E facts & stats

Question 1

In Einstein's equation E = mc², what does E stand for?

Accepted Answer

Energy. E = mc² says energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.

Question 2

On a calculator, what does '3E6' usually mean?

Accepted Answer

3 × 10⁶. In E notation, the number after E is a power of ten, so 3E6 means 3,000,000.

Question 3

The constant e is often called the number of which Swiss mathematician?

Accepted Answer

Leonhard Euler. Leonhard Euler used the letter e for the constant in the 1700s, and it's often called Euler's number.

Question 4

In calculus, what is the derivative of eˣ?

Accepted Answer

eˣ. eˣ is its own derivative: the function's slope at every point equals its value there.

Question 5

The SI prefix with the symbol 'E' stands for what?

Accepted Answer

Exa, meaning 10¹⁸. 'Exa' means 10¹⁸; for example, an exabyte is 10¹⁸ bytes.

Question 6

Which mathematician discovered the constant e in 1683 while studying compound interest?

Accepted Answer

Jacob Bernoulli. Jacob Bernoulli found that compounding more and more often approaches a limit, which we now call e.

Question 7

In 1873, Charles Hermite proved that e is what kind of number?

Accepted Answer

Transcendental. A transcendental number isn't the root of any polynomial with integer coefficients; Hermite proved this for e.

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