Combinatorics

  • Russian Cubes
    problem

    Russian Cubes

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star empty star empty star

    I want some cubes painted with three blue faces and three red faces. How many different cubes can be painted like that?

  • N000ughty thoughts
    problem

    N000ughty

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    How many noughts are at the end of these giant numbers?

  • Knight Defeated
    problem

    Knight Defeated

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    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 for any value of n. How many ways can a knight do this on a 3 by 4 board?

  • Five coloured cubes forming the edges of a pentagon.
    problem

    Penta Colour

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star empty star empty star

    In how many different ways can I colour the five edges of a pentagon so that no two adjacent edges are the same colour?

  • Snowman
    problem

    Snowman

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    All the words in the Snowman language consist of exactly seven letters formed from the letters {s, no, wm, an). How many words are there in the Snowman language?

  • Postage
    problem

    Postage

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star empty star empty star

    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 stamps? Prove that all other values can be made up.

  • Olympic Magic
    problem

    Olympic Magic

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    in how many ways can you place the numbers 1, 2, 3 … 9 in the nine regions of the Olympic Emblem (5 overlapping circles) so that the amount in each ring is the same?

  • Magic W
    problem

    Magic W

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star filled star empty star

    Find all the ways of placing the numbers 1 to 9 on a W shape, with 3 numbers on each leg, so that each set of 3 numbers has the same total.

  • Walkabout
    problem

    Walkabout

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star filled star empty star
    A walk is made up of diagonal steps from left to right, starting at the origin and ending on the x-axis. How many paths are there for 4 steps, for 6 steps, for 8 steps?
  • Ordered Sums
    problem

    Ordered Sums

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star filled star empty star

    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 a(n) and b(n) for n<8. What do you notice about these sequences? (ii) Find a relation between a(p) and b(q). (iii) Prove your conjectures.