Other tags that relate to Mathematical Swimmer
Divisibility. Calculating with fractions. Factors and multiples. Number - generally. Working systematically. Generalising. Fractions. Multiplication & division. Properties of numbers. Mathematical reasoning & proof.There are 66 results
Broad Topics > Numbers and the Number System > Properties of numbers
One to Eight
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
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.
Counting Factors
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Is there an efficient way to work out how many factors a large number has?
Can You Find a Perfect Number?
Age 7 to 14
Can you find any perfect numbers? Read this article to find out more...
Oh! Hidden Inside?
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Find the number which has 8 divisors, such that the product of the divisors is 331776.
Unit Fractions
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Consider the equation 1/a + 1/b + 1/c = 1 where a, b and c are natural numbers and 0 < a < b < c. Prove that there is only one set of values which satisfy this equation.
Factorial
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
How many zeros are there at the end of the number which is the product of first hundred positive integers?
Helen's Conjecture
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Helen made the conjecture that "every multiple of six has more factors than the two numbers either side of it". Is this conjecture true?
Water Lilies
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
There are some water lilies in a lake. The area that they cover doubles in size every day. After 17 days the whole lake is covered. How long did it take them to cover half the lake?
Neighbourly Addition
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
I added together some of my neighbours' house numbers. Can you explain the patterns I noticed?
Multiply the Addition Square
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
If you take a three by three square on a 1-10 addition square and multiply the diagonally opposite numbers together, what is the difference between these products. Why?
Even So
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
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?
X Marks the Spot
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
When the number x 1 x x x is multiplied by 417 this gives the answer 9 x x x 0 5 7. Find the missing digits, each of which is represented by an "x" .
Please Explain
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Visitors to Earth from the distant planet of Zub-Zorna were amazed when they found out that when the digits in this multiplication were reversed, the answer was the same! Find a way to explain. . . .
Thirty Six Exactly
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
The number 12 = 2^2 × 3 has 6 factors. What is the smallest natural number with exactly 36 factors?
Chameleons
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Whenever two chameleons of different colours meet they change colour to the third colour. Describe the shortest sequence of meetings in which all the chameleons change to green if you start with 12. . . .
The Patent Solution
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A combination mechanism for a safe comprises thirty-two tumblers numbered from one to thirty-two in such a way that the numbers in each wheel total 132... Could you open the safe?
Satisfying Statements
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you find any two-digit numbers that satisfy all of these statements?
Got it Article
Age 7 to 14
This article gives you a few ideas for understanding the Got It! game and how you might find a winning strategy.
Special Numbers
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
My two digit number is special because adding the sum of its digits to the product of its digits gives me my original number. What could my number be?
Like Powers
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Investigate $1^n + 19^n + 20^n + 51^n + 57^n + 80^n + 82^n $ and $2^n + 12^n + 31^n + 40^n + 69^n + 71^n + 85^n$ for different values of n.
Arrange the Digits
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you arrange the digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 into three 3-digit numbers such that their total is close to 1500?
Elevenses
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
How many pairs of numbers can you find that add up to a multiple of 11? Do you notice anything interesting about your results?
Fracmax
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Find the maximum value of 1/p + 1/q + 1/r where this sum is less than 1 and p, q, and r are positive integers.
Four Coloured Lights
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Imagine a machine with four coloured lights which respond to different rules. Can you find the smallest possible number which will make all four colours light up?
Times Right
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
Using the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, mulitply a two two digit numbers are multiplied to give a four digit number, so that the expression is correct. How many different solutions can you find?
Filling the Gaps
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Which numbers can we write as a sum of square numbers?
Summing Consecutive Numbers
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
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?
Cogs
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A and B are two interlocking cogwheels having p teeth and q teeth respectively. One tooth on B is painted red. Find the values of p and q for which the red tooth on B contacts every gap on the. . . .
Robert's Spreadsheet
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Robert noticed some interesting patterns when he highlighted square numbers in a spreadsheet. Can you prove that the patterns will continue?
A Long Time at the Till
Age 14 to 18 Challenge Level:
Try to solve this very difficult problem and then study our two suggested solutions. How would you use your knowledge to try to solve variants on the original problem?
Pair Products
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Choose four consecutive whole numbers. Multiply the first and last numbers together. Multiply the middle pair together. What do you notice?
Magic Crosses
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you find examples of magic crosses? Can you find all the possibilities?
Magic Letters
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Charlie has made a Magic V. Can you use his example to make some more? And how about Magic Ls, Ns and Ws?
Guess the Dominoes
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
This task depends on learners sharing reasoning, listening to opinions, reflecting and pulling ideas together.
Guess the Dominoes for Two
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
Guess the Dominoes for child and adult. Work out which domino your partner has chosen by asking good questions.
Slippy Numbers
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
The number 10112359550561797752808988764044943820224719 is called a 'slippy number' because, when the last digit 9 is moved to the front, the new number produced is the slippy number multiplied by 9.
Not a Polite Question
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
When asked how old she was, the teacher replied: My age in years is not prime but odd and when reversed and added to my age you have a perfect square...
Alphabet Soup
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
This challenge is to make up YOUR OWN alphanumeric. Each letter represents a digit and where the same letter appears more than once it must represent the same digit each time.
Mini-max
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Consider all two digit numbers (10, 11, . . . ,99). In writing down all these numbers, which digits occur least often, and which occur most often ? What about three digit numbers, four digit numbers. . . .
Happy Octopus
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
This investigation is about happy numbers in the World of the Octopus where all numbers are written in base 8 ... Find all the fixed points and cycles for the happy number sequences in base 8.
Really Mr. Bond
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
115^2 = (110 x 120) + 25, that is 13225 895^2 = (890 x 900) + 25, that is 801025 Can you explain what is happening and generalise?
The Codabar Check
Age 11 to 14
This article explains how credit card numbers are defined and the check digit serves to verify their accuracy.
Repetitiously
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
The number 2.525252525252.... can be written as a fraction. What is the sum of the denominator and numerator?
Odd Differences
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
The diagram illustrates the formula: 1 + 3 + 5 + ... + (2n - 1) = n² Use the diagram to show that any odd number is the difference of two squares.
Cinema Problem
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A cinema has 100 seats. Show how it is possible to sell exactly 100 tickets and take exactly £100 if the prices are £10 for adults, 50p for pensioners and 10p for children.
Writ Large
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Suppose you had to begin the never ending task of writing out the natural numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.... and so on. What would be the 1000th digit you would write down.
Six Times Five
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
How many six digit numbers are there which DO NOT contain a 5?
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.