Patterns and Sequences Short Problems

Street Lamps

Stage: 2 and 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 9 - 2007
Walking up a steep hill, I pass 10 equally spaced street lamps. How long do I take to walk from the first lamp to the last?

Printing Error

Stage: 2 and 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 17 - 2011
Every third page number in this book has been omitted. Can you work out what number will be on the last page?

Many Matildas

Stage: 2 and 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 23 - 2011
MatildaMatildaMatil... What is the 1000th letter?

Starting Fibonacci

Stage: 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 40 - 2012
What is the first term of a Fibonacci sequence whose second term is 4 and fifth term is 22?

12345

Stage: 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 50 - 2011
Repeat a pattern of numbers to form a larger number. Can you find the sum of all the digits?

Expanding Pattern

Stage: 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 36 - 2010
How many squares are needed to continue this pattern?

Hexagon Line

Stage: 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 5 - 2016
How many hexagons are required for the perimeter of the whole shape to have length 1002cm?

Triangular Clock

Stage: 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 31 - 2007
Trinni rearanges numbers on a clock face so each adjacent pair add up to a triangle number... What number did she put where 6 would usually be?

Luis' Seven

Stage: 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 6 - 2016
Luis writes down seven consecutive positive integers. The sum of the three smallest numbers is 33. What is the sum of the three largest numbers?

Trolley Park

Stage: 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 14 - 2016
In a supermarket, there are two lines of tightly packed trolleys. What is the length of one trolley?

Lumber9

Stage: 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 30 - 2016
The base of a pyramid has n edges. What is the difference between the number of edges of the pyramid and the number of faces?

Pattern Snake

Stage: 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 27 - 2010
This pattern repeats every 12 dots. Can you work out what a later piece will be?

Triangle of Squares

Stage: 3 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 42 - 2012
What number appears immediately below 400 in the triangle?

Knights and Knaves

Stage: 3 and 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 35 - 2010
Knights always tell the truth. Knaves always lie. Can you catch these knights and knaves out?

Doubly Consecutive Sums

Stage: 3 and 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 51 - 2017
How many numbers less than 2017 are both the sum of two consecutive integers and the sum of five consecutive integers?

Below 400

Stage: 3 and 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 51 - 2006
Can you work out which number will appear directly below 400 in this pattern?

Fibonacci Deduction

Stage: 3 and 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 52 - 2010
Leonard writes down a sequence of numbers. Can you find a formula to predict the seventh number in his sequence?

Fruit Line-up

Stage: 3 and 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 8 - 2011
This grocer wants to arrange his fruit in a particular order, can you help him?

Night Watchmen

Stage: 3 and 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 20 - 2008
Grannie's watch gains 30 minutes every hour, whilst Grandpa's watch loses 30 minutes every hour. What is the correct time when their watches next agree?

Powerful Finale

Stage: 3 and 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 24 - 2017
What is the last digit of $3^{2011}$?

What a Coincidence!

Stage: 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 44 - 2012
Consider two arithmetic sequences: 1998, 2005, 2012,... and 1996, 2005, 2014,... Which numbers will appear in both?

Collatz 13

Stage: 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 46 - 2012
If a number is even, halve it; if odd, treble it and add 1. If a sequence starts at 13, what will be the value of the 2008th term?

Collatz-ish

Stage: 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 35 - 2014
A sequence is generated using these rules. For which values of n is the nth term equal to n?

Alternating Sum

Stage: 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 1 - 2008
Given that the number 2008 is the correct answer to a sum, can you find n?

Big Fibonacci

Stage: 4 Short Challenge Level:

Weekly Problem 41 - 2012
The fifth term of a Fibbonaci sequence is 2004. If all the terms are positive integers, what is the largest possible first term?