Visualising and representing

  • Instant Insanity
    problem

    Instant insanity

    Age
    11 to 18
    Challenge level
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    Given the nets of 4 cubes with the faces coloured in 4 colours, build a tower so that on each vertical wall no colour is repeated, that is all 4 colours appear.

  • Fermat's Poser
    problem

    Fermat's poser

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    Find the point whose sum of distances from the vertices (corners) of a given triangle is a minimum.
  • Dissect
    problem

    Dissect

    Age
    11 to 14
    Challenge level
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    What is the minimum number of squares a 13 by 13 square can be dissected into?
  • Painting Cubes
    problem

    Painting cubes

    Age
    11 to 14
    Challenge level
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    Imagine you have six different colours of paint. You paint a cube using a different colour for each of the six faces. How many different cubes can be painted using the same set of six colours?
  • Hypotenuse Lattice points
    problem

    Hypotenuse lattice points

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    The triangle OMN has vertices on the axes with whole number co-ordinates. How many points with whole number coordinates are there on the hypotenuse MN?
  • Hallway Borders
    problem

    Hallway borders

    Age
    11 to 14
    Challenge level
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    What are the possible dimensions of a rectangular hallway if the number of tiles around the perimeter is exactly half the total number of tiles?
  • On Time
    problem

    On time

    Age
    11 to 14
    Challenge level
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    On a clock the three hands - the second, minute and hour hands - are on the same axis. How often in a 24 hour day will the second hand be parallel to either of the two other hands?
  • Trice
    problem

    Trice

    Age
    11 to 14
    Challenge level
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    ABCDEFGH is a 3 by 3 by 3 cube. Point P is 1/3 along AB (that is AP : PB = 1 : 2), point Q is 1/3 along GH and point R is 1/3 along ED. What is the area of the triangle PQR?
  • Linkage
    problem

    Linkage

    Age
    11 to 14
    Challenge level
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    Four rods, two of length a and two of length b, are linked to form a kite. The linkage is moveable so that the angles change. What is the maximum area of the kite?
  • Rolling Triangle
    problem

    Rolling triangle

    Age
    11 to 14
    Challenge level
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    The triangle ABC is equilateral. The arc AB has centre C, the arc BC has centre A and the arc CA has centre B. Explain how and why this shape can roll along between two parallel tracks.