Amusements in Mathematics eBook

Henry Dudeney
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 597 pages of information about Amusements in Mathematics.

Amusements in Mathematics eBook

Henry Dudeney
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 597 pages of information about Amusements in Mathematics.

118.—­CIRCLING THE SQUARES.

Though this problem might strike the novice as being rather difficult, it is, as a matter of fact, quite easy, and is made still easier by inserting four out of the ten numbers.

First, it will be found that squares that are diametrically opposite have a common difference.  For example, the difference between the square of 14 and the square of 2, in the diagram, is 192; and the difference between the square of 16 and the square of 8 is also 192.  This must be so in every case.  Then it should be remembered that the difference between squares of two consecutive numbers is always twice the smaller number plus 1, and that the difference between the squares of any two numbers can always be expressed as the difference of the numbers multiplied by their sum.  Thus the square of 5 (25) less the square of 4 (16) equals (2 x 4) + 1, or 9; also, the square of 7 (49) less the square of 3 (9) equals (7 + 3) x (7 — 3), or 40.

Now, the number 192, referred to above, may be divided into five different pairs of even factors:  2 x 96, 4 x 48, 6 x 32, 8 x 24, and 12 x 16, and these divided by 2 give us, 1 x 48, 2 x 24, 3 x 16, 4 x 12, and 6 x 8.  The difference and sum respectively of each of these pairs in turn produce 47, 49; 22, 26; 13, 19; 8, 16; and 2, 14.  These are the required numbers, four of which are already placed.  The six numbers that have to be added may be placed in just six different ways, one of which is as follows, reading round the circle clockwise:  16, 2, 49, 22, 19, 8, 14, 47, 26, 13.

I will just draw the reader’s attention to one other little point.  In all circles of this kind, the difference between diametrically opposite numbers increases by a certain ratio, the first numbers (with the exception of a circle of 6) being 4 and 6, and the others formed by doubling the next preceding but one.  Thus, in the above case, the first difference is 2, and then the numbers increase by 4, 6, 8, and 12.  Of course, an infinite number of solutions may be found if we admit fractions.  The number of squares in a circle of this kind must, however, be of the form 4n + 6; that is, it must be a number composed of 6 plus a multiple of 4.

119.—­RACKBRANE’S LITTLE LOSS.

The professor must have started the game with thirteen shillings, Mr.
Potts with four shillings, and Mrs. Potts with seven shillings.

120.—­THE FARMER AND HIS SHEEP.

The farmer had one sheep only!  If he divided this sheep (which is best done by weight) into two parts, making one part two-thirds and the other part one-third, then the difference between these two numbers is the same as the difference between their squares—­that is, one-third.  Any two fractions will do if the denominator equals the sum of the two numerators.

121.—­HEADS OR TAILS.

Crooks must have lost, and the longer he went on the more he would lose.  In two tosses he would be left with three-quarters of his money, in four tosses with nine-sixteenths of his money, in six tosses with twenty-seven sixty-fourths of his money, and so on.  The order of the wins and losses makes no difference, so long as their number is in the end equal.

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Amusements in Mathematics from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.