Other tags that relate to Ratty
Combinatorics. Pythagoras' theorem. Visualising. Similarity and congruence. Triangles. Circle properties and circle theorems. Mathematical reasoning & proof. Creating and manipulating expressions and formulae. Generalising. Factors and multiples.There are 160 results
Broad Topics > Thinking Mathematically > Mathematical reasoning & proof
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?
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.
Pareq Exists
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Prove that, given any three parallel lines, an equilateral triangle always exists with one vertex on each of the three lines.
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!
Pythagorean Triples II
Age 11 to 16
This is the second article on right-angled triangles whose edge lengths are whole numbers.
Con Tricks
Age 11 to 14
Here are some examples of 'cons', and see if you can figure out where the trick is.
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. . . .
Find the Fake
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
There are 12 identical looking coins, one of which is a fake. The counterfeit coin is of a different weight to the rest. What is the minimum number of weighings needed to locate the fake coin?
Lens Angle
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Find the missing angle between the two secants to the circle when the two angles at the centre subtended by the arcs created by the intersections of the secants and the circle are 50 and 120 degrees.
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?
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?
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?
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.
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.
Mouhefanggai
Age 14 to 16
Imagine two identical cylindrical pipes meeting at right angles and think about the shape of the space which belongs to both pipes. Early Chinese mathematicians call this shape the mouhefanggai.
Thirty Nine, Seventy Five
Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level
We have exactly 100 coins. There are five different values of coins. We have decided to buy a piece of computer software for 39.75. We have the correct money, not a penny more, not a penny less! Can. . . .
Volume of a Pyramid and a Cone
Age 11 to 14
These formulae are often quoted, but rarely proved. In this article, we derive the formulae for the volumes of a square-based pyramid and a cone, using relatively simple mathematical concepts.
Logic
Age 7 to 14
What does logic mean to us and is that different to mathematical logic? We will explore these questions in this article.
Cross-country Race
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Eight children enter the autumn cross-country race at school. How many possible ways could they come in at first, second and third places?
Towering Trapeziums
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Can you find the areas of the trapezia in this sequence?
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. . . .
Folding Fractions
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
What fractions can you divide the diagonal of a square into by simple folding?
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.
Gift of Gems
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Four jewellers share their stock. Can you work out the relative values of their gems?
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.
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?
Folding Squares
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
The diagonal of a square intersects the line joining one of the unused corners to the midpoint of the opposite side. What do you notice about the line segments produced?
Russian Cubes
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
I want some cubes painted with three blue faces and three red faces. How many different cubes can be painted like that?
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?
Tri-colour
Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level
Six points are arranged in space so that no three are collinear. How many line segments can be formed by joining the points in pairs?
No Right Angle Here
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Prove that the internal angle bisectors of a triangle will never be perpendicular to each other.
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?
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.
Greetings
Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level
From a group of any 4 students in a class of 30, each has exchanged Christmas cards with the other three. Show that some students have exchanged cards with all the other students in the class. How. . . .
Kite in a Square
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Can you make sense of the three methods to work out the area of the kite in the square?
Ordered Sums
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Let a(n) be the number of ways of expressing the integer n as an ordered sum of 1's and 2's. Let b(n) be the number of ways of expressing n as an ordered sum of integers greater than 1. (i) Calculate. . . .
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?
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?
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?
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.
Matter of Scale
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Prove Pythagoras' Theorem using enlargements and scale factors.
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. . . .
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.
Children at Large
Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level
There are four children in a family, two girls, Kate and Sally, and two boys, Tom and Ben. How old are the children?
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.
Diophantine N-tuples
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Can you explain why a sequence of operations always gives you perfect squares?
Doodles
Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level
Draw a 'doodle' - a closed intersecting curve drawn without taking pencil from paper. What can you prove about the intersections?
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.