Other tags that relate to The Perforated Cube
2D representations of 3D shapes. Pythagoras' theorem. Cubes & cuboids. Visualising. Squares. Generalising. Working systematically. Mathematical reasoning & proof. Interactivities. Creating and manipulating expressions and formulae.There are 178 results
Broad Topics > Mathematical Thinking > Visualising
The Perforated Cube
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A cube is made from smaller cubes, 5 by 5 by 5, then some of those cubes are removed. Can you make the specified shapes, and what is the most and least number of cubes required ?
Tetra Square
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
ABCD is a regular tetrahedron and the points P, Q, R and S are the midpoints of the edges AB, BD, CD and CA. Prove that PQRS is a square.
Tic Tac Toe
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
In the game of Noughts and Crosses there are 8 distinct winning lines. How many distinct winning lines are there in a game played on a 3 by 3 by 3 board, with 27 cells?
Coloured Edges
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
The whole set of tiles is used to make a square. This has a green and blue border. There are no green or blue tiles anywhere in the square except on this border. How many tiles are there in the set?
Concrete Wheel
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A huge wheel is rolling past your window. What do you see?
Framed
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Seven small rectangular pictures have one inch wide frames. The frames are removed and the pictures are fitted together like a jigsaw to make a rectangle of length 12 inches. Find the dimensions of. . . .
Something in Common
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A square of area 3 square units cannot be drawn on a 2D grid so that each of its vertices have integer coordinates, but can it be drawn on a 3D grid? Investigate squares that can be drawn.
Drilling Many Cubes
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
A useful visualising exercise which offers opportunities for discussion and generalising, and which could be used for thinking about the formulae needed for generating the results on a spreadsheet.
Soma - So Good
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you mentally fit the 7 SOMA pieces together to make a cube? Can you do it in more than one way?
Thinking Through, and By, Visualising
Age 7 to 16
This article is based on some of the ideas that emerged during the production of a book which takes visualising as its focus. We began to identify problems which helped us to take a structured view. . . .
Zooming in on the Squares
Age 7 to 14
Start with a large square, join the midpoints of its sides, you'll see four right angled triangles. Remove these triangles, a second square is left. Repeat the operation. What happens?
Making Tracks
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A bicycle passes along a path and leaves some tracks. Is it possible to say which track was made by the front wheel and which by the back wheel?
All in the Mind
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Imagine you are suspending a cube from one vertex and allowing it to hang freely. What shape does the surface of the water make around the cube?
Auditorium Steps
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
What is the shape of wrapping paper that you would need to completely wrap this model?
Picture Story
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Can you see how this picture illustrates the formula for the sum of the first six cube numbers?
Eight Hidden Squares
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
On the graph there are 28 marked points. These points all mark the vertices (corners) of eight hidden squares. Can you find the eight hidden squares?
Natural Sum
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
The picture illustrates the sum 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = (4 x 5)/2. Prove the general formula for the sum of the first n natural numbers and the formula for the sum of the cubes of the first n natural. . . .
Just Opposite
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A and C are the opposite vertices of a square ABCD, and have coordinates (a,b) and (c,d), respectively. What are the coordinates of the vertices B and D? What is the area of the square?
On the Edge
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
If you move the tiles around, can you make squares with different coloured edges?
Dissect
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
What is the minimum number of squares a 13 by 13 square can be dissected into?
Wari
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
This is a simple version of an ancient game played all over the world. It is also called Mancala. What tactics will increase your chances of winning?
Keep Your Distance
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you mark 4 points on a flat surface so that there are only two different distances between them?
Square It
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
Players take it in turns to choose a dot on the grid. The winner is the first to have four dots that can be joined to form a square.
3D Stacks
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you find a way of representing these arrangements of balls?
Marbles in a Box
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
How many winning lines can you make in a three-dimensional version of noughts and crosses?
Sea Defences
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
These are pictures of the sea defences at New Brighton. Can you work out what a basic shape might be in both images of the sea wall and work out a way they might fit together?
Cubes Within Cubes Revisited
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Imagine starting with one yellow cube and covering it all over with a single layer of red cubes, and then covering that cube with a layer of blue cubes. How many red and blue cubes would you need?
Convex Polygons
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Show that among the interior angles of a convex polygon there cannot be more than three acute angles.
Pattern Power
Age 5 to 14
Mathematics is the study of patterns. Studying pattern is an opportunity to observe, hypothesise, experiment, discover and create.
Hypotenuse Lattice Points
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
The triangle OMN has vertices on the axes with whole number co-ordinates. How many points with whole number coordinates are there on the hypotenuse MN?
A Tilted Square
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
The opposite vertices of a square have coordinates (a,b) and (c,d). What are the coordinates of the other vertices?
Rati-o
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Points P, Q, R and S each divide the sides AB, BC, CD and DA respectively in the ratio of 2 : 1. Join the points. What is the area of the parallelogram PQRS in relation to the original rectangle?
Tilting Triangles
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A right-angled isosceles triangle is rotated about the centre point of a square. What can you say about the area of the part of the square covered by the triangle as it rotates?
Picturing Triangular Numbers
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Triangular numbers can be represented by a triangular array of squares. What do you notice about the sum of identical triangle numbers?
Sliding Puzzle
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
The aim of the game is to slide the green square from the top right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner in the least number of moves.
Inside Out
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
There are 27 small cubes in a 3 x 3 x 3 cube, 54 faces being visible at any one time. Is it possible to reorganise these cubes so that by dipping the large cube into a pot of paint three times you. . . .
The Spider and the Fly
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
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?
Frogs
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
How many moves does it take to swap over some red and blue frogs? Do you have a method?
Painted Cube
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Imagine a large cube made from small red cubes being dropped into a pot of yellow paint. How many of the small cubes will have yellow paint on their faces?
Coordinate Patterns
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Charlie and Alison have been drawing patterns on coordinate grids. Can you picture where the patterns lead?
Cutting a Cube
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
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?
Bands and Bridges: Bringing Topology Back
Age 7 to 14
Lyndon Baker describes how the Mobius strip and Euler's law can introduce pupils to the idea of topology.
Take Ten
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Is it possible to remove ten unit cubes from a 3 by 3 by 3 cube so that the surface area of the remaining solid is the same as the surface area of the original?
Corridors
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A 10x10x10 cube is made from 27 2x2 cubes with corridors between them. Find the shortest route from one corner to the opposite corner.
Hidden Rectangles
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Rectangles are considered different if they vary in size or have different locations. How many different rectangles can be drawn on a chessboard?
Triangles Within Triangles
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Can you find a rule which connects consecutive triangular numbers?
The Development of Spatial and Geometric Thinking: 5 to 18
Age 5 to 16
This is the first article in a series which aim to provide some insight into the way spatial thinking develops in children, and draw on a range of reported research. The focus of this article is the. . . .
Jam
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
To avoid losing think of another very well known game where the patterns of play are similar.
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.