Exhibit of Special Numbers

 2

Two is a special number because:
Resources:
http://primes.utm.edu/curios/page.php/2.html
http://primes.utm.edu/curios/page.php/2.html
http://primes.utm.edu/curios/page.php/2.html

32 

Thirty-two is an important number because: Resources:
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Donna%20Beers/My%20Documents/My%20Courses/Math211/Spring%202005/www.encyclopedia.com
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Donna%20Beers/My%20Documents/My%20Courses/Math211/Spring%202005/www.answers.comwww.answerbag.com

193

This is the number of countries in the world.  It is interesting because this number is sometimes disputed by sceptics.  There are 191 members of the United Nations, and there are 2 missing which are Vatican City and Taiwan.  People also make the mistake of believing that certain territories are countries such as Puerto Rico, or even parts of the United Kingdom as in Scotland and England.  Thus, 193 is the total number of countries currently in the world and is an important number to know.
 

1964 and 1/2

This number is significant because it is the year when the Ford Mustang was first made available to the public. Half way through the 1964 year the 1965 model was released. It is interesting number to Mustang enthusiasts because the 2005 model is now reminiscent of this golden era design.

Resources:
http://www.allfordmustangs.com/Detailed/122.shtml
http://www.fordvehicles.com/cars/mustang/

0 and 1

These are the binary numbers used in computers. When computers read numbers, they don’t read all the digits up to 9, instead computers uses binary numbers, 0 and 1 and depending on the order in which the numbers 0 and 1 come, the sequence of numbers represents a decimal number. All terms in computers that represent a quantity, such as a bit or a byte, are represented in binary numbers.

Similar to decimal numbers, the place value in a binary number is what matters, but instead of the numbers increasing by multiples of 10, they increase by multiples of 2. therefore the number farthest to the right, is multiplied by 2^0, the next number is multiplied by 2^1, then 2^2, 2^3 and so on, and the sum of these numbers is the decimal representation of the binary number.

For example: the binary number 01011 is  (1*1 + 1*2 + 0*4 + 1*8 + 0*16) = 11 so the way that a computer would interpret the number 11 would be as 01011.

Resources: 
http://www.math.grin.edu/~rebelsky/Courses/152/97F/Readings/student-binary.html#b2d-a
http://www.math.grin.edu/~rebelsky/Courses/152/97F/Readings/student-binary.html#b2d-a

e ≈ 2.718

The number e occurs naturally in any situation where a quantity increases at a rate proportional to its value, such as a bank account producing interest, or a population increasing as its members reproduce. e is also important because it is the base of logarithms. Here are two ways to calculate e:
Resources:
http://www.wikipedia.org/
www.math.toronto.edu/mathnet/answers/ereal.html
http://www.mu.org/~doug/exp/

Golden Ratio, 1.61803398874989484820

This is a ratio number of length to width, has been considered the most visually appealing.
This ratio is called the golden ratio; it is the shape being most pleasing to the eye than others.

Resources:
http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/Geom/golden.html

40

Forty is a significant number pertaining to religion for many reasons. Forty can be seen many times throughout the Bible.  Here are just a few examples of how the number 40 is significant. The Church has recognized lent to be a penitential season of 40 days. After, our lord was baptized by St. John the Baptist; he went into the desert for 40 days. Moses remained close to God for 40 days to receive His law on tablets. The Jewish people roamed the desert for 40 days before entering into the Kingdom promised by God. Here are just a few significant events that deal with the number 40; however, there are mnay more events that happened that pertain to the number 40.  

Resources:
http://www.truecatholic.org/pope/number40.htm
http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/40.html
http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_o/bl_simmons_forty.htm
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/05-Worship/section-85.html

281

The number 281 is important because it is the sum of the first 14 prime numbers.

Resource:
http://www.stetson.edu/~efriedma/numbers.html
 

650 nm

The wavelength of red light is 650nm. This is an important number because the general public does not realize that the human eye only has a small range of colors that can actually be seen. There is a formula to find out the actual nanometer of the wavelength also. By understanding how light and colors are made in our eye it makes us more aware of our surroundings.

Resources:
http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/EDDOCS/Wavelengths_for_Colors.html
http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~tony/334/perception/perception.htm
http://acept.la.asu.edu/PiN/rdg/color/color.shtml

11,000

This is the number of babies born each day in the United States. I think this number is important because it gives us a clue as to how many people there are in the USA as well as how our nation’s population compares to the ones around us. It’s important because it shows how large our population is and how it is increasing by such large numbers everyday.
           
You can find more information about the number 11,000 and the amount of babies born each day at these websites (these websites also give population figures):
www.ties.org/sarah/usatoday/
http://www.ties.org/sarah/usatoday/
http://www.ties.org/sarah/usatoday/

282

The number 282 is important because it the lowest point of elevation in the United States.  Death Valley located in California and Nevada is 282 feet below sea level.  This number is important because children are always learning about the highest and lowest points around the world.  Allowing children to see both the highs and the lows in our country’s elevation is important so they see both sides of the spectrum.  I feel that showing a place that is near by or at least in our own country, we are relating to them better.   
 
Resources:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001792.html
http://americasroof.com/lowest.shtml
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/d/deathv1al.asp
http://www.desertusa.com/dv/du_dvpmain.html

200,000

The number 200,000 is important because it is the number of rainforest acres destroyed everyday. That is 150 acres lost every minute and 78million acres
each year. This deforestation causes loss of 137 plant, animal, and insect species every single day which accumulates to 50,000 species in one year. Some
of the causes of deforestation are logging for tropical hardwood, subsistence farming, resources for fuel wood and the paper industry and clearing gazing
land for animals due to demand for cheap meat. Deforestation causes pollution, soil erosion, epidemics, decimation of tribes, loss of biodiversity, the
release of carbon monoxide, less oxygen to breath and the increase in global warming.

Some more readings on this important number are:
http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm ,
http://www.ran.org/info_center/factsheets/04b.html and
http://www.savetherainforest_007.html/

15

SIGNIFICANCE: number of years the thirteen painting stolen from the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum have been missing.
FACTS: On March 18, 1990 two men disguised as police officers entered the Gardner Museum and stole approximately $300 million worth of art, including a Vermeer, Rembrandt and Degas. Because Isabella Stuart Gardner’s will specified that her house must be left as it was when she dies, no other masterpieces can fill the empty frames where the stolen works were. The crime is still unsolved, with all leads ending in dead ends. This is the largest theft of artwork ever. The Gardner was established in 1903.

SOURCES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/
http://www.saztv.com/
http://www.answers.com/topic/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum

12397.107199626298

This number is important because this is the distance in kilometers from Boston, MA to Taipei, Taiwan. This is important to me because this is the distance that seperates
me between my family.

Some resources where students can go to learn more about it are:
http://www.wcrl.ars.usda.gov/cec/java/lat-long.htm
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tw.html
http://www.taipei.org/
http://www.gio.gov.tw/

10

The number ten is important because the Incas based their number system around this number.  The Incan number system was one of the first number system and people have learned from their number system for years and years.  

Resources:
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Inca_mathematics.html
http://www.spanish.sbc.edu/MMLatAm/Quipus.html

0

The number zero is a very important number. It is between -1 and positive 1. It literally means nothing. 

For example, Carla has zero brothers. So it means that she has no brothers.

The number zero has had a long history. In the mid second millennium BC, Babylonians had a sexagesimal positional number system. They had no number zero, so they left the space where zero would be blank. The ancient Greeks did not really understand the number zero. Since they were philosophers they asked the question “ how can nothing be something?”.

The first decimal zero was introduced by Indian mathematicians around 300. This usage of zero spread through Cambodia, China and the Islamic world and then to Europe. The number zero is important because it would not really make sense if the number line went from -1 to 1. Also, there would be many numbers that would not exist. For example, 10, 20, 1000, 2005.
                                                                                                        
Resources:                                       
http://www.wikipedia.org/
ask.yahoo.com/ask/20020422.html
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Donna%20Beers/My%20Documents/My%20Courses/Math211/Spring%202005/www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/math99/math99030.htm

3

The significance of the number three is:

One man, Nicholas Roerich, an artist and writer, stated that 3 represents the “triune nature of existence- art, science and religion”.  He represented this by a circle enclosing 3 dots in which each dot represented: art, science and religion respectively.  Roerich’s Pact uses triangle of dot’s enclosed in a circle as its symbol. “The Pact itself declared the necessity for protection of the cultural product and activity of the world—both during war and peace” (roerich.org)