111 Math Trivia Questions (Ranked From Easiest to Hardest)

Math trivia questions are an excellent way to test your math knowledge.

Whether you are a student studying for an exam or a teacher looking for classroom game ideas, these questions will help you learn about mathematics and its various topics.

From calculus to algebra, there are plenty of questions to challenge even the most mathematically inclined minds.

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111 Math Trivia Questions Ranked From
Easiest to Hardest (Updated For 2024)‍

1. What popular mathematics software program is named after the type of tree whose leaf appears on the flag of Canada?
   
   Answer: Maple
   
   
2. According to the musical based on his adventures, which Nickelodeon cartoon is not just any kind of absorbent, multicellular, deep-sea organism, but specifically, Aplysina fistularis?
   
   Answer: SpongeBob SquarePants
   
   
3. Obelus is the name for the mathematical symbol that has a horizontal line with a dot above and a dot below it. Which arithmetic operation is the sign used for?
   
   Answer: Division
   
   
4. The sum of the internal angles always equals 180 degrees and the side opposite to the largest angle is the largest side are both properties of what type of shape?
   
   Answer: Triangle
   
   
5. What is the somewhat rude term for an angle greater than 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees?
   
   Answer: Obtuse
   
   
6. Based on the legend of how his discovery of submerged objects causing water displacement helped him figure out how to measure the purity of gold, Greek mathematician Archimedes is famously known for shouting what word originating from a Greek word meaning “I have found it!”?
   
   Answer: Eureka
   
   
7. Don't hurt yourself or anyone else while thinking about this one. Abbreviated "pn," what small unit of measurement used for adding spices or sugar to your cooking is roughly equivalent to 1/16 of a teaspoon, according to Allrecipes.com?
   
   Answer: Pinch
   
   
8. In algebra, what C-word means a number or constant placed in front of a variable to multiply that variable, such as the 4 in 4x + y?
   
   Answer: Coefficient
   
   
9. What do you call the longest side of a right triangle (that is, the side that’s opposite the right angle)?
   
   Answer: Hypotenuse
   
   
10. If you know your Greek alphabet and mathematical symbols, the red triangle logo for which airline will make sense, as it’s the name of the letter?
    
    Answer: Delta
    
    
11. Although the exact origin is unknown, this piece of technology and calculating tool used beans or stones moved in grooves of sand to perform calculations. Although computers have mostly replaced it, this tool is still in use for teaching arithmetic to children in many parts of the world. What is it?
    
    Answer: Abacus
    
    
12. In degrees, what is the sum of the interior angles of a regular pentagon?
    
    Answer: 540
    
    
13. If I were to multiply all the numbers on my telephone’s keypad, what number would I get?
    
    Answer: 0
    
    
14. In education, the acronym STEM stands for "science, technology, engineering, and mathematics." When an A is added to form the acronym STEAM, what does the A stand for?
    
    Answer: arts
    
    
15. In the commonly taught order-of-operations acronym PEMDAS, the “E” stands for what “powerful” type of numbers?
    
    Answer: Exponents
    
    
16. There are three basic trigonometric functions taught in high schools: sine, cosine, and what third function?
    
    Answer: Tangent
    
    
17. What 2016 film starred Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae as real-life NASA mathematicians from the 1960s?
    
    Answer: Hidden Figures
    
    
18. SQL is based on the relational form of which kind of math that starts with A?
    
    Answer: Algebra
    
    
19. The Mobius strip was the inspiration for a universal symbol first created in 1970 and composed of 3 arrows in a roughly triangular shape. This symbol stands for what action?
    
    Answer: Recycling
    
    
20. What is the ten-letter term for the longest side on a right triangle?
    
    Answer: Hypotenuse
    
    
21. Which natural number is not just a favorite of the Internet (...nice) but special because it’s the only number that’s square (4761) and cube (328509) uses every decimal digit from 0 to 9 exactly once?
    
    Answer: 69
    
    
22. What branch of mathematics, often taught in high school gets its name from an Arabic word meaning “reunion of broken parts,”, and was coined in the book “The Science Of Restoring And Balancing” by the 1st century AD mathematician al-Kwarizmi?
    
    Answer: Algebra
    
    
23. Established at the General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1960 and named after a Serbian-American engineer whose first name is Nikola, what unit of measurement is equivalent to one weber per square meter?
    
    Answer: Tesla
    
    
24. Since it was first announced in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium, March 14 is the annual celebration of what 'tasty' mathematical constant?
    
    Answer: Pi
    
    
25. What 18th-century Swiss mathematician, the founder of topology and graphology, is the namesake of the number “e”, roughly 2.71828, which is the base of the natural logarithm?
    
    Answer: Leonhard Euler
    
    
26. The Devil’s game? What sum do you get if you add up all the numbers on a roulette wheel?
    
    Answer: 666
    
    
27. -459.67 Fahrenheit degrees (or 0 Kelvin) equals what two-word term for when all particles completely stop moving?
    
    Answer: Absolute Zero
    
    
28. If an overzealous beer enthusiast asked you to pour them 10 pints of lager, how much lager would they be receiving in quarts?
    
    Answer: 5
    
    
29. What number comes next in this series: 7, 42, 210, 840, 2520, 5040, 5040,…….?
    
    Answer: Zero
    
    
30. Which Italian mathematician, perhaps best known for his eponymous sequence, introduced Arabic numerals to the Western world in his work “Liber Abaci?”
    
    Answer: Leonardo Bigollo Pisano
    
    
31. In mathematical physics, Minkowski space is a four-dimensional space consisting of three-dimensional Euclidean space and which other quantity?
    
    Answer: Time
    
    
32. Ohm's law of electricity, expressed as "V = IR," states that voltage is directly proportional to current, represented by I, and what quantity represented by the letter R?
    
    Answer: Resistance
    
    
33. When Abe Lincoln famously quoted "Four score and seven years ago" he meant how many years in the past?
    
    Answer: 87
    
    
34. Ask Han Solo: What unit, equivalent to approximately 3.26 light years, has a name derived from a portmanteau of “parallax in one second?”
    
    Answer: Parsec
    
    
35. In Excel, you can use the FIXED function to convert a number to text and round it to a fixed number of what mathematical “places” between wholes and fractions?
    
    Answer: Decimals
    
    
36. It is also the only two-digit prime that is not a cluster prime, as well as the highest two-digit number where the sum of its digits is a square. What is the highest two-digit prime number?
    
    Answer: 97
    
    
37. What fictional criminal mastermind had a past as a mathematics professor before he became the nemesis of detective Sherlock Holmes?
    
    Answer: James Moriarty
38. What is the term given to a fraction where the numerator is larger or equal to the denominator? This term may also used for something is inappropriate.
    
    Answer: Improper fraction
    
    
39. Common in mathematics along with the toolbar in Microsoft Excel, what two letters are collectively used to represent the word "function?"
    
    Answer: Fx
    
    
40. "Liber Abaci," or "Book of the Abacus" introduced Euro audiences to the golden ratio-like sequence of what Italian math dude?
    
    Answer: Fibonacci
    
    
41. Raising any non-zero number to the power of zero will give what result?
    
    Answer: One
    
    
42. Acceleration is the change in an object's velocity with respect to time. The change of an object's acceleration with respect to time is called what, a name it shares with some chicken dishes, and some inconsiderate people?
    
    Answer: Jerk
    
    
43. In degrees, what is the measure of the interior angle of one vertex of a regular dodecagon?
    
    Answer: 150 degrees
    
    
44. What colorful word is used to describe a special ratio (approximately equal to 1.618) that appears frequently in architecture, nature, and geometry? The number was the subject of Mario Livio's book, subtitled "The World's Most Astonishing Number."
    
    Answer: Golden
    
    
45. In geometry, which C-term refers to two objects that are the same shape and size—in other words, you could superimpose one on the other and they’d line up exactly or be the mirror image of one another?
    
    Answer: Congruence
    
    
46. What number did Michael Jordan wear when he came back from his first retirement? Hint: It was nearly double his original, more famous, number.
    
    Answer: 45
    
    
47. Also known as mean-variance analysis, MPT is a mathematical framework for assembling a range of investments whereby the expected return is maximized for a certain level of risk. For what does “P” stand in the acronym MPT?
    
    Answer: Portfolio
    
    
48. For some reason, it wasn't until 2016 that Tim Berners-Lee won the Association for Computing Machinery's top "Nobel-level" award, named for what British mathematician and computer scientist?
    
    Answer: Alan Turing
    
    
49. In logical argument and mathematical proof, a symbol consisting of three dots placed to form an upright triangle is used to represents which word?
    
    Answer: Therefore
    
    
50. The first 3-digit number in the Fibonacci sequence is also the largest square number to appear in the sequence. What is it?
    
    Answer: 144
    
    
51. In math, what letter is used to represent the difficult to express unit that occurs when one takes the square root of -1?
    
    Answer: i
    
    
52. What 19th and 20th century Italian mathematician was a founder of mathematical logic and set theory? This man with a “P” name developed a systematic approach to mathematical induction while teaching at the University of Turin.
    
    Answer: Giuseppe Peano
    
    
53. What unique unit of measurement is equal to 1/100th of a second and is also the partial name of a famous snack brand invented in 1958 by chemist Frederick C. Mennen that is “as much fun to make as it is to eat”?
    
    Answer: Jiffy
    
    
54. What collective name is given the gemstones sapphire, ruby, emerald, amethyst and diamond, traditionally considered the most precious? In mathematics, this name is used for numbers that denote a quantity, in contrast to ordinal numbers.
    
    Answer: Cardinal
    
    
55. Which conjecture states that every even whole number greater than two is the sum of two prime numbers?
    
    Answer: Goldbach's conjecture
    
    
56. A bag holds 10 balls: five blue balls, three red balls and two yellow balls. What is the probability of a blue ball, followed by a red ball, followed by a yellow ball being randomly selected from the bag? Each selected ball is not replaced in the bag. Express your answer as a fraction is its lowest terms.
    
    Answer: 1/24
    
    
57. What mathematical term refers to hard deposits of mineralized material that adhere to a tooth’s crowns or roots? The type of math had its rules defined by Leibniz.
    
    Answer: Calculus
    
    
58. Tabletop role playing games often require a set of dice with different numbers of sides. How many sides are on the die mathematicians would identify as a "dodecahedron?"
    
    Answer: Twelve
    
    
59. Pressing Alt-M in Microsoft Excel will take you to which tab in the Ribbon where you’ll find “Date and Time,” “Math and Trig,” and “Auto Sum?”
    
    Answer: Formulas
    
    
60. If you want to round down toward zero to the nearest number of significance you’ve specified in Excel, which math function can you use? (Hint: It sounds like something under your feet)
    
    Answer: Floor
    
    
61. A mathematics professorship endowed by English clergyman Henry Lucas has been held by Isaac Newton, Charles Babbage, and Stephen Hawking at what university?
    
    Answer: Cambridge University
    
    
62. In Excel, using the math MOD function returns which value in division?
    
    Answer: Remainder
    
    
63. Performing a mathematical function that is sometimes used in probability, what numerical value will appear is =FACT(6) is typed into a cell?
    
    Answer: 720
    
    
64. In Excel, the “GEOMEAN” function isn’t for generating location-based insults. It’s actually to get the mean of what mathematical term that pertains to shapes?
    
    Answer: Geometric
    
    
65. What mathematical formula from high school statistics can you use in Excel with DSTDEVP()?
    
    Answer: Standard Deviation
    
    
66. A factorial (!) of a number is the product of all numbers up to that number. So, 5! = 5x4x3x2x1 = 120. However, what does 5!! equal to?
    
    Answer: 15
    
    
67. A British scientist gave his name to what familiar four-by-four square, used to illustrate the probability that the offspring of two individuals will have a given genotype?
    
    Answer: Punnett Square
    
    
68. What 20th century American mathematician made fundamental contributions to game theory and partial differential equations, all while overcoming his personal issues with schizophrenia? His story was famously told in the 2001 film “A Beautiful Mind.”
    
    Answer: John Nash
    
    
69. Also called a tetrakaidecagon, a tetradecagon is a polygon with how many sides?
    
    Answer: 14
    
    
70. If an atom has ten protons and eleven neutrons in its nucleus, what is its atomic number?
    
    Answer: 10
    
    
71. What high-flying geometric shape is defined as a quadrilateral with reflection symmetry across a diagonal?
    
    Answer: Kite
    
    
72. Mathematician Leonard Euler solved a famous problem named for seven of what kind of structures in the city of Konigsberg?
    
    Answer: Bridges
    
    
73. What is the sum of the only number that is spelled with its letters in alphabetical order and the only number that is spelled with its letters in reverse alphabetical order?
    
    Answer: 41
    
    
74. In "The Martian," a stranded Mark Watney communicates with NASA using what base 16 numeral system?
    
    Answer: Hexadecimal
    
    
75. Mary Golda Ross was a NASA mathematician and engineer who, in 1958, stumped some of the panelists on what game show?
    
    Answer: What's My Line?
    
    
76. What "flawless" two-word phrase means a positive integer that is equal to the sum of its positive divisors (excluding the number itself), such as 6, 28, or 496?
    
    Answer: Perfect number
    
    
77. The four conic sections are the nondegenerate curves generated by the intersections of a plane with one or two nappes of a cone. A hyperbola is a conic section. An ellipse is a conic section. And some consider a circle a conic section. What conic section is missing from this list?
    
    Answer: Parabola
    
    
78. You enter a room that has two pairs of twins, three sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets - how many people are in the room altogether? (To make it clear, there is no trickery here in terms of the same person belonging to more than one of the listed groups, and there is nobody in the room other than those listed).
    
    Answer: 30
    
    
79. In math, how many radians make up a complete revolution of a circle?
    
    Answer: 2p radians
    
    
80. What “P” math term describes expressions consisting of interdeterminates and coefficients, involving only the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and exponentiation?
    
    Answer: Polynomial
    
    
81. Which Ancient Greek mathematician and scientist is credited with a lot of discoveries and inventions, including his “screw”—an engineering principle that’s a key feature of hydraulics?
    
    Answer: Archimedes
    
    
82. Standing for “First,” “Outside,” “Inside,” and “Last,” the FOIL method is used to figure out the product of what kind of algebraic expression containing two terms connected by a plus or minus sign?
    
    Answer: Binomial
    
    
83. Take the number of rocky planets in our solar system plus the number of teaspoons in a tablespoon. What's the sum?
    
    Answer: Seven
    
    
84. In geometry, what "distorted" term describes two lines that are not parallel, yet do not intersect with each other?
    
    Answer: Skew
    
    
85. Ask Buzz Lightyear: The figure known as a "lemniscate" is typically used in math, and other contexts, to represent what concept?
    
    Answer: Infinity
    
    
86. Archimedes, the famous Ancient Greek mathematician and scientist was from which city, which also shares its name with a locality in New York State?
    
    Answer: Syracuse
    
    
87. In mathematics, e = 2.71828, a constant related to exponential growth and decay that is known as whose number?
    
    Answer: Euler's
    
    
88. A perfect number is a positive integer that is equal to the sum of its divisors not including the number itself. An unsolved problem in math is whether any perfect numbers with what parity exist?
    
    Answer: Odd
    
    
89. It has been described as the most beautiful equation of all time. Despite including two irrational numbers and one imaginary number, the equation e^(ip) + 1 counterintuitively produces what non-irrational, non-imaginary result (the concept of which it is said was introduced to Europe by Fibonacci)?
    
    Answer: 0 (Zero)
    
    
90. According to Merriam-Webster, if you were to add the number of days in a "fortnight" to the number of days in a "quarantine," how many total days would you have?
    
    Answer: 54
    
    
91. If someone’s mass is 100 kg on Earth, what would the same person’s mass be on Mercury?
    
    Answer: 100 kg
    
    
92. First coined and explained by 19th-century mathematician William Forster Lloyd, what is the "tragic" term in economics which describes a situation where individual users act independently according to self-interest and ultimately deplete a resource through uncoordinated action?
    
    Answer: Tragedy of the Commons
    
    
93. William Elwood Byerly was the first-ever Graduate student to graduate from Harvard. In 1873, he was awarded a PhD in what core academic subject?
    
    Answer: Math
    
    
94. What was the name of the franchise of educational video games from the 1990s that featured a green protagonist and titles such as "Episode I: In Search of Spot" and "Episode II: Secret of the Lost City"?
    
    Answer: Math Blaster!
    
    
95. Harvard alumni have won the most of what mathematical prize, awarded to mathematicians under 40 every four years at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union?
    
    Answer: Fields Medal
    
    
96. What English man was a mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, and is largely considered the originator of the concept of a digital programmable computer? Hint: His name rhymes with a common vegetable.
    
    Answer: Charles Babbage
    
    
97. What 1st century Greek mathematician and engineer, from the city of Alexandria, showed that a path of light is shortest when reflected by a plane mirror, in his book “Catoptrica?” His name implies that he was a real savior to his people.
    
    Answer: Hero Of Alexandria
    
    
98. A prime number is only divisible by itself and 1. How many two-digit prime numbers are there? The answer is not a prime number!
    
    Answer: 21
    
    
99. The first known vending machine was created by mathematician and engineer Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria. What did his machine dispense?
    
    Answer: Holy water
    
    
100. What French mathematician and child prodigy exchanged a series of influential letters with Pierre de Fermat on probability theory which strongly influenced the development of modern economics and social science?
     
     Answer: Blaise Pascal
     
     
101. The 'Q Guide,' Havard's student feedback site, lists what class as the hardest freshman math class available, with around 480 hours of homework per semester?
     
     Answer: Math 55
     
     
102. What is the type of number which is named after an arrogant figure in Greek mythology is where the number is equal to each of its digits raised to the same degree? For example, 153 is one of these numbers because 1 cubed + 5 cubed + 3 cubed equals 153.
     
     Answer: Narcissistic number
     
     
103. A famous math problem, what is the highest number of chicken Mcnuggets that you CANNOT buy using combination of 6, 9, and 20 packs?
     
     Answer: 43
     
     
104. Respective alums from West Virginia State University and Fisk University, legendary “Hidden Figure” mathematician Katherine Johnson and former congressman and activist John Lewis both received what highest U.S. civilian award by President Barack Obama that was first established in 1963?
     
     Answer: Presidential Medal of Freedom
     
     
105. What Oxford mathematician won the 2016 Abel Prize for his proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, which had eluded proof for 358 years?
     
     Answer: Andrew Wiles
     
     
106. Because they are 1 less than a power of 2, the numbers 31, 8191, and 2305843009213693951 are all what specific kind of prime numbers, which are named for a French friar?
     
     Answer: Mersenne Primes
     
     
107. If you get this one, you’ll be all that and a…can of chips? What geometric shape is a Pringle? (Hint: The shape is sometimes called a saddle.)
     
     Answer: Hyperbolic Paraboloid
     
     
108. A number that is not algebraic—meaning, more or less, not the root of a finite polynomial with rational coefficients—is known by what term?
     
     Answer: Transcendental Number
     
     
109. "Mathman," a parody of the arcade game of Pac-Man, was a recurring segment on what educational TV show produced by the Children's Television Workshop?
     
     Answer: Square One
     
     
110. Which “edutainment” software publisher produced suites of games for PC and Mac in the ‘90s like “Thinkin’ Things,” “Millie’s Math House,” and “Imagination Express?”
     
     Answer: Edmark
     
     

Math Trivia Quizzes (Frequently Asked Questions)

What makes math trivia so engaging?

Math trivia is engaging because it provides a fun and challenging way to test and improve your knowledge of mathematical concepts and principles.

Learning about different mathematical ideas and applications can help you develop your problem-solving skills and improve your ability to think logically and critically.

Many math trivia questions involve interesting historical, cultural, and scientific references that can make the subject more engaging and relevant.

Where can you find math trivia questions?

You can find math trivia questions in many different sources.

Many math teachers and educators create their own trivia quizzes as part of their lesson plans.

You can also find books, websites, and apps dedicated to providing math trivia questions.

Water Cooler Trivia is well-equipped to provide math trivia quizzes for all ages.

How can you create a math trivia quiz?

To create a math trivia quiz, start by choosing a specific math topic or concept that you want to focus on.

From a specific mathematical operation, a geometric shape, a historical figure, or any other topic that you think would be interesting to learn about.

Next, research the topic to find interesting facts and details that you can use as the basis for your trivia questions. You can also include questions that ask about the different applications and uses of the concept in real-world situations.

You can organize your questions into categories and create a quiz that you can share with others.

If you are pressed for time and desire a convenient solution, try Water Cooler Trivia today.

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