Tag Archives: squares

Sigmas and sums of squares

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Brent

Commenter Rachel recently asked, How would you find the sum of ? See here for an explanation of sigma notation—in this case it denotes the sum Of course, for any particular value of we can just plug in values and … Continue reading →

Posted in algebra | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Chessboard counting: solutions and further challenges

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Brent

And now for some solutions to the chessboard counting challenges. The first challenge was to count the number of squares of any size on an 8×8 chessboard. The key here (as with many counting problems) is to break the problem … Continue reading →

Posted in challenges, counting, solutions | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Chessboard counting

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Brent

I am currently doing a unit on combinatorics (the mathematical study of counting) with my precalculus students, and I was inspired to post a few counting-themed challenge problems for your enjoyment. (Also, it’s my spring break!) As you probably know, … Continue reading →

Posted in challenges, counting | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments