Parallelogram 32 • Level 4 • 11 Apr 2024Circle Mystery
Noun: Parallelogram Pronunciation: /ˌparəˈlɛləɡram/
- a portmanteau word combining parallel and telegram. A message sent each week by the Parallel Project to bright young mathematicians.
- Tackle each Parallelogram in one go. Don’t get distracted.
- Finish by midnight on Sunday if your whole class is doing parallelograms.
- Your score & answer sheet will appear immediately after you hit SUBMIT.
- Don’t worry if you score less than 50%, because it means you will learn something new when you check the solutions.
1. Intermediate Maths Challenge Problem (UKMT)
1.1 What is 25% of
3 16 1 4 1 3 1 3 - (Not answered)
As 25% of a number is one quarter of it, 25% of
2. Intermediate Maths Challenge Problem (UKMT)
2.1 To the nearest whole number, what percentage of
Correct Solution: 89 %
We can re-write the question as:
Therefore,
3. Circle mystery
This is a video from the terrific Numberphile channel on YouTube. It features one of the world’s greatest mathematicians, Neil Sloane. As well making breakthroughs in mathematics, he has written two books on rock-climbing. Watch this video, which looks at an apparently simple question about circles … then answer the questions after.
(If you have problems watching the video, right click to open it in a new window)3.1 According to the rules in the video, which of these arrangements of two circles is not allowed?
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- (Not answered)
3.2 According the rules, how many ways can you arrange two circles?
Correct Solution: 3
3.3 Here are some arrangements for three circles. According the rules, which two arrangements are the same? Add up the two numbers of the duplicate arrangements and enter it in the box.
Correct Solution: 16
Arrangements 7 and 9 are the same, so the total is 16.
3.4 According the rules, how many ways can you arrange four circles?
Correct Solution: 173
3.5 According the rules, how many ways can you arrange five circles?
Correct Solution: 16951
4. Intermediate Maths Challenge Problem (UKMT)
4.1. Zac halves a certain number and then adds 8 to the result. He finds that he obtains the same answer if he doubles his original number and then subtracts 8 from the result.
What is Zac’s original number?
8 2 3 9 1 3 9 2 3 10 1 3 10 2 3 - (Not answered)
Let Zac’s original number be
As these answers are the same,
5. Parallel emails
If you use Parallel on an email address from your school, some school IT systems prevent you from receiving the emails we send out to remind you when a new Parallelogram is released, or when we have another exciting and nerdy maths thing to tell you about. To avoid this, you could give us a different email address we can contact you on - either a personal email address, or one for you parents or guardian. If you'd like to do that, you can put it in this form, but please ask a parent first if you are not yet 13 years old.
5.1 If you do want to give us an alternate email address, be sure to click the link above (if you haven’t already). Either way, here's a free mark, just for being a fan of Parallel.
- Thank you!
- (Not answered)
Before you hit the SUBMIT button, here are some quick reminders:
- You will receive your score immediately, and collect your reward points.
- You might earn a new badge... if not, then maybe next week.
- Make sure you go through the solution sheet – it is massively important.
- A score of less than 50% is ok – it means you can learn lots from your mistakes.
- The next Parallelogram is next week, at 3pm on Thursday.
- Finally, if you missed any earlier Parallelograms, make sure you go back and complete them. You can still earn reward points and badges by completing missed Parallelograms.
Cheerio, Simon.