Maths Challenge

Upper Primary: Years 5–6

Practice Problem

UP6: Bracelets

Sam makes bracelets by threading beads on a chain. The

beads are identical except for colour. After threading the
beads, he closes the chain by twisting together the two links
at the ends to form a continuous chain. Two bracelets are
considered the same if one is a rotation or reflection (flip) of
the other.

a. Sam chose to make several bracelets each having 4 beads:

1 red and each of the others either black or white. How many
different bracelets could he make?

b. Next Sam makes several bracelets each having 4 beads and

each bead is either black or white. How many different
bracelets could he make?

c. Next Sam makes several bracelets each having 5 beads: 1

red and each of the others either black or white. How many
different bracelets could he make?

d. Next Sam makes several bracelets each having 5 beads and

each bead is either black or white. How many different
bracelets could he make?

© Copyright 2017 Australian Maths Trust 1.

 Solutions

a. There are 6 different bracelets as shown in the diagram. The

grey dot represents the red bead.

b. There are 6 different bracelets.

c. There are 10 different bracelets.

© Copyright 2017 Australian Maths Trust 2.

 c. There are 8 different bracelets.

© Copyright 2017 Australian Maths Trust 3.