# Resources tagged with: Mathematical reasoning & proof

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### There are 172 results

Broad Topics > Mathematical Thinking > Mathematical reasoning & proof

### Golden Eggs

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Find a connection between the shape of a special ellipse and an infinite string of nested square roots.

### Plus or Minus

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Make and prove a conjecture about the value of the product of the Fibonacci numbers $F_{n+1}F_{n-1}$.

### Continued Fractions II

##### Age 16 to 18

In this article we show that every whole number can be written as a continued fraction of the form k/(1+k/(1+k/...)).

### There's a Limit

##### Age 14 to 18 Challenge Level:

Explore the continued fraction: 2+3/(2+3/(2+3/2+...)) What do you notice when successive terms are taken? What happens to the terms if the fraction goes on indefinitely?

### The Golden Ratio, Fibonacci Numbers and Continued Fractions.

##### Age 14 to 16

An iterative method for finding the value of the Golden Ratio with explanations of how this involves the ratios of Fibonacci numbers and continued fractions.

### Target Six

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Show that x = 1 is a solution of the equation x^(3/2) - 8x^(-3/2) = 7 and find all other solutions.

### 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.

### Rational Roots

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Given that a, b and c are natural numbers show that if sqrt a+sqrt b is rational then it is a natural number. Extend this to 3 variables.

### Shape and Territory

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

If for any triangle ABC tan(A - B) + tan(B - C) + tan(C - A) = 0 what can you say about the triangle?

### Fractional Calculus III

##### Age 16 to 18

Fractional calculus is a generalisation of ordinary calculus where you can differentiate n times when n is not a whole number.

### An Alphanumeric

##### Age 16 to 18

Freddie Manners, of Packwood Haugh School in Shropshire solved an alphanumeric without using the extra information supplied and this article explains his reasoning.

### Proof Sorter - Geometric Series

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Can you correctly order the steps in the proof of the formula for the sum of a geometric series?

### To Prove or Not to Prove

##### Age 14 to 18

A serious but easily readable discussion of proof in mathematics with some amusing stories and some interesting examples.

### Impossible Triangles?

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Which of these triangular jigsaws are impossible to finish?

### Proof: A Brief Historical Survey

##### Age 14 to 18

If you think that mathematical proof is really clearcut and universal then you should read this article.

### Contrary Logic

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Can you invert the logic to prove these statements?

### Direct Logic

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Can you work through these direct proofs, using our interactive proof sorters?

### Mind Your Ps and Qs

##### Age 16 to 18 Short Challenge Level:

Sort these mathematical propositions into a series of 8 correct statements.

### Sperner's Lemma

##### Age 16 to 18

An article about the strategy for playing The Triangle Game which appears on the NRICH site. It contains a simple lemma about labelling a grid of equilateral triangles within a triangular frame.

### Iffy Logic

##### Age 14 to 18 Challenge Level:

Can you rearrange the cards to make a series of correct mathematical statements?

### Proofs with Pictures

##### Age 14 to 18

Some diagrammatic 'proofs' of algebraic identities and inequalities.

### Thousand Words

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Here the diagram says it all. Can you find the diagram?

### Symmetric Tangles

##### Age 14 to 16

The tangles created by the twists and turns of the Conway rope trick are surprisingly symmetrical. Here's why!

### Notty Logic

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Have a go at being mathematically negative, by negating these statements.

### Mechanical Integration

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

To find the integral of a polynomial, evaluate it at some special points and add multiples of these values.

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Find all positive integers a and b for which the two equations: x^2-ax+b = 0 and x^2-bx+a = 0 both have positive integer solutions.

### Water Pistols

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

With n people anywhere in a field each shoots a water pistol at the nearest person. In general who gets wet? What difference does it make if n is odd or even?

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Find all real solutions of the equation (x^2-7x+11)^(x^2-11x+30) = 1.

### Proof of Pick's Theorem

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Follow the hints and prove Pick's Theorem.

### Where Do We Get Our Feet Wet?

##### Age 16 to 18

Professor Korner has generously supported school mathematics for more than 30 years and has been a good friend to NRICH since it started.

### 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.

### Square Pair Circles

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Investigate the number of points with integer coordinates on circles with centres at the origin for which the square of the radius is a power of 5.

### Euclid's Algorithm II

##### Age 16 to 18

We continue the discussion given in Euclid's Algorithm I, and here we shall discover when an equation of the form ax+by=c has no solutions, and when it has infinitely many solutions.

### Impossible Sandwiches

##### Age 11 to 18

In this 7-sandwich: 7 1 3 1 6 4 3 5 7 2 4 6 2 5 there are 7 numbers between the 7s, 6 between the 6s etc. The article shows which values of n can make n-sandwiches and which cannot.

### Integral Inequality

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

An inequality involving integrals of squares of functions.

### Polynomial Relations

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Given any two polynomials in a single variable it is always possible to eliminate the variable and obtain a formula showing the relationship between the two polynomials. Try this one.

### Breaking the Equation ' Empirical Argument = Proof '

##### Age 7 to 18

This article stems from research on the teaching of proof and offers guidance on how to move learners from focussing on experimental arguments to mathematical arguments and deductive reasoning.

### Particularly General

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

By proving these particular identities, prove the existence of general cases.

### Tetra Inequalities

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Prove that in every tetrahedron there is a vertex such that the three edges meeting there have lengths which could be the sides of a triangle.

### An Introduction to Number Theory

##### Age 16 to 18

An introduction to some beautiful results of Number Theory (a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions)

### Calculating with Cosines

##### Age 14 to 18 Challenge Level:

If I tell you two sides of a right-angled triangle, you can easily work out the third. But what if the angle between the two sides is not a right angle?

### Dodgy Proofs

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

These proofs are wrong. Can you see why?

### Pythagorean Golden Means

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Show that the arithmetic mean, geometric mean and harmonic mean of a and b can be the lengths of the sides of a right-angles triangle if and only if a = bx^3, where x is the Golden Ratio.

### More Dicey Decisions

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

The twelve edge totals of a standard six-sided die are distributed symmetrically. Will the same symmetry emerge with a dodecahedral die?

### The Clue Is in the Question

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Starting with one of the mini-challenges, how many of the other mini-challenges will you invent for yourself?

### Without Calculus

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Given that u>0 and v>0 find the smallest possible value of 1/u + 1/v given that u + v = 5 by different methods.

##### Age 16 to 18 Short Challenge Level:

Can you work out where the blue-and-red brick roads end?

### Areas and Ratios

##### Age 16 to 18 Challenge Level:

Do you have enough information to work out the area of the shaded quadrilateral?