This is a roundup of things which happened at Manchester MathsJam, February 2012.
First, we discuss a puzzle I found on Futility Closet, a blog of curiosities by Greg Ross which is sometimes mathematical. The Martian Census Bureau compiled the marital history of every male and female Martian, living and dead: Never married: 6,823,041; Married once: 7,354,016; Married twice: 1,600,897; Married three times: 171,013; Married four times: 2,682. What’s wrong with these figures?
February’s MathsJam was loads of fun! We had a record attendance of 14 cheery people who just about managed to fit around the biggest table in the Charles Grey.
After last month’s puzzlocalypse, which left me for over a week unable to count the toes on my feet, I wanted to have a nice relaxed evening.
Click here to continue reading Newcastle MathsJam February 2012 Recap on cp’s mathem-o-blog
A new episode of the Math/Maths Podcast has been released.
A conversation about mathematics between the UK and USA from Pulse-Project.org. This week Samuel and Peter spoke about: The Recent Difficulties with RSA; Do we need a maths museum?; Brian Schmidt’s Mathematical Arguement; IBM claims most PhD mathematicians in its employ; Maths grads teaching alert; John Nash’s Letters to the NSA; The mathematical equation that caused the banks to crash; Rapunzel’s Number: Science behind ponytail revealed; EPSRC Shaping Capabilities; Maths Jam; & more.
Get this episode: “Math/Maths 86: Complex Pony Tails“
Katie Steckles has released Puzzlebomb 2. If you missed it, Puzzlebomb 1 was released last month and caused some entertainment at my local Maths Jam. These puzzle sheets contain original puzzles.
The solutions for Puzzlebomb 1 have also been released.
January’s MathsJam was a bit massive. It’s now a week later and I’ve only just gathered enough thoughts together to do this writeup.
There were nine of us this month, all but one of whom either maths students or lecturers. A major theme of the night was of professional mathematicians or nearly-professional mathematicians forgetting basic high-school methods. This led to quite an intense session of puzzling and proving.
Things didn’t start out that way, though. A few weeks ago I found the website of a mathematician in Illinois called Alan Schoen, and his page about Lominoes. They’re a pretty interesting set of shapes!
Click here to continue reading Newcastle MathsJam January 2012 Recap on cp’s mathem-o-blog
At Maths Jam Nottingham January 2012, Kathryn brought this puzzle.
Kathryn has a cube made of cheese. Her question is simple: What is the smallest number of tetrahedra (not necessarily regular) that you can cut the cube into, leaving no cheese left over?
If you think you’ve solved this, see the solution page below for a follow on question.
For occasional puzzles from Nottingham Maths Jam meetings are tagged so you can search for “mathsjam” and find them.
It is important in problem solving that you have an honest attempt before reading a solution. Once someone has shown you the solution you are forever robbed of the chance to have that experience (in future you will half-remember the solution rather than reason it out) so it is important that you attempt this puzzle before reading the solution. If you are ready, check out: Kathryn’s cube of cheese solution.
N.B. I assume the puzzles written about are old puzzles. They are brought to Maths Jam meetings, or half remembered at the time, by attendees. If I have done something wrong by posting a puzzle here please tell me and I will be happy to correct the mistake.
At Maths Jam Nottingham January 2012, Jon brought this puzzle.
You have three pairs of coloured balls – 2 each of red, white and blue. Within each pair one ball is heavy and one is light but you do not know which. All three heavy balls are equally heavy and all three light balls are equal weight too.
Q: What is the minimum number of weighings needed to identify each ball?
A: 1 is fairly clearly impossible. 3 is trivial (weigh each pair separately). So, in order for us to have an interesting puzzle the answer must be 2.
Q: How can it be done in 2?
For a while Christian Perfect has suggested that Maths Jam local organisers write blog posts based on what went on at their meetings. Rather than write a wholesale account of what happened at each meeting once a month I have decided to drop occasional puzzles from Nottingham Maths Jam meetings into this blog. I will tag these posts so you can search for “mathsjam” and find them.
It is important in problem solving that you have an honest attempt before reading a solution. Once someone has shown you the solution you are forever robbed of the chance to have that experience (in future you will half-remember the solution rather than reason it out) so it is important that you attempt this puzzle before reading the solution. For this reason I will post the solution separately. I will post this as a ‘Page’ since I don’t think they appear in the blog stream so you have a reduced chance of inadvertently stumbling upon it. Jon’s coloured balls solution.
N.B. I assume the puzzles written about are old puzzles. They are brought to Maths Jam meetings, or half remembered at the time, by attendees. If I have done something wrong by posting a puzzle here please tell me and I will be happy to correct the mistake.