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PreprintarXiv licencearXiv

Oh doughnuts, it's the variance! A visual metaphor for the variance, standard deviation, and related quantities

  • Eugene D. Hahn
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Abstract

Despite the rise of artificial intelligence, human intuition endures as both a foundation for education and also (for now) a primarily human experience. We re-examine a formula for the sum of squares that is sometimes set aside because of possible numerical issues. The formula can be used to create square doughnuts, a delicious regional favorite. The variance becomes the dough, and we can examine the variance by either comparing doughnuts or by making different sizes of doughnuts with the same amount of dough. In doing so, we provide a new visualization of a cornerstone formula, understandable by students at almost any level. We further provide insight into related topics such as the coefficient of variation as well as a visualization of when numerical issues are likely to be problematic. We also provide a new vocabulary for understanding the variance formula, with `dough' and `hole' taking the place of less edible concepts from the typical recipe.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{hahn2026doughnuts,
  title = {{Oh doughnuts, it's the variance! A visual metaphor for the variance, standard deviation, and related quantities}},
  author = {Eugene D. Hahn},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.22918},
  eprint = {2610.22918},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.22918},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Oh doughnuts, it's the variance! A visual metaphor for the variance, standard deviation, and related quantities
AU  - Eugene D. Hahn
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/16
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.22918
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.22918
AB  - Despite the rise of artificial intelligence, human intuition endures as both a foundation for education and also (for now) a primarily human experience. We re-examine a formula for the sum of squares that is sometimes set aside because of possible numerical issues. The formula can be used to create square doughnuts, a delicious regional favorite. The variance becomes the dough, and we can examine the variance by either comparing doughnuts or by making different sizes of doughnuts with the same amount of dough. In doing so, we provide a new visualization of a cornerstone formula, understandable by students at almost any level. We further provide insight into related topics such as the coefficient of variation as well as a visualization of when numerical issues are likely to be problematic. We also provide a new vocabulary for understanding the variance formula, with `dough' and `hole' taking the place of less edible concepts from the typical recipe.
ER  -