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All in the Mind

Imagine you are suspending a cube from one vertex and allowing it to hang freely. What shape does the surface of the water make around the cube?

Painting Cubes

Imagine you have six different colours of paint. You paint a cube using a different colour for each of the six faces. How many different cubes can be painted using the same set of six colours?

Boxed In

A box has faces with areas 3, 12 and 25 square centimetres. What is the volume of the box?

Tic Tac Toe

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level
The ideas in this problem have been expanded and made into another, more detailed investigation. See Marbles in a Box.
In the game of Tic Tac Toe (i.e. noughts and crosses) there are 8 distinct winning lines.

Investigate how many distinct winning lines there are in a game played on a 3 by 3 by 3 board, with 27 cells.

A winning line connects 3 cells.

The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.
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