MATHS GLOSSARY

Summary of Key Terms

Acute angle - any angle less than 90 degrees.
 
Angle - a measure of space between two intersecting lines.
 
Arithmetic mean - sum of all the items divided by the number of items.
 
Bearing - a measure of location on a compass.
 
Circumference - boundary or perimeter of a circle.
 
Correlation - a mutual connection between two variables.
 
Denominator - the bottom part of a fraction. Hint: it is down under the numerator.
 
Diameter - distance across a circle through the centre giving its width.
 
Factor - a number that divides exactly into another number.
 
Gradient - the steepness of the slope of a line.
 
Hypotenuse - the longest side of a right-angled triangle.
 
Improper fraction - a fraction having the numerator higher than the denominator.
 
Modulo - a remainder value when two numbers are divided. The modulo function is given as a mod b, where a and b are two numbers. For example 16 divided by 3 gives 5 remainder 1, which can be expressed as 16 mod 3 = 1.
 
Negative number - having a value less than one.
 
Numerator - the top part of a fraction.
 
Obtuse - any angle greater than 90 but less than 180 degrees.
 
Percentage - a fraction multiplied by 100.
 
Perimeter - the total distance around the boundary of a shape.
 
Perpendicular - a line at right angles to another line.
 
Prime number - having only two factors of different values.
 
Polygon - a many-sided shape.
 
Quadrilateral - a plane four-sided shape.
 
Quotient - the result of dividing one number by another. Quotient comes from Latin and means "how many times".
 
Radius - half the diameter of a circle.
 
Reflex angle - any angle greater than 180 degrees.
 
Transcendental number - has a value that cannot be calculated by any combination of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or square root extraction such as pi.

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