Puzzles to test mathematical skills, set by Anita Straker. Solutions below More brainteasers on www.tes.co.ukteacherbrainteasers
Two triangles
Take two congruent obtuse-angled scalene triangles.
How many different shapes can you make by fitting both triangles together edge to edge?
Reversing the digits
Find a four-digit number such that the number formed by reversing the digits is four times the original number.
ABCD x 4 = DCBA
SOLUTIONS Two triangles (ages 7 to 10) You can make three different parallelograms, a kite and two different inverted kites or deltas.
Reversing the digits (ages 10 to 14) The number is 2178. A must be even because D x 4 gives a number whose units digit is A. A must be 2 because A x 4 plus any carry figure from the hundreds gives a number less than 10. So D could be 8 or 9. D must be 8 because 8 x 4 ends in 2 and 9 x 4 does not.
B x 4 gives a number less than 10 since there is no carry figure to the thousands. B must be different from A, so B is 1. We now have 21C8 x 4 = 8C12. C must be 7 since it is the only digit which, when multiplied by 4 and 3 added, gives a number ending in 1.
