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mathematical sciences posts

Try a tangram Activity

by David Shaw, 20 July 2022 | 0 comments

a duck shape made of smaller shapes

This traditional Chinese puzzle, known as a tangram, reveals some surprising properties of squares!

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Five makes 80 brainteaser Brainteaser

by David Shaw, 13 July 2022 | 2 comments

Brain icon

Can you find 5 consecutive (counting upwards) numbers that add up to 80?

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Two trains brainteaser Brainteaser

by David Shaw, 29 June 2022 | 0 comments

Brain icon

Difficulty: Fun A fast passenger train leaves Sydney Central station, headed for Broken Hill. At the same time, a slow freight train, moving at only half the speed of the passenger train, leaves Broken Hill station, headed for Sydney Central. When they meet, which train is closer to Sydney?

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Too many elevens brainteaser Brainteaser

by David Shaw, 16 June 2022 | 2 comments

Brain icon

How many 1s does it take to write out the number eleven thousand, eleven hundred and eleven?

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Paying the miller brainteaser Brainteaser

by David Shaw, 2 June 2022 | 2 comments

Brain icon

A farmer goes to the local mill to get some wheat ground into flour. The miller doesn’t ask for money – instead, they take one tenth of the wheat as payment. If the farmer wants 100 kilograms (kg) of flour at the end, how much wheat should they bring?

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Soma cube Activity

by David Shaw, 24 May 2022 | 1 comments

A cube made of lots of dice

The soma cube is a tricky puzzle! First, you’ll glue some cubes together into strange shapes. Then see if you can get those shapes to come together!

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Srinivasa’s street brainteaser Brainteaser

by David Shaw, 18 May 2022 | 0 comments

Brain icon

Difficulty: Extreme! Srinivasa lives in a house on a short street, with houses on one side. The houses are numbered 1, 2, 3 and so on. He was practicing his addition when he noticed something strange.

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Solo noughts and crosses brainteaser Brainteaser

by David Shaw, 5 May 2022 | 0 comments

Brain icon

Difficulty: Tricky Mabel wanted to play noughts (O) and crosses (X), but she didn’t have anyone to play with. So she just took one go after another. Somehow, Mabel put Xs in 6 of the 9 squares without making a line of 3 Xs. Can you draw the board and work out which squares have…

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Counting steps brainteaser Brainteaser

by David Shaw, 13 April 2022 | 0 comments

Brain icon

Difficulty: Tricky Willow has a staircase with 7 steps. She likes to walk down the staircase in different ways. Sometimes she takes 1 step at a time, and other times she skips a step and goes 2 at a time. If Willow mixes up these 2 types of steps, how many different ways can she…

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Oranges brainteaser Brainteaser

by David Shaw, 24 March 2022 | 0 comments

several wooden crates overflowing with oranges

Difficulty: Extreme! These 2 brothers sold oranges for a living. On Monday: Josh priced his oranges at 2 for $3. He sold 30 oranges for $45. Zach priced his oranges at 3 for $4. He sold 30 oranges for $40. On Tuesday, they combined their prices, and sold their oranges in groups of (2 +…

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Double helix cover

Double Helix

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