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Ben Sparks

@sparksmaths.bsky.social

Mathematician, Musician, Speaker, Teacher. Freelance - MEI - Uni of Bath MEI's Maths into AI course and Uni of Bath's Communicating Maths course Also Numberphile & MathsInspiration On YouTube @SparksMaths Book a talk or workshop: www.bensparks.co.uk

3,471 Followers  |  344 Following  |  260 Posts  |  Joined: 13.08.2024
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Posts by Ben Sparks (@sparksmaths.bsky.social)

This is related to:
What type of arguments do trig functions take? (Are they necessarily angles?)
What arguments do hyperbolic functions take?

I'm not sure I am convinced what my answers would be either... But if there are answers then the inverse functions should output those things?

09.03.2026 14:43 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

True enough, although if we're allowing 'related to' we have a *lot* of other options too.
Perhaps we should simply rebrand arcsin (or inverse sin etc) as 'angsin', since we use it mainly to give an *angle* (at least at school level).

09.03.2026 14:35 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 2    📌 0

Excellent, thanks @tombutton.bsky.social

09.03.2026 10:47 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

We should also celebrate that arsinh and arcosh translate to actual *areas* too (not arc lengths this time, hence the 'ar' rather than 'arc')

Not in a position to immediately make a dynamic illustration but I'm certain someone can find one soon enough!

08.03.2026 09:50 — 👍 11    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Ha. Same search occurred here.

07.03.2026 10:12 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

iPhone must have some equivalent?

07.03.2026 10:11 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

This article was a simple and helpful idea (caveats: it's for Android phones, and takes a while to get to the simple idea).https://www.howtogeek.com/android-phone-already-has-a-minimal-phone-built-in/
TL;DR - create & use a 'Minimal' user profile which you can switch to when needed.

07.03.2026 10:10 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

I enjoyed following your journey. Thanks!
I tried to solve it a different way but interestingly made a very similar slip when calculating 180-166 (in my head it was 16, not 14). Can now confirm there's a similar viable question using angles 165 and 164!

03.03.2026 08:51 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Was actually just wondering if you have anything from the AI/Machine Learning world brewing...
(inspired by your other jobs?).

Enjoyed the Euler Identity vid, nicely done.

02.03.2026 12:48 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
Maths Inspiration - Much Ado About Numbers - Summer 2026 Much Ado About Numbers - Summer 2026

This summer term we have four shows for Year 9s/10s:

A MAGICAL GAME SHOW - @sparksmaths.bsky.social
Birmingham 29th June & Cardiff 9th July

MUCH ADO ABOUT NUMBERS - @robeastaway.bsky.social
Liverpool(Prescot) 7th July & Dulwich 10th July

Details here: mathsinspiration.com/much-ado-sum...

24.02.2026 15:26 — 👍 3    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

Without feeling particularly confident or certain I would suggest a horizontal cross-section and a vertical cross section respectively. Assuming z axis plotted vertically.

24.02.2026 12:55 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Preparing to Teach Core Maths, starting 28 April or 8 June.

Preparing to Teach Core Maths, starting 28 April or 8 June.

Teaching Level 3 Core Maths for the first time?

Join the AMSP’s Preparing to Teach Core Maths course - get guidance, strategies & tools to teach confidently.

📅 Starting 28 Apr 💻 Free

buff.ly/FQW0ZO2

#CoreMaths #CPD

24.02.2026 12:01 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Video thumbnail

I couldn't find a video deriving the difference of cubes formula from scratch so I made one lol

14.02.2026 16:14 — 👍 39    🔁 10    💬 1    📌 3

We got one after some irritation with kids ringing and running off. That stopped immediately. It has also proved useful to check if/where packages get left, and a deterrent to doorstop thefts of packages. Pros and cons still, but on the whole not disappointed with it (nest battery powered version).

12.02.2026 10:52 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

People who don't like negative numbers: "I'll stop at nothing to avoid them."

11.02.2026 22:51 — 👍 8    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
Bringing the Maths of Data Science and AI into the A level Classroom

Bringing the Maths of Data Science and AI into the A level Classroom

Bookings are open for Bringing the Maths of Data Science and AI into the A level Maths classroom, starting 23 Apr with a range of dates and study options.

Targeted support for A level Maths to teachers connect core maths to real AI applications.

Sign up: buff.ly/q0CodOV

#MathsandAI #AlevelMaths

10.02.2026 16:02 — 👍 3    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

It feels to me very naive to be surprised by that... but whenever doing anything creative (e.g. writing a song or just as much planning a lesson) I often have to stop over-explaining and remember that a glimpse of a story can provoke more pondering than bullet-pointed list of objectives/ideas.

09.02.2026 09:19 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

I haven't read it for years. For all the chat about its pessimism (or optimism) on the human condition, for me it's a reminder that a story can help us think about more than just the story, and it doesn't have to "preach" in black and white, to make you ponder deeper things.

09.02.2026 09:07 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

I can't remember exactly when I first read it but I'm guessing as a young teenager (it might have been at school, but don't remember having to do exams on it). Possibly the first seriously uncomfortable book I read, without the narrative-driven-adventure feel of whatever else I'd been consuming.

09.02.2026 09:07 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
The 15-Game - Numberphile
YouTube video by Numberphile The 15-Game - Numberphile

It's a classic and simple 2 player game. I don't know what other people call it, but I called it the 15 game (not the 15 puzzle, that's something else).
youtu.be/UafhPUOCM1E?...

07.02.2026 15:38 — 👍 13    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Redirecting...

Here's a possible example of @hughhunt.bsky.social as a guest judge on the cooking show Great British Menu a few years back. They always gave guest judges a few mins to chat about their thing... (Sorry for facebook link)
www.facebook.com/watch/?v=267...

06.02.2026 11:37 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 2    📌 0

I did the top square 6x6 + 4x1.
I find myself wondering if knowing the answer in advance (by guessing the poster meaning) changes how I'm likely to count.

06.02.2026 09:19 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

#HowDidYouCount @triangleman.bsky.social

06.02.2026 08:44 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

I still do this (refuse to run outlook other than in browser) but have hit a wall with various work access needing more functionality with teams (but for three different accounts and counting)

04.02.2026 14:44 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Post image

See also this horrendous sort of user interface question (which nevertheless has actually slightly improved from previous versions)

04.02.2026 11:34 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

The struggle is real.

04.02.2026 10:46 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Hooray!

02.02.2026 19:45 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Worth a reminder that a digital root is equivalent to taking modulo 9. (Prove it)

01.02.2026 21:29 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Should I reply with "convince yourself, then convince a friend, then convince an enemy"?

(But it sounds good to me)

01.02.2026 21:28 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

I fear I forgot to actually structure it as your SCG suggestion... But you get the idea.

01.02.2026 19:55 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0