With the World Fuel Crisis in play, this post from 2014 seems more relevant than ever.
3. How far can a bio-fuel Mini drive on 1 kg or 2.2lb of human fat?
April 9, 2026With the World Fuel Crisis in play, this post from 2014 seems more relevant than ever.
Note: All ‘imaginary’ human fat will be sourced from Liposuction facilities.
Of course, in heavy traffic you are burning up the bio-fuel/fat getting nowhere.
Fuel Consumption (F) can plummet, even for the Mini, from 3.4 kg/ 100 km to 6.8 kg/100 km to 8.8 kg/100km. You may as well get out of the car and walk!!
ENERGY:
In Biodiesel
Consumed walking
In FAT including Human Fat
April Fool’s Math TEST … USA units
March 19, 2026This April Fool’s Math Test has been soooo popular, it deserves a reboot.
Tell your year 8 or 9 students that this test is designed to test their ability to concentrate and use logic while doing a challenging test under pressure.
Tell students to circle or note the ‘correct’ answer. Then wait to see how long it takes them to think you have totally lost the plot! You can make copies of the test using the PDF links below or project it onto a Smartboard, then put the answers up later.
Mathspig April Fools Math Test 1 USA
April Fool Maths Test … Metric
March 19, 2026This April Fool’s Maths Test has been soooo popular, it deserves a reboot.
Tell your year 8 or 9 students this test is designed to test their ability to concentrate and use logic while doing a challenging test under pressure.
Tell students to circle or note the ‘correct’ answer. Then wait to see how long it takes them to think you have totally lost the plot! You can make copies of the test using the PDF links below or project it onto a Smartboard. You can put the answers up later.
Mathspig April Fools Maths Test 1
The Rolling Coin Paradox that drove me Crazy!
February 27, 2026
Consider the example of the coin rolling around a coin of the same size. Intuitively we think …’OK. Same circumference, so the coin will rotate once as it rolls around a same-size coin. But this doesn’t happen. It rotates twice.
TWICE!
This observation is SOOOOOOOO counterintuitive we have to know why?…
Why?
The answer is interesting. The relevant point in the ROLLING COIN PARADOX is the centre of the rolling coin. The rolling coin rotates about that point. And that centre (the red dot in the gif below) moves through a circle twice the circumference of the stationary coin. It is much easier to understand when you see it. (Below)
2026 WINTER OLYMPICS: Why Ski Jumpers Need Math
February 15, 2026
Air resistance is a significant factor used by ski jumpers to increase their jump distance.
Ski jumpers crouch going down the ramp to reduce their X-section area and therefore their air resistence. Once they leave the ramp, ski jumpers try to increase their X-section area to increase their air resistence like Ski Divers to slow their vertical fall. But they have to land safely, so they keep their skis at a minimum angle.
Austrian Stefan Kraft in the Men’s Olympic Ski Jump at Milano Cortina 2026
Abby Hughes, USA, practicing in a wind tunnel.
Abby Hughes, USA, in the air
Here are the X-section areas for Abby Hughes:
Mathspig calculated the X-section area by the old-fashioned method of counting squares and rounding off the final count. Mathspig sized the two pics of Abby Hughes so that her head was the same size in both pictures.
Here is the formula for Air Resistance of Drag:
D = ½CApv2
Where C is the drag coefficient or constant, which depends on the shape and spin of an object. It is found by testing the object in a wind tunnel.
A is the X-section Area,
p is the density of the air and
v the velocity of the object.
More here.
As Abby Hughes has tripled her X-section area in the air, she will have tripled the vertical drag during her jump. This will slow her descent.
Gold in the Men’s Ski Jump at the 2026 Winter Olympics goes to:
Valentine’s Day Warning: Chocolate can kill. But how much?
February 8, 2026
With Valentine’s Day approaching Mathspig has reposted this warning.
Chocolate contains a chemical called Theobromine. This alkaloid ( other alkaloids include cocaine, nicotine, caffeine, and strychnine) can kill humans. More info Wired Magazine.
How much chocolate is too much?
Firstly, the darker the chocolate the more Theobromine it contains.
According to About Chemistry based on the highest possible toxicity:
* Vetmedicine: Cooking chocolate contains 8-10 times the Theobromine in Milk Chocolate.
According to Wired large doses of theobromine may cause “nausea and anorexia ….. sweating, trembling and severe headache.”
The Royal Society of Chemistry notes that chocolate does not contain caffeine, but theobromine induces similar symptoms.
LD50 for the lethal dose for 50% of the population for Theobromine is:
1000 mg/kg 0r 1gm/kg of body weight in humans
Death by Chocolate Calculations:
Death by Chocolate for DOGS
February 8, 2026
Chocolate can be fatal to dogs. As dogs are small they can easily eat enough chocolate to kill them. According to The Royal Society of Chemistry
The National Geographic has an amazing interactive chart for dog poisoning by chocolate.
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