What is the remainder when 2^{164}is divided by 7?
Mathematicians are always looking for efficient methods for solving problems. How efficient can you be?
Prove that if a^2+b^2 is a multiple of 3 then both a and b are multiples of 3.
Can you guarantee that, for any three numbers you choose, the product of their differences will always be an even number?
How many pairs of numbers can you find that add up to a multiple of 11? Do you notice anything interesting about your results?
Which numbers can we write as a sum of square numbers?
What day of the week were you born on? Do you know? Here's a way to find out.
Imagine we have four bags containing numbers from a sequence. What numbers can we make now?
A Latin square of order n is an array of n symbols in which each symbol occurs exactly once in each row and exactly once in each column.
Caroline and James pick sets of five numbers. Charlie chooses three of them that add together to make a multiple of three. Can they stop him?
Suppose an operator types a US Bank check code into a machine and transposes two adjacent digits will the machine pick up every error of this type? Does the same apply to ISBN numbers; will a machine. . . .
You are given the method used for assigning certain check codes and you have to find out if an error in a single digit can be identified.
Explain why the arithmetic sequence 1, 14, 27, 40, ... contains many terms of the form 222...2 where only the digit 2 appears.
You have worked out a secret code with a friend. Every letter in the alphabet can be represented by a binary value.
Find the values of n for which 1^n + 8^n - 3^n - 6^n is divisible by 6.
Details are given of how check codes are constructed (using modulus arithmetic for passports, bank accounts, credit cards, ISBN book numbers, and so on. A list of codes is given and you have to check. . . .
Imagine we have four bags containing a large number of 1s, 4s, 7s and 10s. What numbers can we make?
a) A four digit number (in base 10) aabb is a perfect square. Discuss ways of systematically finding this number. (b) Prove that 11^{10}-1 is divisible by 100.
What remainders do you get when square numbers are divided by 4?
A country has decided to have just two different coins, 3z and 5z coins. Which totals can be made? Is there a largest total that cannot be made? How do you know?
Investigate how you can work out what day of the week your birthday will be on next year, and the year after...
Square numbers can be represented on the seven-clock (representing these numbers modulo 7). This works like the days of the week.
Charlie and Abi put a counter on 42. They wondered if they could visit all the other numbers on their 1-100 board, moving the counter using just these two operations: x2 and -5. What do you think?
Ask a friend to choose a number between 1 and 63. By identifying which of the six cards contains the number they are thinking of it is easy to tell them what the number is.
How many different ways can you arrange the officers in a square?
Time for a little mathemagic! Choose any five cards from a pack and show four of them to your partner. How can they work out the fifth?