Other tags that relate to Consecutive Squares
Creating and manipulating expressions and formulae. Visualising. Generalising. Powers & roots. Quadratic functions and graphs. Mathematical reasoning & proof. Expanding and factorising quadratics. Factors and multiples. Place value. Describing patterns and sequences.There are 160 results
Broad Topics > Thinking Mathematically > Mathematical reasoning & proof
Perfectly Square
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
The sums of the squares of three related numbers is also a perfect square - can you explain why?
Geometric Parabola
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Explore what happens when you draw graphs of quadratic equations with coefficients based on a geometric sequence.
Always Perfect
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Show that if you add 1 to the product of four consecutive numbers the answer is ALWAYS a perfect square.
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. . . .
Power Mad!
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Powers of numbers behave in surprising ways. Take a look at some of these and try to explain why they are true.
Chocolate Maths
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Pick the number of times a week that you eat chocolate. This number must be more than one but less than ten. Multiply this number by 2. Add 5 (for Sunday). Multiply by 50... Can you explain why it. . . .
Never Prime
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
If a two digit number has its digits reversed and the smaller of the two numbers is subtracted from the larger, prove the difference can never be prime.
Archimedes and Numerical Roots
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
The problem is how did Archimedes calculate the lengths of the sides of the polygons which needed him to be able to calculate square roots?
Diophantine N-tuples
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Can you explain why a sequence of operations always gives you perfect squares?
Number Rules - OK
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Can you convince me of each of the following: If a square number is multiplied by a square number the product is ALWAYS a square number...
More Mathematical Mysteries
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Write down a three-digit number Change the order of the digits to get a different number Find the difference between the two three digit numbers Follow the rest of the instructions then try. . . .
Is it Magic or Is it Maths?
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Here are three 'tricks' to amaze your friends. But the really clever trick is explaining to them why these 'tricks' are maths not magic. Like all good magicians, you should practice by trying. . . .
Always the Same
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Arrange the numbers 1 to 16 into a 4 by 4 array. Choose a number. Cross out the numbers on the same row and column. Repeat this process. Add up you four numbers. Why do they always add up to 34?
Composite Notions
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A composite number is one that is neither prime nor 1. Show that 10201 is composite in any base.
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?
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.
Postage
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
The country Sixtania prints postage stamps with only three values 6 lucres, 10 lucres and 15 lucres (where the currency is in lucres).Which values cannot be made up with combinations of these postage. . . .
Aba
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
In the following sum the letters A, B, C, D, E and F stand for six distinct digits. Find all the ways of replacing the letters with digits so that the arithmetic is correct.
Janine's Conjecture
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Janine noticed, while studying some cube numbers, that if you take three consecutive whole numbers and multiply them together and then add the middle number of the three, you get the middle number. . . .
Tower of Hanoi
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
The Tower of Hanoi is an ancient mathematical challenge. Working on the building blocks may help you to explain the patterns you notice.
Why 24?
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Take any prime number greater than 3 , square it and subtract one. Working on the building blocks will help you to explain what is special about your results.
More Number Pyramids
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
When number pyramids have a sequence on the bottom layer, some interesting patterns emerge...
Top-heavy Pyramids
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Use the numbers in the box below to make the base of a top-heavy pyramid whose top number is 200.
Common Divisor
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Find the largest integer which divides every member of the following sequence: 1^5-1, 2^5-2, 3^5-3, ... n^5-n.
Marbles
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
I start with a red, a green and a blue marble. I can trade any of my marbles for two others, one of each colour. Can I end up with five more blue marbles than red after a number of such trades?
Gabriel's Problem
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Gabriel multiplied together some numbers and then erased them. Can you figure out where each number was?
Euler's Squares
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Euler found four whole numbers such that the sum of any two of the numbers is a perfect square...
Converse
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Clearly if a, b and c are the lengths of the sides of an equilateral triangle then a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = ab + bc + ca. Is the converse true?
What Numbers Can We Make Now?
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Imagine we have four bags containing numbers from a sequence. What numbers can we make now?
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?
More Marbles
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
I start with a red, a blue, a green and a yellow marble. I can trade any of my marbles for three others, one of each colour. Can I end up with exactly two marbles of each colour?
1 Step 2 Step
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Liam's house has a staircase with 12 steps. He can go down the steps one at a time or two at time. In how many different ways can Liam go down the 12 steps?
DOTS Division
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Take any pair of two digit numbers x=ab and y=cd where, without loss of generality, ab > cd . Form two 4 digit numbers r=abcd and s=cdab and calculate: {r^2 - s^2} /{x^2 - y^2}.
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?
Multiplication Square
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Pick a square within a multiplication square and add the numbers on each diagonal. What do you notice?
Seven Squares - Group-worthy Task
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Choose a couple of the sequences. Try to picture how to make the next, and the next, and the next... Can you describe your reasoning?
A Biggy
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Find the smallest positive integer N such that N/2 is a perfect cube, N/3 is a perfect fifth power and N/5 is a perfect seventh power.
Mod 3
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Prove that if a^2+b^2 is a multiple of 3 then both a and b are multiples of 3.
Take Three from Five
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
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?
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!
Square Mean
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Is the mean of the squares of two numbers greater than, or less than, the square of their means?
Cosines Rule
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Three points A, B and C lie in this order on a line, and P is any point in the plane. Use the Cosine Rule to prove the following statement.
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?
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.
Pythagorean Triples II
Age 11 to 16
This is the second article on right-angled triangles whose edge lengths are whole numbers.
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.
Triangular Intersection
Age 14 to 16 Short Challenge Level:
What is the largest number of intersection points that a triangle and a quadrilateral can have?
More Number Sandwiches
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
When is it impossible to make number sandwiches?
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.