Fun with Numbers – and Words
Today is Good Friday. So, in the other part of my life as a pastor things are quite serious today. So I thought I would post something with a more light hearted tone here. As the reader would know, I teach mathematics. This is in part because, at a very early age, I developed a love for playing with numbers. But I also love poetry. And one of the most playful forms of poetry is the limerick. So here are a number of limericks, for a small selection of numbers, which I hope will encourage the reader to develop a love for having fun with numbers and words.
Limerick for 2
Two is the prime that’s the least
Mathspeak: 2×2=2+2
It is a veritable beast
If you, my dear lad,
Multiply it or add
To itself the same answer you feast
Limerick for 6
The number that’s three square less three
Mathspeak: 32-3=1+2+3=1×2×3=6
One, two, three its factors be
If added in bet
Their product you get
Six is quite perfect you see
Limerick for 11
Half a score plus one’s just fine
Mathspeak: ½×20+1=99÷9=11=32+2
Ninety nine divided by nine
The prime after ten
Yes, that is eleven
Or three squared and the smallest prime
Limerick for 13
Unlucky as ever can be
Mathspeak: 10+3=13=(40-1)÷3
Is ten when it’s increased by three
To give us thirteen
The least-est of teens
Or forty less one split by three
Limerick for 16
Eleven and one and two square
Mathspeak: 11+1+22=4×4=6+10=24=16
Multiply fours in a pair
Is six and a ten
The fourth exponent
Of two. That is sixteen laid bare.
Limerick for 19
The prime just smaller than a score
Mathspeak: 19=42+3=13+6=3×5+4
Is four square plus three, nothing more
Yes nineteen is fixed
As thirteen plus six
Or three into five and add four
Limerick for 25
A dozen, a dozen and one
Mathspeak: 12+12+1=25=5×5=62-10-1
A squared number that is much fun
It is twenty-five
Or five into five
Or six square, less ten and less one
Limerick for 36
Four less than a score and a score
Mathspeak: 20+20-4=12×3=36=62=44-8
A dozen times three and not more
Or just thirty-six
Or the square of six
Is eight taken from forty four
An Invitation
Too often we – students and teachers alike – get weighed down with our bloated mathematics syllabus, leading us to think mathematics is just an inordinate burden we are condemned to bear. However, mathematics is a thing of beauty. Indeed, I hope I have shown that playing with numbers and words can be quite rewarding. It develops your language and numeracy skills, honing your ability to think laterally rather than just linearly. Of course, it does not hurt that it is just so much fun! So I invite you to step outside the bounds of the syllabus and play, enjoy, have fun!
Acutely Obtuse 
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