Now that we’re in December, I can post Christmas stuff and it not be deemed “too early” and my first post is all about Christmas-themed mathematics. I’ll add more as I find them.
We have a very Christmassy equation involving logarithms and I wonder if y stands for yuletide. There’s also a variation of this on Wikimedia if you just want to see the written equation.
BBC Bitesize have more practical Christmas maths related to how much wrapping paper you should use for your presents as well as “the perfect bauble ratio” and Santa’s average speed to deliver all his presents in 24 hours (I’ve posted about that before)
Dr Tom Crawford looked at the “wonderfully mathematical” 12 Days of Christmas song and how many legs appear in it. There was also a brief diversion into economics:
With what can only be classified as ‘the world’s best idea’, the US bank PNC Wealth Management calculates the exact cost of the 364 items mentioned in the song using current prices to create the Christmas Price Index. I kid you not. It may have started as a bit of fun 35 years ago but is now seen by many as a reasonably accurate reflection of the ‘true cost of Christmas’. It even takes place annually between 26 December and 6 January to provide the most accurate reflection of the 12 gifts across each of the 12 days.
And I can’t forget The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus (affiliate link) by Dr Hannah Fry and Dr Thomas Oléron Evans which looks at other mathematical marvels that connect us to Christmas.
Filed under: books Christmas money video