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Broad Topics > 2D Geometry, Shape and Space > Pythagoras' theorem

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Hex

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Explain how the thirteen pieces making up the regular hexagon shown in the diagram can be re-assembled to form three smaller regular hexagons congruent to each other.

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Floored

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

A floor is covered by a tessellation of equilateral triangles, each having three equal arcs inside it. What proportion of the area of the tessellation is shaded?

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Pythagorean Triples

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

How many right-angled triangles are there with sides that are all integers less than 100 units?

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Liethagoras' Theorem

Stage: 2 and 3

Liethagoras, Pythagoras' cousin (!), was jealous of Pythagoras and came up with his own theorem. Read this article to find out why other mathematicians laughed at him.

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Trice

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

ABCDEFGH is a 3 by 3 by 3 cube. Point P is 1/3 along AB (that is AP : PB = 1 : 2), point Q is 1/3 along GH and point R is 1/3 along ED. What is the area of the triangle PQR?

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Isosceles

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Prove that a triangle with sides of length 5, 5 and 6 has the same area as a triangle with sides of length 5, 5 and 8. Find other pairs of non-congruent isosceles triangles which have equal areas.

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The Pillar of Chios

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Semicircles are drawn on the sides of a rectangle ABCD. A circle passing through points ABCD carves out four crescent-shaped regions. Prove that the sum of the areas of the four crescents is equal to. . . .

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Square Pegs

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Which is a better fit, a square peg in a round hole or a round peg in a square hole?

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Star Gazing

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Find the ratio of the outer shaded area to the inner area for a six pointed star and an eight pointed star.

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Pythagoras

Stage: 2 and 3

Pythagoras of Samos was a Greek philosopher who lived from about 580 BC to about 500 BC. Find out about the important developments he made in mathematics, astronomy, and the theory of music.

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The Dangerous Ratio

Stage: 3

This article for pupils and teachers looks at a number that even the great mathematician, Pythagoras, found terrifying.

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A Chordingly

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Find the area of the annulus in terms of the length of the chord which is tangent to the inner circle.

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Take a Square

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Cut off three right angled isosceles triangles to produce a pentagon. With two lines, cut the pentagon into three parts which can be rearranged into another square.

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All Is Number

Stage: 2 and 3

Read all about Pythagoras' mathematical discoveries in this article written for students.

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Tennis

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

A tennis ball is served from directly above the baseline (assume the ball travels in a straight line). What is the minimum height that the ball can be hit at to ensure it lands in the service area?

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Inscribed in a Circle

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

The area of a square inscribed in a circle with a unit radius is, satisfyingly, 2. What is the area of a regular hexagon inscribed in a circle with a unit radius?

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Fitting In

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

The largest square which fits into a circle is ABCD and EFGH is a square with G and H on the line CD and E and F on the circumference of the circle. Show that AB = 5EF. Similarly the largest. . . .

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Two Circles

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Draw two circles, each of radius 1 unit, so that each circle goes through the centre of the other one. What is the area of the overlap?

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Circumnavigation

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

The sides of a triangle are 25, 39 and 40 units of length. Find the diameter of the circumscribed circle.

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Partly Circles

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

What is the same and what is different about these circle questions? What connections can you make?

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Tilted Squares

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

It's easy to work out the areas of most squares that we meet, but what if they were tilted?

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Equilateral Areas

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

ABC and DEF are equilateral triangles of side 3 and 4 respectively. Construct an equilateral triangle whose area is the sum of the area of ABC and DEF.

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Semi-square

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

What is the ratio of the area of a square inscribed in a semicircle to the area of the square inscribed in the entire circle?

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Corridors

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

A 10x10x10 cube is made from 27 2x2 cubes with corridors between them. Find the shortest route from one corner to the opposite corner.

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Six Discs

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Six circular discs are packed in different-shaped boxes so that the discs touch their neighbours and the sides of the box. Can you put the boxes in order according to the areas of their bases?

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Circle Packing

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Equal circles can be arranged so that each circle touches four or six others. What percentage of the plane is covered by circles in each packing pattern? ...

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Ladder and Cube

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

A 1 metre cube has one face on the ground and one face against a wall. A 4 metre ladder leans against the wall and just touches the cube. How high is the top of the ladder above the ground?

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Cutting a Cube

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

A half-cube is cut into two pieces by a plane through the long diagonal and at right angles to it. Can you draw a net of these pieces? Are they identical?

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Get Cross

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

A white cross is placed symmetrically in a red disc with the central square of side length sqrt 2 and the arms of the cross of length 1 unit. What is the area of the disc still showing?

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Holly

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

The ten arcs forming the edges of the "holly leaf" are all arcs of circles of radius 1 cm. Find the length of the perimeter of the holly leaf and the area of its surface.

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All Tied Up

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

A ribbon runs around a box so that it makes a complete loop with two parallel pieces of ribbon on the top. How long will the ribbon be?

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The Fire-fighter's Car Keys

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

A fire-fighter needs to fill a bucket of water from the river and take it to a fire. What is the best point on the river bank for the fire-fighter to fill the bucket ?.

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The Spider and the Fly

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

A spider is sitting in the middle of one of the smallest walls in a room and a fly is resting beside the window. What is the shortest distance the spider would have to crawl to catch the fly?

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Circle Scaling

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

You are given a circle with centre O. Describe how to construct with a straight edge and a pair of compasses, two other circles centre O so that the three circles have areas in the ratio 1:2:3.

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Rhombus in Rectangle

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Take any rectangle ABCD such that AB > BC. The point P is on AB and Q is on CD. Show that there is exactly one position of P and Q such that APCQ is a rhombus.

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Grid Lockout

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

What remainders do you get when square numbers are divided by 4?

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Squaring the Circle and Circling the Square

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

If you continue the pattern, can you predict what each of the following areas will be? Try to explain your prediction.

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Squ-areas

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Three squares are drawn on the sides of a triangle ABC. Their areas are respectively 18 000, 20 000 and 26 000 square centimetres. If the outer vertices of the squares are joined, three more. . . .

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Round and Round

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Prove that the shaded area of the semicircle is equal to the area of the inner circle.

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Weighty Problem

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

The diagram shows a very heavy kitchen cabinet. It cannot be lifted but it can be pivoted around a corner. The task is to move it, without sliding, in a series of turns about the corners so that it. . . .

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Compare Areas

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Which has the greatest area, a circle or a square inscribed in an isosceles, right angle triangle?

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Napkin

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

A napkin is folded so that a corner coincides with the midpoint of an opposite edge . Investigate the three triangles formed .

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The Old Goats

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

A rectangular field has two posts with a ring on top of each post. There are two quarrelsome goats and plenty of ropes which you can tie to their collars. How can you secure them so they can't. . . .

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Rectangular Pyramids

Stage: 4 and 5 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Is the sum of the squares of two opposite sloping edges of a rectangular based pyramid equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sloping edges?

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Semi-detached

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

A square of area 40 square cms is inscribed in a semicircle. Find the area of the square that could be inscribed in a circle of the same radius.

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Xtra

Stage: 4 and 5 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Find the sides of an equilateral triangle ABC where a trapezium BCPQ is drawn with BP=CQ=2 , PQ=1 and AP+AQ=sqrt7 . Note: there are 2 possible interpretations.

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At a Glance

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

The area of a regular pentagon looks about twice as a big as the pentangle star drawn within it. Is it?

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Medallions

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Three circular medallions fit in a rectangular box. Can you find the radius of the largest one?

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Matter of Scale

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Prove Pythagoras' Theorem using enlargements and scale factors.

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Three Four Five

Stage: 4 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Two semi-circles (each of radius 1/2) touch each other, and a semi-circle of radius 1 touches both of them. Find the radius of the circle which touches all three semi-circles.


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