Celebrate 25 Years of NRICH
To celebrate NRICH's 25th birthday, why not play this special version of our classic game, Got It? Can you devise a strategy so that you will always win?
Cuisenaire Environment
An environment which simulates working with Cuisenaire rods.
Can You Find a Perfect Number?
Missing Multipliers
What is the smallest number of answers you need to reveal in order to work out the missing headers?
Factors and Multiples Game for Two
Factors and Multiples game for an adult and child. How can you make sure you win this game?
Neighbourly Addition
I added together some of my neighbours' house numbers. Can you explain the patterns I noticed?
4 by 4 Mathdokus
Can you use the clues to complete these 4 by 4 Mathematical Sudokus?
5 by 5 Mathdokus
Can you use the clues to complete these 5 by 5 Mathematical Sudokus?
Got It
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.
Factors and Multiples Game
A game in which players take it in turns to choose a number. Can you block your opponent?
The Remainders Game
Play this game and see if you can figure out the computer's chosen number.
Three Neighbours
Take three consecutive numbers and add them together. What do you notice?
Counting Cogs
Which pairs of cogs let the coloured tooth touch every tooth on the other cog? Which pairs do not let this happen? Why?
Factor Lines
Arrange the four number cards on the grid, according to the rules, to make a diagonal, vertical or horizontal line.
Remainders
I'm thinking of a number. My number is both a multiple of 5 and a multiple of 6. What could my number be?
Got It for Two
Got It game for an adult and child. How can you play so that you know you will always win?
Divisibility Tests
This article explains various divisibility rules and why they work. An article to read with pencil and paper handy.
What Numbers Can We Make?
Imagine we have four bags containing a large number of 1s, 4s, 7s and 10s. What numbers can we make?
Sieve of Eratosthenes
Follow this recipe for sieving numbers and see what interesting patterns emerge.
Diagonal Product Sudoku
Given the products of diagonally opposite cells - can you complete this Sudoku?
Prime Order
Weekly Problem 24 - 2006
How many of the rearrangements of the digits 1, 3 and 5 give prime numbers?
Factors and Multiples - Secondary Resources
Adding All Nine
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 other possibilities for yourself!
Nine in a Line
The sum of 9 consecutive positive whole numbers is 2007. What is the largest of these numbers?
Gabriel's Problem
Gabriel multiplied together some numbers and then erased them. Can you figure out where each number was?
American Billions
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...
Flow Chart
The flow chart requires two numbers, M and N. Select several values for M and try to establish what the flow chart does.
Satisfying Statements
Can you find any two-digit numbers that satisfy all of these statements?
LCM Sudoku II
You are given the Lowest Common Multiples of sets of digits. Find the digits and then solve the Sudoku.
Summing Consecutive Numbers
15 = 7 + 8 and 10 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4. Can you say which numbers can be expressed as the sum of two or more consecutive integers?
Multiples Sudoku
Each clue in this Sudoku is the product of the two numbers in adjacent cells.
How Much Can We Spend?
A country has decided to have just two different coins. Which totals can be made? Is there a largest total that cannot be made? How do you know?
Shifting Times Tables
Can you find a way to identify times tables after they have been shifted up or down?
Charlie's Delightful Machine
Here is a machine with four coloured lights. Can you develop a strategy to work out the rules controlling each light?
Product 100
The product of four different positive integers is 100. What is the sum of these four integers?
Stair Climb
Three people run up stairs at different rates. If they each start from a different point - who will win, come second and come last?
Product Sudoku
The clues for this Sudoku are the product of the numbers in adjacent squares.
How Old Are the Children?
Funny Factorisation
Using the digits 1 to 9, the number 4396 can be written as the product of two numbers. Can you find the factors?
Find From Factors
Weekly Problem 35 - 2006
A number has exactly eight factors, two of which are 21 and 35. What is the number?
What Numbers Can We Make Now?
Imagine we have four bags containing numbers from a sequence. What numbers can we make now?
Factors and Multiples Puzzle
Using your knowledge of the properties of numbers, can you fill all the squares on the board?
Alison's Quilt
Nine squares are fitted together to form a rectangle. Can you find its dimensions?
Even So
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?
Cogs
Star Product Sudoku
The puzzle can be solved by finding the values of the unknown digits (all indicated by asterisks) in the squares of the $9\times9$ grid.
Great Granddad
Great Granddad is very proud of his telegram from the Queen congratulating him on his hundredth birthday and he has friends who are even older than he is... When was he born?
Counting Factors
Is there an efficient way to work out how many factors a large number has?
Power Crazy
What Does It All Add Up To?
If you take four consecutive numbers and add them together, the answer will always be even. What else do you notice?
Power Mad!
Powers of numbers behave in surprising ways. Take a look at some of these and try to explain why they are true.
Repeaters
Divisively So
Oh! Hidden Inside?
Find the number which has 8 divisors, such that the product of the divisors is 331776.
Take Three From Five
Caroline and James pick sets of five numbers. Charlie tries to find three that add together to make a multiple of three. Can they stop him?
Drawing Celtic Knots
Here is a chance to create some Celtic knots and explore the mathematics behind them.
Remainder
Snappy Statements
Use properties of numbers to work out whether you can satisfy all these statements at the same time.
Four Coloured Lights
AB Search
The five digit number A679B, in base ten, is divisible by 72. What are the values of A and B?
Stars
Can you work out what step size to take to ensure you visit all the dots on the circle?
Adjacent Factors
Two numbers can be placed adjacent if one of them divides the other. Using only $1,...,10$, can you write the longest such list?
Thirty Six Exactly
Back of the Queue
Weekly Problem 48 - 2013
What is the remainder when the number 743589 × 301647 is divided by 5?
Magical Products
Can you place the nine cards onto a 3×3 grid such that every row, column and diagonal has a product of 1?
Two Much
Explain why the arithmetic sequence 1, 14, 27, 40, ... contains many terms of the form 222...2 where only the digit 2 appears.
Substitution Transposed
Adding in Rows
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?
One to Eight
Complete the following expressions so that each one gives a four digit number as the product of two two digit numbers and uses the digits 1 to 8 once and only once.
Hot Pursuit
Expanding Zeros
Weekly Problem 22 - 2008
The following sequence continues indefinitely... Which of these integers is a multiple of 81?
Eminit
Powerful Factorial
6! = 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1. The highest power of 2 that divides exactly into 6! is 4 since (6!) / (2^4) = 45. What is the highest power of two that divides exactly into 100!?
Just Repeat
Three Times Seven
X Marks the Spot
Big Powers
Three people chose this as a favourite problem. It is the sort of problem that needs thinking time - but once the connection is made it gives access to many similar ideas.
Ben's Game
Ben, Jack and Emma passed counters to each other and ended with the same number of counters. How many did they start with?
Differences
Can you guarantee that, for any three numbers you choose, the product of their differences will always be an even number?
Shopping Basket
The items in the shopping basket add and multiply to give the same amount. What could their prices be?
Cuboids
Can you find a cuboid that has a surface area of exactly 100 square units. Is there more than one? Can you find them all?
Gaxinta
A number N is divisible by 10, 90, 98 and 882 but it is NOT divisible by 50 or 270 or 686 or 1764. It is also known that N is a factor of 9261000. What is N?
Inclusion Exclusion
How many integers between 1 and 1200 are NOT multiples of any of the numbers 2, 3 or 5?