Dictionary of Mathematics
From Teach
- area: the space enclosed by a flat shape. (Think in terms of carpet covering a floor. And if you needed to paint a wall, the bigger the area of the wall, the more paint you would need.)
- capacity: the amount of space inside a hollow three-dimensional shape.
- common fraction: a fraction written in the form of two whole numbers, one above the other, separated by a line. The bottom number must not be a 1 or 0.
- denominator: the bottom number in a common fraction.
- edge: the line where two faces meet.
- equivalent fractions: are two or more fractions that have the same value but are different in form. For example, the fractions 3/4, 6/8, 63/84, 75% and 0.75 look different but all have the same value.
- face: a flat surface on the outside of a solid shape.
- improper fraction: a common fraction in which the numerator is bigger than the denominator.
- kite: a quadrilateral which has two pairs of adjacent edges of the same length, and no interior angle greater than 180 degrees.
- mixed number is made up of two parts: a whole number followed by a proper fraction.
- numerator: the top number in a common fraction.
- parallelogram: a quadrilateral which has two pairs of parallel edges.
- per cent: a special type of fraction in which the value given is a measure of the number of parts in every 100 parts.
- perimeter: the perimeter of a shape is the total distance around its edges.
- polygon: a flat shape completely enclosed by three or more straight edges.
- polyhedron: a 3-dimensional shape whose faces are all polygons.
- prism: a 3D shape having identical faces at either end, such that any cut made parallel to the ends produces a cross-section of the same shape and size as the two ends.
- proper fraction: a common fraction in which the numerator is smaller than the denominator.
- quadrilateral: a polygon which has four edges.
- reduced fraction: a common fraction in its simplest possible form, i.e. where top and bottom share no common factors.
- vertex: the corner where three or more faces meet.
- vulgar fraction: = common fraction
- volume: the amount of space that a shape takes up in three dimensions.
