# Resources tagged with: Generalising

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### There are 128 results

Broad Topics > Thinking Mathematically > Generalising

### Squaring the Circle and Circling the Square

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

If you continue the pattern, can you predict what each of the following areas will be? Try to explain your prediction.

### Polycircles

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Show that for any triangle it is always possible to construct 3 touching circles with centres at the vertices. Is it possible to construct touching circles centred at the vertices of any polygon?

### Equilateral Areas

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

ABC and DEF are equilateral triangles of side 3 and 4 respectively. Construct an equilateral triangle whose area is the sum of the area of ABC and DEF.

### Semi-square

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

What is the ratio of the area of a square inscribed in a semicircle to the area of the square inscribed in the entire circle?

### Partitioning Revisited

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

We can show that (x + 1)² = x² + 2x + 1 by considering the area of an (x + 1) by (x + 1) square. Show in a similar way that (x + 2)² = x² + 4x + 4

### Triangle Numbers

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Take a look at the multiplication square. The first eleven triangle numbers have been identified. Can you see a pattern? Does the pattern continue?

### Janine's Conjecture

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge 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. . . .

### The Bridges of Konigsberg

##### Age 11 to 18Challenge Level

Investigate how networks can be used to solve a problem for the 18th Century inhabitants of Konigsberg.

### Pareq Calc

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Triangle ABC is an equilateral triangle with three parallel lines going through the vertices. Calculate the length of the sides of the triangle if the perpendicular distances between the parallel. . . .

### Frogs

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

How many moves does it take to swap over some red and blue frogs? Do you have a method?

### Converging Means

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Take any two positive numbers. Calculate the arithmetic and geometric means. Repeat the calculations to generate a sequence of arithmetic means and geometric means. Make a note of what happens to the. . . .

### Of All the Areas

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Can you find a general rule for finding the areas of equilateral triangles drawn on an isometric grid?

### Loopy

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Investigate sequences given by $a_n = \frac{1+a_{n-1}}{a_{n-2}}$ for different choices of the first two terms. Make a conjecture about the behaviour of these sequences. Can you prove your conjecture?

### Jam

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

A game for 2 players

### Regular Hexagon Loops

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Make some loops out of regular hexagons. What rules can you discover?

### A Tilted Square

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

The opposite vertices of a square have coordinates (a,b) and (c,d). What are the coordinates of the other vertices?

### What's Possible?

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Many numbers can be expressed as the difference of two perfect squares. What do you notice about the numbers you CANNOT make?

### Tower of Hanoi

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

The Tower of Hanoi is an ancient mathematical challenge. Working on the building blocks may help you to explain the patterns you notice.

### Multiplication Square

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Pick a square within a multiplication square and add the numbers on each diagonal. What do you notice?

### Cubes Within Cubes Revisited

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Imagine starting with one yellow cube and covering it all over with a single layer of red cubes, and then covering that cube with a layer of blue cubes. How many red and blue cubes would you need?

### More Number Pyramids

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

When number pyramids have a sequence on the bottom layer, some interesting patterns emerge...

### Enclosing Squares

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Can you find sets of sloping lines that enclose a square?

### More Twisting and Turning

##### Age 11 to 16Challenge Level

It would be nice to have a strategy for disentangling any tangled ropes...

### Make 37

##### Age 7 to 14Challenge Level

Four bags contain a large number of 1s, 3s, 5s and 7s. Pick any ten numbers from the bags above so that their total is 37.

### Tilted Squares

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

It's easy to work out the areas of most squares that we meet, but what if they were tilted?

### Got It

##### Age 7 to 14Challenge Level

A game for two people, or play online. Given a target number, say 23, and a range of numbers to choose from, say 1-4, players take it in turns to add to the running total to hit their target.

### Attractive Tablecloths

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Charlie likes tablecloths that use as many colours as possible, but insists that his tablecloths have some symmetry. Can you work out how many colours he needs for different tablecloth designs?

### Sliding Puzzle

##### Age 11 to 16Challenge Level

The aim of the game is to slide the green square from the top right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner in the least number of moves.

### Number Pyramids

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Try entering different sets of numbers in the number pyramids. How does the total at the top change?

### Hidden Rectangles

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Rectangles are considered different if they vary in size or have different locations. How many different rectangles can be drawn on a chessboard?

### Maths Trails

##### Age 7 to 14

The NRICH team are always looking for new ways to engage teachers and pupils in problem solving. Here we explain the thinking behind maths trails.

### Shear Magic

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Explore the area of families of parallelograms and triangles. Can you find rules to work out the areas?

### Problem Solving, Using and Applying and Functional Mathematics

##### Age 5 to 18Challenge Level

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.

### Pair Products

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Choose four consecutive whole numbers. Multiply the first and last numbers together. Multiply the middle pair together. What do you notice?

### Route to Infinity

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Can you describe this route to infinity? Where will the arrows take you next?

### Is There a Theorem?

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Draw a square. A second square of the same size slides around the first always maintaining contact and keeping the same orientation. How far does the dot travel?

### Picturing Square Numbers

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Square numbers can be represented as the sum of consecutive odd numbers. What is the sum of 1 + 3 + ..... + 149 + 151 + 153?

### Spaces for Exploration

##### Age 11 to 14

Alf Coles writes about how he tries to create 'spaces for exploration' for the students in his classrooms.

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge 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. . . .

### Picturing Triangular Numbers

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Triangular numbers can be represented by a triangular array of squares. What do you notice about the sum of identical triangle numbers?

### Steel Cables

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Some students have been working out the number of strands needed for different sizes of cable. Can you make sense of their solutions?

### Beelines

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Is there a relationship between the coordinates of the endpoints of a line and the number of grid squares it crosses?

### 2001 Spatial Oddity

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

With one cut a piece of card 16 cm by 9 cm can be made into two pieces which can be rearranged to form a square 12 cm by 12 cm. Explain how this can be done.

### Generating Triples

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Sets of integers like 3, 4, 5 are called Pythagorean Triples, because they could be the lengths of the sides of a right-angled triangle. Can you find any more?

### Multiplication Arithmagons

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Can you find the values at the vertices when you know the values on the edges of these multiplication arithmagons?

### Partly Painted Cube

##### Age 14 to 16Challenge Level

Jo made a cube from some smaller cubes, painted some of the faces of the large cube, and then took it apart again. 45 small cubes had no paint on them at all. How many small cubes did Jo use?

### Christmas Chocolates

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

How could Penny, Tom and Matthew work out how many chocolates there are in different sized boxes?

### Handshakes

##### Age 11 to 14Challenge Level

Can you find an efficient method to work out how many handshakes there would be if hundreds of people met?