Algebra quiz

More questions about Algebra

These visible examples show the question style. LearnClash turns the full topic into ranked duels and spaced repetition.

1. 1 Easy

   What does the Arabic word 'al-jabr' literally translate to in English?

   Answer: Restoration of broken parts

   Why: In the 1615 Don Quixote, a bruised Sanson Carrasco is cured by an algebrista: in Cervantes' Spain that word meant a bone setter.

2. 2 Medium

   Which theorem calculates the length of a right triangle's hypotenuse?

   Answer: Pythagorean theorem

   Why: The Babylonian tablet Plimpton 322 listed Pythagorean triples around 1800 BC, a thousand years before Pythagoras was born.

3. 3 Hard

   What is the result of multiplying the imaginary unit $i$ by itself?

   Answer: $-1$

   Why: Euler chose the letter i in a paper of 1777, printed only after his death; electrical engineers write j instead, because i already means current.

4. 4 Easy

   Which operation acts as the inverse of squaring a real number?

   Answer: Square root

   Why: Because both $-3$ and $3$ square to $9$, every positive number has two real square roots, while negative numbers have none at all.

5. 5 Medium

   In the linear equation y = mx + b, what represents m?

   Answer: slope

   Why: Nobody knows why m means slope, and the letters travel: Britain writes y = mx + c, France y = ax + b, Austria y = kx + d.

6. 6 Hard

   Which branch of abstract algebra provides the moves to solve Rubik's Cubes?

   Answer: Group theory

   Why: A 2010 proof used 35 CPU years donated by Google to show every one of the 43 quintillion positions can be solved in 20 moves or fewer.