PROJECT

IN MATH
A SET
OF
TRIVIA AND PUZZLES

SUBMITTED BY: PACSON, GEM YTRAM

VERGARA, JOSEFINE RUTH
YUMO, KIM

TRIVIA 1
Birthday Math Trivia
Have them take the month number from their birthday:
January = 1, Feb = 2 etc.
Multiply that by 5
Then add 6
Then multiply that total by 4
Then add 9
Then multiply this total by 5 once again
Have them add to that total the day they were born on. If they were born on the
18th, they add 18, etc.
Have them give you the total. In your head, subtract 165, and you will have the
month and day they were born on!
Why It Works
You can skip down to the next math trivia trick if you don't care to know why it
works.
We'll explain how this works with some simple algebra.
Let M be the month number and D will be the day number. After the seven steps
the expression for their calculation is:
5 (4 (5 M + 6 ) + 9 ) + D = 100 M + D + 165
So therefore, if you subtract off the 165, what will remain will be the month in
hundreds plus the day! That's Pretty Cool Math Stuff!
Now that you've seen some birthday trivia, here's a birthday math trick you'll
probably enjoy.
Here's another math trick / trivia that involves your age. It's really simple to do.
1. Multiply your age by 7.
2. Multiply that answer by 1443.
Now what do you notice?
For example if you are 12, watch what happens:
12 x 7 = 84
1443 x 84 = 121212

Your age will repeat 3 times in a row!

TRIVIA 2

Pi (pronounced pie)
represents the circumference of a circle.
Pi = 3.1415926535
Pi has been calculated
to over 1 trillion numbers
past the decimal point.
The number will continue infinitely
without repeating
National Pi Day is March 14, at 1:59.
The holiday even has its own website:
www.piday.org

TRIVIA 3

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

TRIVIA 4

What five-digit number,

when multiplied by 4,
is the same number
with the digits in reverse order?
21978!
21978 x 4 = 87912.

TRIVIA 5

If you wanted to count to a million

and each count lasted one second,
it would take you
twelve days

to reach your goal.

How long would it take
to count to a billion?
Thirty-two years!
The Schoolgirl Problem Puzzle
In a boarding school there are fifteen schoolgirls who always take
their daily walks in groups of three.
How can it be arranged so that each schoolgirl walks in a group
with two different companions every day for a week (7 days)?
Our Solution:
Give the girls letters A to O - the schedule is then:
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
ABC ADE AFG AHI AJK ALM ANO
DHL BIK BHJ BEG CDF BEF BDG
EJN CMO CLN CMN BLO CIJ CHK
FIO FHN DIM DJO EHM DKN EIL
GKM GJL EKO FKL GIN GHO FJM
The famouse Schoolgirls Problem was first posed by Reverend
Thomas Kirkman in 1857. It led to a new branch of mathematics
called Combinatorics.
The problem has since been described as a specific example of a
Steiner Triple System. Numerous methods of solution exist, but
Trial and Error still (just!) works, but you must be patient!

Cut Cube Puzzle

A solid, four-inch cube of wood is coated with blue paint on all six
sides.
Then the cube is cut into smaller one-inch cubes.
These new one-inch cubes will have either three blue sides, two
blue sides, one blue side, or no blue sides.
How many of each will there be?

Our Solution:
There are 8 with three sides colored, 24 with two sides colored,
24 with one side colored, and 8 with no sides colored.
Here I have done one face, and also shown you that "inside"
there are 8 with no paint at all:

5 Pirates Puzzle
5 pirates of different ages have a treasure of 100 gold coins.
On their ship, they decide to split the coins using this scheme:
The oldest pirate proposes how to share the coins, and ALL
pirates (including the oldest) vote for or against it.
If 50% or more of the pirates vote for it, then the coins will be
shared that way. Otherwise, the pirate proposing the scheme will
be thrown overboard, and the process is repeated with the pirates
that remain.
As pirates tend to be a bloodthirsty bunch, if a pirate would get
the same number of coins if he voted for or against a proposal,
he will vote against so that the pirate who proposed the plan will
be thrown overboard.
Assuming that all 5 pirates are intelligent, rational, greedy, and
do not wish to die, (and are rather good at math for pirates) what
will happen?

Our Solution:
The oldest pirate will propose a 98 : 0 : 1 : 0 : 1 split, in other
words the oldest pirate gets 98 coins, the middle pirate gets 1
coin and the youngest gets 1 coin.
Let us name the pirates (from oldest to youngest): Alex, Billy,
Colin, Duncan and Eddie.
Working backwards:
2 Pirates: Duncan splits the coins 100 : 0 (giving himself all the
gold). His vote (50%) is enough to ensure the deal.
3 Pirates: Colin splits the coins 99 : 0 : 1. Eddie will accept this
deal (getting just 1 coin), because he knows that if he rejects the
deal there will be only two pirates left, and he gets nothing.
4 Pirates: Billy splits the coins 99 : 0 : 1 : 0. By the same
reasoning as before, Duncan will support this deal. Billy would not
waste a spare coin on Colin, because Colin knows that if he
rejects the proposal, he will pocket 99 coins once Billy is thrown
overboard. Billy would also not give a coin to Eddie, because
Eddie knows that if he rejects the proposal, he will receive a coin
from Colin in the next round anyway.
5 Pirates: Alex splits the coins 98 : 0 : 1 : 0 : 1. By offering a
gold coin to Colin (who would otherwise get nothing) he is
assured of a deal.
(Note: In the final deal Alex would not give a coin to Billy, who
knows he can pocket 99 coins if he votes against Alex's proposal
and Alex goes overboard. Likewise, Alex would not give a coin to
Duncan, because Duncan knows that if he votes against the
proposal, Alex will be voted overboard and Billy will propose to
offer Duncan the same single coin as Alex. All else equal, Duncan
would rather see Alex go overboard and collect his one coin from
Billy.)