By Mark Sewards MP

It’s a mainstay of the Christmas quiz.

How many presents were gifted cumulatively during the Twelve Days of Christmas song?

You can write down the words, or you can try to keep count. Or you can simply apply an algorithm, rooted in centuries of knowledge about triangular numbers. In this case, it’s n x (n 1) x (n 2) ÷ 6, where n is 12 (the days of Christmas).

This gives you the precise answer of 364. That’s one present for every day of the year, except Christmas Day. The irony.

Maths is the language of the universe. It makes sense, therefore, that it would be all around us at Christmas too. If you want every component of Christmas dinner to be ready at the same time, you’ve got to do some hefty (often quick) calculations. You’ve got to budget properly and account for everyone’s presents, even if they haven’t been good. We count down the days until that magical........

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