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. . . .
Do you have enough information to work out the area of the shaded quadrilateral?
Problem solving is at the heart of the NRICH site. All the problems give learners opportunities to learn, develop or use mathematical concepts and skills. Read here for more information.
Explain why, when moving heavy objects on rollers, the object moves twice as fast as the rollers. Try a similar experiment yourself.
Four jewellers share their stock. Can you work out the relative values of their gems?
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. . . .
Three equilateral triangles ABC, AYX and XZB are drawn with the point X a moveable point on AB. The points P, Q and R are the centres of the three triangles. What can you say about triangle PQR?
Can you visualise whether these nets fold up into 3D shapes? Watch the videos each time to see if you were correct.
Investigate circuits and record your findings in this simple introduction to truth tables and logic.
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. . . .
Find the positive integer solutions of the equation (1+1/a)(1+1/b)(1+1/c) = 2
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.
What can you say about the lengths of the sides of a quadrilateral whose vertices are on a unit circle?
You have twelve weights, one of which is different from the rest. Using just 3 weighings, can you identify which weight is the odd one out, and whether it is heavier or lighter than the rest?
Prove that you cannot form a Magic W with a total of 12 or less or with a with a total of 18 or more.
Can you correctly order the steps in the proof of the formula for the sum of a geometric series?
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.
Toni Beardon has chosen this article introducing a rich area for practical exploration and discovery in 3D geometry
Can you find the areas of the trapezia in this sequence?
Some diagrammatic 'proofs' of algebraic identities and inequalities.
Eulerian and Hamiltonian circuits are defined with some simple examples and a couple of puzzles to illustrate Hamiltonian circuits.
Can you work through these direct proofs, using our interactive proof sorters?
Can you see how this picture illustrates the formula for the sum of the first six cube numbers?
Advent Calendar 2011 - a mathematical activity for each day during the run-up to Christmas.
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. . . .
We are given a regular icosahedron having three red vertices. Show that it has a vertex that has at least two red neighbours.
How many tours visit each vertex of a cube once and only once? How many return to the starting point?
If for any triangle ABC tan(A - B) + tan(B - C) + tan(C - A) = 0 what can you say about the triangle?
Generalise the sum of a GP by using derivatives to make the coefficients into powers of the natural numbers.
This is the second of two articles and discusses problems relating to the curvature of space, shortest distances on surfaces, triangulations of surfaces and representation by graphs.
Fractional calculus is a generalisation of ordinary calculus where you can differentiate n times when n is not a whole number.
When if ever do you get the right answer if you add two fractions by adding the numerators and adding the denominators?
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?
L triominoes can fit together to make larger versions of themselves. Is every size possible to make in this way?
A connected graph is a graph in which we can get from any vertex to any other by travelling along the edges. A tree is a connected graph with no closed circuits (or loops. Prove that every tree has. . . .
Use this interactivity to sort out the steps of the proof of the formula for the sum of an arithmetic series. The 'thermometer' will tell you how you are doing
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. . . .
An equilateral triangle is sitting on top of a square. What is the radius of the circle that circumscribes this shape?
Draw some quadrilaterals on a 9-point circle and work out the angles. Is there a theorem?
Mark a point P inside a closed curve. Is it always possible to find two points that lie on the curve, such that P is the mid point of the line joining these two points?
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?
Prove Pythagoras' Theorem using enlargements and scale factors.
A picture is made by joining five small quadrilaterals together to make a large quadrilateral. Is it possible to draw a similar picture if all the small quadrilaterals are cyclic?
Can you make sense of the three methods to work out the area of the kite in the square?