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Ask Dr. Universe Mathematics

Dr. Universe: How many peas would fit in the sun? -Keegan, 8

Our sun is so massive, you could fit more than one million earths inside of it. To find out how many peas would fit inside the biggest object in our solar system, I decided to ask my friend and mathematician Kimberly Vincent at Washington State University. Vincent and her students said that to figure out how much of something can fit inside the sun, we need to know the volume of the sun. The volume is how much space something takes up. Read More ...

Why is Pi 3.1415...? What if it was just 3? -anonymous

Dear Curious Readers,

It’s almost March 14. You know what that means: Pi Day, as in 3/14, or 3.14159265359 and so on.

I met up with my friend Nathan Hamlin, a mathematician and instructor here at Washington State University, to explore your question about this never-ending number.

We calculated Pi with some of my favorite items: yarn and a tuna can. You can try it at home, too.

Read More ...