Mathematics Stack Exchange
Mathematics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [recreational-mathematics]

Mathematics done just for fun, often disjoint from typical school mathematics curriculum. Also see the [puzzle] and [contest-math] tags.

Recreational mathematics is a general term for mathematical problems studied for the sake of pure intellectual curiosity, or just for the enjoyment of thinking about mathematics, without necessarily having any practical application or expectation of deep theoretical results.

Recreational mathematics problems are often easy to understand even for people without an extensive mathematical education, even if the theory they lead to may turn out to be surprisingly deep. Thus, recreational mathematics can serve to attract the curiosity of non-mathematicians and to inspire them to develop their mathematical skills further.

Many typical recreational mathematics problems fall into the fields of discrete mathematics (combinatorics, elementary number theory, etc.), probability theory and geometry. Important contributors to recreational mathematics are Sam Loyd and Martin Gardner.

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"Mathematical Circles (Russian Experience)", Chapter Zero, P3

I request a hint, clarification (if needed), or your approval (if my doutful solution is correct) for this problem: Problem 3. Jack tore out several successive pages from a book. The number of the first page he tore out was 183, and it is known…
Sophi
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Math talk with constraint on words (e.g. only use 6-letters words)

I am trying to find a math talk on YouTube, which I had seen a while ago. The only thing I remember is that it was an entertaining talk (like a fun challenge) where the speaker had a specific constraint on the words he could use. If I remember…
Alphonse
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Place a nonzero digit in each space so that the equation is true.

Place a nonzero digit in each space so that the equation is true. 0.2_ * 7._ = 2._ Here is the work I've done so far: 2/7=0.285714... Then I did some guessing and checking and got 0.28 * 7.5 = 2.1. This works I just need to know if there is smarter…
Alauna Gentz
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Digitsum-based sequences

I find Base-sensitive properties of numbers really interesting at times, and this is an example. For example, let f(x) be a recursive sequence where f(0)=2, and $f(x+1)=\digitsum(f(x)^n)$. If n equals 2, This sequence goes 2,4,7,13,16,13... and…
Catman 321
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How can you convert a credit score into a number between 0 and 100?

Credit scores are numbers between 350 and 850. Lets say someone's score is 600 How can you determine what that score of 600 would be if it was measured from 0 to 100 rather than the range 350 to 850? Interested to know what the relative differences…
Andrew Richmond
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Solving logic puzzle with exactly N werewolves

I am trying to solve a logic puzzle but I am not sure how to solve it, and I needed some help on this. The puzzle is as follows: Each of them is either a human or a werewolf. A human will always tell the truth. A werewolf will always lie. A:…
ilovetolearn
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Drum exercise BPM do not add up

This will be an oversimplified question for most of you so please pardon my ignorance in advance. I practice 16th note exercises in which each rhythm, or 16 bars, is practices 20 times each and there are a total of 24 sections of 16 note rhythms.…
Ross Bush
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20 Boxes Problem

There are 20 boxes and 20 people in a room. A prize is hidden in only 1 box, and the rest are empty. To win, you must pick the box with the prize. Before the game begins, The organizer tells you that you can choose to go 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, all the…
Anonymous78
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Passing through a dense wall

The thief is at point $(0,1)$. Before he starts to move, the police bureau of the $\mathbb{R^2}$ plain can freely place countably infinite officers along the x-axis. We know that The thief and the officers move simultaneously and continuously,…
Eric
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How to find the longest word chain of Pokémon efficiently?

This is an interesting question which has been discussed in Japan, so I wonder if there are more efficient way. Pokémon is one of the most famous game all over the word, and there are 898 Pokémon in all so far.So there are 898 names.What you need to…
ArosDong
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How do I calculate exponent (x^n) of a certain number (x) without self multiplication and without computers? Any efficient methods?

I have a number 'x' raised to 'n', and I want to calculate the x^n without x.x.x.x....(n times). How do I do that? Is it possible to do it without the tedious self-multiplication? (I mean to do it without computers) I've been suggested using…
DARK Energy
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Yahtzee full house probability

If you roll 5 dices and get three of the same dices, is it better to leave one and roll one or roll two dices? My friend is saying that it is better to leave one and roll another, since that will give you a full house in 1/6 probability. However, I…
Minho Lee
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A very interesting problem.

Complete the following table of mathematical operations, $$\begin{align*}2+2+2&=6\\ 3 \ \quad 3\ \quad 3&=6 \\ 4 \ \quad 4\ \quad 4&=6 \\ 5 \ \quad 5\ \quad 5&=6 \\ 6 \ \quad 6 \ \quad 6&=6 \\ 7 \ \quad 7\ \quad 7&=6 \\ 8 \ \quad 8\ \quad 8&=6 \\ 9…
asd asd
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Length of wire required for a coil length of $x$

I was doing a recent project and was making a coil around a pipe and I was trying to find the length of wire required to make a coil of length $x$ cm. The wire has a thickness of 1cm and the pipe has an outer diametre of 3cm. I wanted to coil the…
lypsettt
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Irrational Conjugates

I know that that $2-\sqrt{3}$ is the irrational conjugate of $2+\sqrt{3}.$ This useful in producing a polynomial with rational coefficients. But what happens if $\pi$ is a root? Can I still make a polynomial with rational coefficients?
COWBOY
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