Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
A game for two people, or play online. Given a target number, say 23, and a range of numbers to choose from, say 1-4, players take it in turns to add to the running total to hit their target.
For this challenge, you'll need to play Got It! Can you explain the strategy for winning this game with any target?
Imagine we have four bags containing a large number of 1s, 4s, 7s and 10s. What numbers can we make?
List any 3 numbers. It is always possible to find a subset of adjacent numbers that add up to a multiple of 3. Can you explain why and prove it?
Find some examples of pairs of numbers such that their sum is a factor of their product. eg. 4 + 12 = 16 and 4 × 12 = 48 and 16 is a factor of 48.
Ben passed a third of his counters to Jack, Jack passed a quarter of his counters to Emma and Emma passed a fifth of her counters to Ben. After this they all had the same number of counters.
Choose any 3 digits and make a 6 digit number by repeating the 3 digits in the same order (e.g. 594594). Explain why whatever digits you choose the number will always be divisible by 7, 11 and 13.
Play the divisibility game to create numbers in which the first two digits make a number divisible by 2, the first three digits make a number divisible by 3...
A three digit number abc is always divisible by 7 when 2a+3b+c is divisible by 7. Why?
Find a cuboid (with edges of integer values) that has a surface area of exactly 100 square units. Is there more than one? Can you find them all?
Find some triples of whole numbers a, b and c such that a^2 + b^2 + c^2 is a multiple of 4. Is it necessarily the case that a, b and c must all be even? If so, can you explain why?
In this problem we are looking at sets of parallel sticks that cross each other. What is the least number of crossings you can make? And the greatest?
Take any two digit number, for example 58. What do you have to do to reverse the order of the digits? Can you find a rule for reversing the order of digits for any two digit number?
Some 4 digit numbers can be written as the product of a 3 digit number and a 2 digit number using the digits 1 to 9 each once and only once. The number 4396 can be written as just such a product. Can. . . .
What is the smallest number with exactly 14 divisors?
This package contains a collection of problems from the NRICH website that could be suitable for students who have a good understanding of Factors and Multiples and who feel ready to take on some. . . .
Here is a machine with four coloured lights. Can you develop a strategy to work out the rules controlling each light?
Can you find a relationship between the number of dots on the circle and the number of steps that will ensure that all points are hit?
Make a set of numbers that use all the digits from 1 to 9, once and once only. Add them up. The result is divisible by 9. Add each of the digits in the new number. What is their sum? Now try some. . . .
Given the products of diagonally opposite cells - can you complete this Sudoku?
A student in a maths class was trying to get some information from her teacher. She was given some clues and then the teacher ended by saying, "Well, how old are they?"
Given the products of adjacent cells, can you complete this Sudoku?
Rectangles are considered different if they vary in size or have different locations. How many different rectangles can be drawn on a chessboard?
Investigate the sum of the numbers on the top and bottom faces of a line of three dice. What do you notice?
Do you know a quick way to check if a number is a multiple of two? How about three, four or six?
Four of these clues are needed to find the chosen number on this grid and four are true but do nothing to help in finding the number. Can you sort out the clues and find the number?
A collection of resources to support work on Factors and Multiples at Secondary level.
This article for teachers describes how number arrays can be a useful reprentation for many number concepts.
Imagine a wheel with different markings painted on it at regular intervals. Can you predict the colour of the 18th mark? The 100th mark?
How many different shaped boxes can you design for 36 sweets in one layer? Can you arrange the sweets so that no sweets of the same colour are next to each other in any direction?
Arrange the four number cards on the grid, according to the rules, to make a diagonal, vertical or horizontal line.
The sum of the first 'n' natural numbers is a 3 digit number in which all the digits are the same. How many numbers have been summed?
What do the numbers shaded in blue on this hundred square have in common? What do you notice about the pink numbers? How about the shaded numbers in the other squares?
What happens if you join every second point on this circle? How about every third point? Try with different steps and see if you can predict what will happen.
A mathematician goes into a supermarket and buys four items. Using a calculator she multiplies the cost instead of adding them. How can her answer be the same as the total at the till?
Starting with the number 180, take away 9 again and again, joining up the dots as you go. Watch out - don't join all the dots!
A game for 2 or more people. Starting with 100, subratct a number from 1 to 9 from the total. You score for making an odd number, a number ending in 0 or a multiple of 6.
A game for 2 people using a pack of cards Turn over 2 cards and try to make an odd number or a multiple of 3.
Investigate the smallest number of moves it takes to turn these mats upside-down if you can only turn exactly three at a time.
Can you complete this jigsaw of the multiplication square?
The planet of Vuvv has seven moons. Can you work out how long it is between each super-eclipse?
Caroline and James pick sets of five numbers. Charlie chooses three of them that add together to make a multiple of three. Can they stop him?
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
Using the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, mulitply a two two digit numbers are multiplied to give a four digit number, so that the expression is correct. How many different solutions can you find?
Use the interactivity to create some steady rhythms. How could you create a rhythm which sounds the same forwards as it does backwards?
Can you order the digits from 1-6 to make a number which is divisible by 6 so when the last digit is removed it becomes a 5-figure number divisible by 5, and so on?
A game that tests your understanding of remainders.
Can you find what the last two digits of the number $4^{1999}$ are?
In a square in which the houses are evenly spaced, numbers 3 and 10 are opposite each other. What is the smallest and what is the largest possible number of houses in the square?
In this activity, the computer chooses a times table and shifts it. Can you work out the table and the shift each time?