Why Does the Same Number Appear in Different Places?

Imagine you're at the park, and you see a bird with the number 3 on its leg. Later, you look at your lunch bag, and it says 3. That feels like a coincidence, but what if there are actually lots of numbers around? Just like how birds might be in groups of three or four, numbers also show up in different places because we use them all the time. And when we do that, sometimes two numbers will match by chance.

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Examples

  1. You see 8 on your shirt and then notice it again on a friend’s backpack.
  2. Your house number is 71, and so is the bus you take to school.
  3. The page number in your book is 23, and that's also your favorite phone number.

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Categories: Math · math· patterns· numbers· probability