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Category Archives: challenges
A Fibonacci pattern
Recall the Fibonacci numbers, , the sequence of numbers beginning with where each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two: Try this: pick any Fibonacci number. Square it. Now, look at the two Fibonacci numbers on either side … Continue reading
Posted in algebra, arithmetic, challenges, fibonacci, pattern, sequences
Tagged fibonacci, number, pattern
4 Comments
An area paradox
Here’s a fun paradox which has been around for quite a while and was apparently a favorite of Lewis Carroll. As you can verify for yourself, the two figures above are composed of two different rearrangements of the same four … Continue reading
Triangular number equations via pictures
The other day I was fiddling around a bit with triangular numbers. By only drawing pictures I was able to come up with the following triangular number equations, where denotes the th triangular number (that is, the number of dots … Continue reading
More cookies
I recently received the following interesting problem from Shadowcat, which is a generalization of the cookie problem I’ve written about previously. We again want to count the ways to distribute identical cookies to non-identical students, with the twist that we … Continue reading
Optimal change-carrying
Recently Michael left the following challenge in a comment: I’ve been trying to optimize my change-carrying habits. What is the smallest amount of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies one can carry while still being able to give perfect change (two … Continue reading
The broken weight problem: solutions and further exploration
First of all, let me say to all my readers how fantastic it felt to post a puzzle, after not posting anything for two months, and get eighteen thoughtful, insightful comments in just three days; it’s every blogger’s dream. You … Continue reading
Posted in arithmetic, challenges, number theory, solutions
Tagged balanced, broken, puzzle, ternary, weight
6 Comments
The broken weight problem
Here’s a fantastic problem I recently heard. Apparently it was first posed by Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac in a book of arithmetic problems published in 1612, and can also be found in Heinrich Dorrie’s 100 Great Problems of Elementary … Continue reading
The haybaler
At Penn Alexander’s math club yesterday, the students worked on a fun puzzle that I’d never seen before. It goes like this: You have five bales of hay. For some reason, instead of being weighed individually, they were weighed in … Continue reading
Who Am I?
An excellent puzzle from JD2718: There are five true and five false statements about the secret number. Each pair of statements contains one true and one false statement. Find the trues, find the falses, and find the number. 1a. I … Continue reading
Posted in challenges, logic, number theory, puzzles, teaching
Tagged number, puzzle, secret
13 Comments
Hyperbinary conjecture seeking proof for a good time, long walks on the beach
Here’s the latest progress on the hyperbinary sequence. We’re trying to figure out the inverse relation of the function : given a particular number , where does it occur in the hyperbinary sequence? That is, what are the values of … Continue reading
Posted in challenges, pattern, people, proof, sequences
Tagged Euler, hyperbinary, inverse relation, totient
4 Comments