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- Fun with Maths -

These may interest you if you have an interest in things mathematical. None of them are that difficult to comprehend, but having said that not everyone shares an interest in this subject!

1. 1089 guaranteed!
   
2. The Rotating Number
   
3. Try the Chocolate Maths Game
   
4. Try your brain at simultaneous equations
   
5. Next in the sequence
   

Here is a simple calculation that will always result in the number 1089. Try it for yourself and see!

1. Pick a three-digit number where the first and last digits are not the same, eg/ 590.
   
2. Reverse it. In this case 095 (note that this will work for two-digit numbers such as 24 provided they are treated as 024 and so when reversed give 420).
   
3. Subtract the lesser from the greater and note the result.
   In our case 590 - 095 = 495.
   
4. Reverse that result. In this case 594.
   
5. Add those two values together. 495 + 594 = 1089.
   

You will always get 1089, whatever number you start with. It is easy to see why this will not work for numbers where the first and last digits are the same as the initial subtraction will give you zero.

The fraction one seventh can be expressed as 0.142857142857142857142857.... ad infinitum. But have you seen what happens when you multiply 142857 by the numbers 2 to 6?

• 142857 * 2 = 285714
  
• 142857 * 3 = 428571
  
• 142857 * 4 = 571428
  
• 142857 * 5 = 714285
  
• 142857 * 6 = 857142
  

Note that the digits in each result are not only the the same ones, but that they are merely rotated round! When you multiply 142857 by 7, you get 999999 (not surprising when you consider that multiplying one seventh by 7 should give you 1).

It only takes 30 seconds....... Work this out as you read.

Please don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!
This is not one of those waste of time things. It's GOOD.

1. Pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (between 2 and 9 inclusive).
   
2. Multiply this number by 2 (Just to be bold).
   
3. Add 5 (for Sunday).
   
4. Multiply it by 50. I'll wait while you get the calculator (might be just as easy to do this by adding two zeroes and halving the result).
   
5. Add 1750.
6. If you have NOT had your birthday this year yet, subtract one.
   
7. Add another 1 for every complete year that has elapsed since 1st January 2000.
   
8. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born, if you remember!
   

You should now have a three digit number.

The first digit is your original number (i.e. how many times you want to have chocolate each week). The second two digits are your age. Good, isn't it?

1. TWO-VARIABLE PROBLEM:-
   A man lives somewhere between his place of work, to which he commutes five times a week, and his elderly mother whom he visits every Saturday. The distance between his mother's house and his place of work is 120 miles. He noticed that the number of miles between his home and his mother's house and back again is the same as the number of miles he covers each week in going to and from work.
   How far does he live from his place of work?
   
   
2. SIX-VARIABLE PROBLEM:-
   OK, so you you really want a challenge....
   A family of 6 have their ages related in the following manner:-
   The combined ages of the eldest child Andrew and their only daughter Debbie is the same as the age of their mother.
   The combined ages of the middle two sons (Bernard and Charles) is the same as the age of their father.
   The father is two years older than the mother.
   The age gap between Andrew and Debbie is 10 years, while Bernard is 4 years older than Charles.
   The sum of everyone's ages put together is 236.
   Your mission, Jim, should you choose to accept it, is to work out each person's age.
   

Need an Extradisambiguator? Click here!

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