Eureka (word) facts for kids
Eureka is a Greek word that means "I have found it!" People often shout it excitedly when they suddenly discover something important. It is also the official motto of the state of California in the United States.
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Archimedes and the Bathtub
The famous shout "Eureka!" is said to have come from an ancient Greek scientist named Archimedes. The story goes that he yelled "Eureka! Eureka!" after he stepped into a bathtub and saw the water level rise. He suddenly understood that the amount of water that spilled out was equal to the space his body took up in the tub.
This helped him realize that he could measure the exact volume of oddly shaped objects. Before this, it was a very difficult problem to solve!
Mottos and Places Named Eureka
California's Golden Motto
The word "Eureka" is the official motto of California. It refers to the huge discovery of gold near Sutter's Mill in 1848. This event brought many people to California.
The California State Seal, which is like an official stamp for the state, has had the word eureka on it since it was first designed in 1850. The word was meant to show either the success of miners finding gold or the idea of California becoming a state. In 1963, "Eureka" was officially made the state motto.
The city of Eureka, California, founded in 1850, uses the California State Seal as its own official seal. While it's far from Sutter's Mill, it was a starting point for a smaller gold rush in a nearby area in 1850. Eureka, California, is the biggest of at least eleven towns and cities in the U.S. that are still named after this exclamation. Because "Eureka!" was used so much during the gold rush, nearly 40 places were named this by the 1880s. Many other things, like books and movies, have also been named "Eureka." You can find a list at Eureka (disambiguation).
Australia's Eureka Stockade
"Eureka" is also connected to a gold rush in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. In 1854, gold miners there started a revolt called the Eureka Stockade. They were protesting against unfair fees for mining licenses and harsh rules from the government.
This rebellion showed that the workers would not let unfair laws control them. The Eureka Stockade is often called the "birth of democracy" in Australia because it was an important step towards people having more say in their government.
Eureka in Mathematics
Another famous mathematician, Carl Friedrich Gauss, also used the word "Eureka!" In 1796, he wrote in his diary, "ΕΥΡΗΚΑ! num = Δ + Δ + Δ". This was his exciting discovery that any positive whole number could be written as the sum of at most three triangular numbers. This result is now known as Gauss' Eureka theorem.
Images for kids
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The Seal of California, showing the word "EUREKA" above the spear of the goddess Minerva, from 1870.
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Gauss's diary entry about the sum of triangular numbers (1796).
See also
In Spanish: ¡Eureka! para niños
