Student Teams Will Compete in Math Bowl Today

Four teams, each comprised of four students, will square off in the Math Bowl noon today in Pardee Hall room 227. Sponsored by the mathematics department, the event will include free pizza.

The annual competition is similar to College Bowl tournaments, with a buzzer system determining which team answers each toss-up question. Toss-up questions are worth 10 points, and a correct answer leads to a bonus question worth more.

Students have five to ten seconds in which to answer questions. Some sample questions at last year’s competition and their answers include:

1. What is the largest two-digit number whose square root is a perfect square? [81]
2. The year 2003 is special because 2003 is a prime number. For 10 points apiece, a) what was the last year before 2003 that was prime? [1999] b) When will the next one be? [2011]
3. The numbers from one to 100 are written down. How many individual digits are written? [192]

Sample questions and answers from 2002:

1. Find two positive integers whose sum and product are prime. [1 and 2]
2. What member of the math department can have his or her name rearranged to spell A FRESH VINE? [Evan Fisher]
3. This word describes a series in calculus, an oscillator in physics, a function in analysis, and overtones in music. What is it? [Harmonic]
4. Name any year in which Isaac Newton lived. [1643-1727]

The 2003 champions were all seniors: Alex Balan, a double major in computer science and mathematics & economics from Bucharest, Romania; Guangxi Wang, an electrical and computer engineering major from Shanghai, China; Lazar Nikolic, a double major in computer science and mathematics from Roswell, Ga.; and Angela Coxe, a double major in math and computer science from Easton, Pa.

The 2002 Math Bowl champions were Steve DiMauro ’02, Tim Fargus ’02, Tim “Tank” Bragdon ’04, and Josh Grubman ’03.