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Resources tagged with Powers & roots similar to The Root Cause:

Other tags that relate to The Root Cause

Powers & roots. Inequality/inequalities. Theorem and contrapositive. Mathematical reasoning & proof. Generalising. Rational and irrational numbers. Square numbers. Manipulating algebraic expressions/formulae. Number theory. Patterned numbers.

There are 38 results

Broad Topics > Numbers and the Number System > Powers & roots

The Root Cause

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Prove that if a is a natural number and the square root of a is rational, then it is a square number (an integer n^2 for some integer n.)

Rational Roots

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Given that a, b and c are natural numbers show that if sqrt a+sqrt b is rational then it is a natural number. Extend this to 3 variables.

How Many Solutions?

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Find all the solutions to the this equation.

Archimedes and Numerical Roots

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

The problem is how did Archimedes calculate the lengths of the sides of the polygons which needed him to be able to calculate square roots?

Perfectly Square

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

The sums of the squares of three related numbers is also a perfect square - can you explain why?

Square Pair Circles

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Investigate the number of points with integer coordinates on circles with centres at the origin for which the square of the radius is a power of 5.

Plus or Minus

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Make and prove a conjecture about the value of the product of the Fibonacci numbers $F_{n+1}F_{n-1}$.

Rationals Between

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

What fractions can you find between the square roots of 56 and 58?

Number Rules - OK

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Can you convince me of each of the following: If a square number is multiplied by a square number the product is ALWAYS a square number...

Root to Poly

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Find the polynomial p(x) with integer coefficients such that one solution of the equation p(x)=0 is $1+\sqrt 2+\sqrt 3$.

Consecutive Squares

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

The squares of any 8 consecutive numbers can be arranged into two sets of four numbers with the same sum. True of false?

Giants

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Which is the bigger, 9^10 or 10^9 ? Which is the bigger, 99^100 or 100^99 ?

Unusual Long Division - Square Roots Before Calculators

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

However did we manage before calculators? Is there an efficient way to do a square root if you have to do the work yourself?

Enriching Experience

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Find the five distinct digits N, R, I, C and H in the following nomogram

Pythagorean Fibs

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

What have Fibonacci numbers got to do with Pythagorean triples?

Mod 7

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Find the remainder when 3^{2001} is divided by 7.

Fibonacci Fashion

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

What have Fibonacci numbers to do with solutions of the quadratic equation x^2 - x - 1 = 0 ?

In Between

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Can you find the solution to this algebraic inequality?

Staircase

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Solving the equation x^3 = 3 is easy but what about solving equations with a 'staircase' of powers?

Napier's Location Arithmetic

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Have you seen this way of doing multiplication ?

Ab Surd Ity

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Find the value of sqrt(2+sqrt3)-sqrt(2-sqrt3)and then of cuberoot(2+sqrt5)+cuberoot(2-sqrt5).

A sequence of numbers x1, x2, x3, ... starts with x1 = 2, and, if you know any term xn, you can find the next term xn+1 using the formula: xn+1 = (xn + 3/xn)/2 . Calculate the first six terms of this. . . .

Power Countdown

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

In this twist on the well-known Countdown numbers game, use your knowledge of Powers and Roots to make a target.

Weekly Challenge 34: Googol

Stage: 5 Short Challenge Level:

Find the smallest value for which a particular sequence is greater than a googol.

Double Trouble

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Simple additions can lead to intriguing results...

Function Pyramids

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

A function pyramid is a structure where each entry in the pyramid is determined by the two entries below it. Can you figure out how the pyramid is generated?

Fit for Photocopying

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Photocopiers can reduce from A3 to A4 without distorting the image. Explore the relationships between different paper sizes that make this possible.

Weekly Challenge 16: Archimedes Numerical Roots

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

The problem is how did Archimedes calculate the lengths of the sides of the polygons which needed him to be able to calculate square roots?

Rachel's Problem

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Is it true that $99^n$ has 2n digits and $999^n$ has 3n digits? Investigate!

The Root of the Problem

Stage: 4 and 5 Challenge Level:

Find the sum of the series.

Equal Temperament

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

The scale on a piano does something clever : the ratio (interval) between any adjacent points on the scale is equal. If you play any note, twelve points higher will be exactly an octave on.

Em'power'ed

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Find the smallest numbers a, b, and c such that: a^2 = 2b^3 = 3c^5 What can you say about other solutions to this problem?

Negative Power

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

What does this number mean ? Which order of 1, 2, 3 and 4 makes the highest value ? Which makes the lowest ?

Smith and Jones

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Mr Smith and Mr Jones are two maths teachers. By asking questions, the answers to which may be right or wrong, Mr Jones is able to find the number of the house Mr Smith lives in... Or not!

Deep Roots

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Find integer solutions to: $\sqrt{a+b\sqrt{x}} + \sqrt{c+d.\sqrt{x}}=1$

Take a Square

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Cut off three right angled isosceles triangles to produce a pentagon. With two lines, cut the pentagon into three parts which can be rearranged into another square.

Lost in Space

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

How many ways are there to count 1 - 2 - 3 in the array of triangular numbers? What happens with larger arrays? Can you predict for any size array?

Guesswork

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Ask a friend to choose a number between 1 and 63. By identifying which of the six cards contains the number they are thinking of it is easy to tell them what the number is.