List

Powers and Roots - Short Problems



This is part of our collection of Short Problems.

You may also be interested in our longer problems on Powers and Roots.

Printable worksheets containing selections of these problems are available here.

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Square Triangle

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
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How many triangles have all three angles perfect squares (in degrees)?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Maundy Money

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
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How much money did the Queen give away in pence as a power of 2?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Age of Augustus

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
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The English mathematician Augustus de Morgan has given his age in algebraic terms. Can you work out when he was born?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

The Square of My Age

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
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Lauren and Thomas tell their ages in terms of sums of squares. Can you work out how old they really are?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Mini Cross-Number

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
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Which digit replaces x in this crossnumber?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Square Percentage

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
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What percentage of the integers between 1 and 10,000 are square numbers?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Tenth Power

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
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Do these powers look odd...?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Power Up to 1000

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Find $x+y$, where $2^x\times5^y=1000$

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Powers of Four

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Can you work out the value of x in this 'power-full' equation?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Pythagorean Quadruple

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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The sum of three square numbers equals $121$. What can those numbers be...

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Root 2017

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Between which two whole numbers is $\sqrt{2017}$ $?$

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

The Square and the Root

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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What is the remainder when the square of 49 is divided by the square root of 49?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

The Power of the Sum

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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What is this sum, expressed as a power of 2?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Rooted Via 10

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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How many of the numbers shown are greater than 10?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Largest Expression

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Which of these five algebraic expressions is largest, given $x$ is between 0 and 1?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Roots Near 9

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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For how many integers n is the difference between √n and 9 less than 1?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Powerful Order

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Powers of numbers might look large, but which of these is the largest...

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Doubly Powerful

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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To what power should $4^4$ be raised to give $8^8$?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Huge Powers

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Can you put these numbers in order?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

The Power of X

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Find the value of $x$ in this equation, where it appears in powers.

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Cube Factors

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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How many factors of $9^9$ are perfect cubes?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

How Many Squares?

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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How many 4-digit numbers are perfect squares?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Root Estimation

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Which of these is the best approximation for this square root?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Big Product

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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How many digits are there in this product?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Which Power?

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Which power of $16$ is equal to $64^6$?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Two in a Million

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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What is the highest power of 2 that divides exactly into 1000000?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Powerful Expressions

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Put these expressions in order, from smallest to largest.

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Rough Root

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Which of these options is closest to this square root?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Power of Five

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Powers with brackets, addition and multiplication

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Powered Up

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Can you work out the product of these indices?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Self-Power Squares

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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How many integers $n$, between $1$ and $100$ inclusive, have the property that $n^n$ is a square number?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Power of 3

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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What power of 27 is needed to get the correct power of 3?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Know Your Powers

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Given these equations with unknown powers $x$ and $y$, can you work out $xy$?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Great Power

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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Which is greater: $10^{250}$ or $6^{300}$?

Small tomato seedlings in pink pots.
problem

Powerful 9

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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What is the last digit of this calculation?