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.

Tenth Power
problem

Tenth Power

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Do these powers look odd...?
Square Triangle
problem

Square Triangle

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
How many triangles have all three angles perfect squares (in degrees)?
Maundy Money
problem

Maundy Money

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

Age of Augustus

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

The Square of My Age

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Lauren and Thomas tell their ages in terms of sums of squares. Can you work out how old they really are?
Mini Cross-Number
problem

Mini Cross-Number

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Which digit replaces x in this crossnumber?
Square Percentage
problem

Square Percentage

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
What percentage of the integers between 1 and 10,000 are square numbers?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Root 2017

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Between which two whole numbers is $\sqrt{2017}$ $?$
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

The square and the root

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
What is the remainder when the square of 49 is divided by the square root of 49?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

The power of the sum

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
What is this sum, expressed as a power of 2?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Power up to 1000

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Find $x+y$, where $2^x\times5^y=1000$
Powers of Four
problem

Powers of Four

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Can you work out the value of x in this 'power-full' equation?
Pythagorean Quadruple
problem

Pythagorean Quadruple

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
The sum of three square numbers equals $121$. What can those numbers be...
Huge powers
problem

Huge powers

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Can you put these numbers in order?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

The power of x

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

Find the value of $x$ in this equation, where it appears in powers.

Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Cube factors

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
How many factors of $9^9$ are perfect cubes?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

How many squares?

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
How many 4-digit numbers are perfect squares?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

root estimation

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Which of these is the best approximation for this square root?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Big product

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
How many digits are there in this product?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Which power?

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Which power of $16$ is equal to $64^6$?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Two in a million

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
What is the highest power of 2 that divides exactly into 1000000?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Powerful expressions

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Put these expressions in order, from smallest to largest.
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Rough Root

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Which of these options is closest to this square root?
Rooted via 10
problem

Rooted via 10

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
How many of the numbers shown are greater than 10?
Largest Expression
problem

Largest Expression

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Which of these five algebraic expressions is largest, given $x$ is between 0 and 1?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Roots near 9

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
For how many integers 𝑛 is the difference between √𝑛 and 9 is less than 1?
Powerful Order
problem

Powerful Order

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Powers of numbers might look large, but which of these is the largest...
Doubly Powerful
problem

Doubly Powerful

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
To what power should $4^4$ be raised to give $8^8$?
Power of 3
problem

Power of 3

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
What power of 27 is needed to get the correct power of 3?
Know Your Powers
problem

Know Your Powers

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Given these equations with unknown powers $x$ and $y$, can you work out $xy$?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Great Power

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Which is greater: $10^{250}$ or $6^{300}$?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

Powerful 9

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
What is the last digit of this calculation?
Placeholder: several colourful numbers
problem

power of five

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Powers with brackets, addition and multiplication
Powered Up
problem

Powered Up

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Can you work out the product of these indices?
Self-Power Squares
problem

Self-Power Squares

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