 7.5% of the vote came in second!
Interestingly ODD NUMBERS polled 60% of the vote.
And NO ONE chose poor old 110!!!!
Fascinatingly, the survey also uncovered that people forge emotional attachments to numbers.
The participants characterized individual numbers as follows:
One was strong, brave, and independent!
Two was wise and cautious, but also fragile and sympathetic!
Three was pretentious and opulent…..(a bit harsh!!!)
Four was laid back and a bit of a rogue!
https://m.economictimes.com/seven-is-worlds-favourite-number-study/articleshow/33504219.cms
Every week millions of people pick 6 numbers between 1 and 59 in an attempt to win the National Lottery.
Since its inception in 1994 over 6,300 lucky people have become millionaires in this way and there is an average of 7 new millionaires added to that number every week.
It is interesting to note however, that, as it is estimated 45 million people regularly play the Lottery the chances of winning are staggeringly low.
0.00000016% to put a rough number on it!
There are lots of different types of numbers too:
Algebraic numbers, Complex numbers, Computable numbers (also known as a Recursive number), Constructible numbers, Even numbers, Hypercomplex numbers, Infinity and infinitesimals, Integers, Irrational numbers, Natural numbers, Negative numbers, Nonstandard numbers, Odd numbers, p-adic numbers, Prime numbers, Rational numbers, Real numbers, Transcendental numbers, Transfinite numbers.
Arithmetic (the usage and study of Numbers) can clearly be a complex subject that not everyone will be attracted to devoting great amounts of time to.
Nevertheless, consider how important numbers are to the average person throughout their lives.
Many people have a house or flat number, a telephone number, a National Insurance Number, an NHS number, a bank account number, a pin number, a mortgage number. They might have an employee or payroll number. A passport Number. Increasingly these days, a Zoom number.
They’re also pretty useful as a measure of someone’s age, never mind shoe size!
AND weight.
AND wage!
The list goes on and on.
So, whilst we might not give them much thought on a daily basis, the numbers in our lives are there in the background, quietly doing their bit to make things easier for us and they are actually extremely important!
We've all heard of the phobia surrounding number thirteen, but could we all name it….?
It’s called Triskaidekaphobia
(Oh, and the fear of Cats is Ailurophobia)
The fear of numbers themselves is called Arithmophobia
It is very difficult to find the actual number of Phobia’s there are, but some diligent digging turned up in excess of FIVE HUNDRED & SIXTY!
There are some pretty amazing facts about numbers too.
Take the Rubiks Cube, for instance. I’ll bet not too many of you were aware that this simple toy has 43 quintillion different permutations.
That’s 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 to be exact.
BIG number!
Picture
Credit. Quora.com
And of course, your favourite Football (or Cricket) team simply couldn’t exist without numbers. There would be no way of winning or losing without them.
It’s a numbers game in more ways than one.
Picture: LEDsynergy
And here is one truly amazing conclusion that absolutely blows my mind.
There are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand in all the beaches on Earth!!!!
1 billion trillion of them, as a ballpark figure!
That’s a LOT of noughts after a 1!
Picture: Wikipedia
Here at STS we have some very key numbers:
1: The number that verifies the versatility of our Construction Board. “One board, multiple applications”
4: The number of STS offices nationwide.
5: The maximum mph speed our “clean green machine” electric forklift fleet can travel in our warehouse.
6: The thickness in millimetres of our much-loved pre-primed NoMorePly®
18: The thickness in millimetres of our Ground-breaking TG4 NoMorePly®️ Product
22: The thickness in millimetres of the 18mm’s big brother.
27: The number of years that have elapsed since Senior Director Martin Burrowes founded STS.
40: The number of the members of the STS Team. All vital cogs in our well-oiled machine.
1450: The number of STS distributors around the UK
5600: The SKU of our best selling, 6mm PrePrimed NoMorePly®️
30,000: The number of square footage available in the STS Warehouse in Leeds.
Picture: deccanherald.com
Oh, and by the way (numbers fizzy fact), researchers have established that bees can count….
up to four apparently….
WHO KNEW????
And to sign off.
“Eleven plus two” is an anagram of “Twelve plus one”-and remarkably, both equations add up to 13!
My head is spinning!!!!
