Other tags that relate to Secants Interactivity
Interactivities. Mathematical reasoning & proof. Angles - points, lines and parallel lines. Rotations. Complex numbers. Regular polygons and circles. Coordinates. Dynamic geometry. Mathematical modelling. Reflections.There are 162 results
Broad Topics > Using, Applying and Reasoning about Mathematics > Mathematical reasoning & proof
Three Balls
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A circle has centre O and angle POR = angle QOR. Construct tangents at P and Q meeting at T. Draw a circle with diameter OT. Do P and Q lie inside, or on, or outside this circle?
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.
Paradoxes
Age 7 to 14
A paradox is a statement that seems to be both untrue and true at the same time. This article looks at a few examples and challenges you to investigate them for yourself.
Flight of the Flibbins
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Blue Flibbins are so jealous of their red partners that they will not leave them on their own with any other bue Flibbin. What is the quickest way of getting the five pairs of Flibbins safely to. . . .
Königsberg
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you cross each of the seven bridges that join the north and south of the river to the two islands, once and once only, without retracing your steps?
Parallel Universe
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
An equilateral triangle is constructed on BC. A line QD is drawn, where Q is the midpoint of AC. Prove that AB // QD.
Angle Trisection
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
It is impossible to trisect an angle using only ruler and compasses but it can be done using a carpenter's square.
The Frieze Tree
Age 11 to 16
Patterns that repeat in a line are strangely interesting. How many types are there and how do you tell one type from another?
Konigsberg Plus
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Euler discussed whether or not it was possible to stroll around Koenigsberg crossing each of its seven bridges exactly once. Experiment with different numbers of islands and bridges.
Similarly So
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
ABCD is a square. P is the midpoint of AB and is joined to C. A line from D perpendicular to PC meets the line at the point Q. Prove AQ = AD.
Pythagorean Triples II
Age 11 to 16
This is the second article on right-angled triangles whose edge lengths are whole numbers.
More Number Pyramids
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
When number pyramids have a sequence on the bottom layer, some interesting patterns emerge...
Circle Box
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
It is obvious that we can fit four circles of diameter 1 unit in a square of side 2 without overlapping. What is the smallest square into which we can fit 3 circles of diameter 1 unit?
Proof Sorter - Quadratic Equation
Age 14 to 18 Challenge Level:
This is an interactivity in which you have to sort the steps in the completion of the square into the correct order to prove the formula for the solutions of quadratic equations.
Disappearing Square
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Do you know how to find the area of a triangle? You can count the squares. What happens if we turn the triangle on end? Press the button and see. Try counting the number of units in the triangle now. . . .
The Pillar of Chios
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Semicircles are drawn on the sides of a rectangle. Prove that the sum of the areas of the four crescents is equal to the area of the rectangle.
Go Forth and Generalise
Age 11 to 14
Spotting patterns can be an important first step - explaining why it is appropriate to generalise is the next step, and often the most interesting and important.
Triangle Inequality
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
ABC is an equilateral triangle and P is a point in the interior of the triangle. We know that AP = 3cm and BP = 4cm. Prove that CP must be less than 10 cm.
A Chordingly
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Find the area of the annulus in terms of the length of the chord which is tangent to the inner circle.
Round and Round
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Prove that the shaded area of the semicircle is equal to the area of the inner circle.
Coins on a Plate
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Points A, B and C are the centres of three circles, each one of which touches the other two. Prove that the perimeter of the triangle ABC is equal to the diameter of the largest circle.
Tourism
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
If you can copy a network without lifting your pen off the paper and without drawing any line twice, then it is traversable. Decide which of these diagrams are traversable.
Our Ages
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
I am exactly n times my daughter's age. In m years I shall be ... How old am I?
Matter of Scale
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Prove Pythagoras' Theorem using enlargements and scale factors.
Rolling Coins
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A blue coin rolls round two yellow coins which touch. The coins are the same size. How many revolutions does the blue coin make when it rolls all the way round the yellow coins? Investigate for a. . . .
Yih or Luk Tsut K'i or Three Men's Morris
Age 11 to 18 Challenge Level:
Some puzzles requiring no knowledge of knot theory, just a careful inspection of the patterns. A glimpse of the classification of knots and a little about prime knots, crossing numbers and. . . .
Picturing Pythagorean Triples
Age 14 to 18
This article discusses how every Pythagorean triple (a, b, c) can be illustrated by a square and an L shape within another square. You are invited to find some triples for yourself.
Ratty
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
If you know the sizes of the angles marked with coloured dots in this diagram which angles can you find by calculation?
Fitting In
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
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. . . .
Long Short
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
What can you say about the lengths of the sides of a quadrilateral whose vertices are on a unit circle?
Pattern of Islands
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
In how many distinct ways can six islands be joined by bridges so that each island can be reached from every other island...
Towering Trapeziums
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Can you find the areas of the trapezia in this sequence?
Triangle Incircle Iteration
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Keep constructing triangles in the incircle of the previous triangle. What happens?
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. . . .
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?
Concrete Wheel
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A huge wheel is rolling past your window. What do you see?
Clocked
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Is it possible to rearrange the numbers 1,2......12 around a clock face in such a way that every two numbers in adjacent positions differ by any of 3, 4 or 5 hours?
Pent
Age 14 to 18 Challenge Level:
The diagram shows a regular pentagon with sides of unit length. Find all the angles in the diagram. Prove that the quadrilateral shown in red is a rhombus.
Rhombus in Rectangle
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
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.
Pythagorean Triples I
Age 11 to 16
The first of two articles on Pythagorean Triples which asks how many right angled triangles can you find with the lengths of each side exactly a whole number measurement. Try it!
Sprouts Explained
Age 7 to 18
This article invites you to get familiar with a strategic game called "sprouts". The game is simple enough for younger children to understand, and has also provided experienced mathematicians with. . . .
Air Nets
Age 7 to 18 Challenge Level:
Can you visualise whether these nets fold up into 3D shapes? Watch the videos each time to see if you were correct.
Pythagoras Proofs
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Can you make sense of these three proofs of Pythagoras' Theorem?
Knight Defeated
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
The knight's move on a chess board is 2 steps in one direction and one step in the other direction. Prove that a knight cannot visit every square on the board once and only (a tour) on a 2 by n board. . . .
Mindreader
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A little bit of algebra explains this 'magic'. Ask a friend to pick 3 consecutive numbers and to tell you a multiple of 3. Then ask them to add the four numbers and multiply by 67, and to tell you. . . .
How Many Dice?
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A standard die has the numbers 1, 2 and 3 are opposite 6, 5 and 4 respectively so that opposite faces add to 7? If you make standard dice by writing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 on blank cubes you will find. . . .
Encircling
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
An equilateral triangle is sitting on top of a square. What is the radius of the circle that circumscribes this shape?
Zig Zag
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Four identical right angled triangles are drawn on the sides of a square. Two face out, two face in. Why do the four vertices marked with dots lie on one line?
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.