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F O R K I D S W H O L I K E T O S O LV E P R O B L E M S

Magic Tree

Bridges of Animal World

MPower! MAGA ZINE #3

A Probability Paradox
 Our

STAFF
Editor-in-Chief

CONTENTS Laura Gallus

Contributing Editor
Nina Dubinsky

Contributing Author
Andrey Polin

Bridges of Animal World 1 Art Direction by

Magic Tree 2 KEY

Grades 2 & up
Grades 4 & up
Amusements 4
Grades 6 & up
Master Solver
A Probability Paradox 6
Note from the
EDITOR
M Challenge 9 There is no such thing as a “math
person.” However, a child’s early
learning experiences directly

The Binary System 11

impact their perception of their
mathematics ability. When children
are taught mathematics through fun
and engaging problems, they not
only build fluency in and an intuitive
understanding of mathematics, but
they also develop critical
problem-solving skills.

MPower! was created as a resource

for children who want to flex their
mathematical muscles and show
off their problem-solving ingenuity.
We hope you enjoy the stories and
problems inside.

The RSM Foundation is committed to the promotion of STEM

activities for K-­12 students. With the belief that Mathematics
is the queen of the sciences, the Foundation advocates for
ANSWERS
© 2016 RSM Foundation

the adoption of world­-class standards and supports the

implementation of innovative mathematical programs in a Want to know if your
diverse context across the United States and abroad. The RSM answers are correct?
Foundation strives to develop world leading intellectuals in STEM
fields, who will compete and collaborate across the country. All answers can be found online at:
www.rsmfoundation.org/mpower
©2016 RSM Foundation. All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be
reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means.
Connect with us at:
mpower@rsmfoundation.org
2
Bridges of Animal World

Bridges of Animal World

Animal World, a new zoo, opened in the city
of Euler. The zoo has five main exhibit areas;
each with animals from different continents.
Denis and Kate were excited to see and to
explore the zoo.
“I can’t wait to see the pandas! They are my
favorite animal.” exclaimed Kate.
“Well, I can’t wait to see the lions. They are the
king of the beasts,” replied Denis.
“Let’s get a map then we can figure out which way
to go first.”
“That’s a good idea,” Denis said.
“Wow! This looks really cool,” Denis said
excitedly.
“Look, there are eight bridges in the zoo. You
know what would be fun?” asked Kate.
“What?”
“Let’s see if we can cross each bridge exactly one
time. Then we can go and see the Pandas and
the Lions.”
“Yes, that would be fun. I bet I can figure out how
to do it faster than you can!” Denis challenged.
They both studied the map, and after some
thought, Denis said, “I see how we can do it.”
© 2016 RSM Foundation

However, Kate said, “It’s not possible.”

When they opened the map they could see that
the South America exhibit area is surrounded by
water and is connected to the other exhibit areas
Who is correct?
by bridges.

1
2
© 2016 RSM Foundation Magic Tree
Magic Tree
Once upon a time in a land far away lived
a girl named Esmerelda. Esmerelda loved
to go to the market. One day, she went
to market to get bread and cheese for
her family. While walking through the
market, she came upon an old woman
she had never seen before. The old
woman asked Esmerelda if she would
like to buy a magic seed. Esmerelda
asked what the seed would do. The old
woman said, “From this seed will grow
a tree, and on this tree will grow special
flower blossoms.” Esmerelda was curious
and wanted to see if it was true, so she
agreed to buy the seed.
She ran home to show her family. They looked at
her in disbelief. “You bought a seed! We don’t need
a seed, we need bread and cheese!” shouted her
mother. “This is no ordinary seed,” said Esmerelda
trying to reassure her family. “The seed is magical.
I’ll prove it! I’ll plant the seed, and then you’ll see.”
She ran out to the yard and planted the seed.
She awoke the next morning and looked out her
window. There, where she planted the seed, a
strange looking tree had grown. It had a trunk, just
like a normal tree, but it had only two branches. At
the end of each branch was a cluster of beautiful
flower blossoms. It’s true! It’s true! The seed is
magical. Come and see!” she exclaimed.
Her family was surprised at what they saw.
Although it didn’t seem possible that a tree could
have grown so fast, the proof was right there in
front of their eyes. Esmerelda reached up and
touched a flower blossom. As soon as she did, all
the blossoms transformed to butterflies and flew
away. “This must be what the old woman meant by
‘special flower blossoms’,” Esmerelda thought.
The next morning, she awoke to find that, on
each of the two branches, two new branches had
grown where the cluster of flowers had been. At
the end of each new branch was a new cluster of
flowers with half as many flowers as the morning
before. She and her family were stunned. Again
when she touched a blossom, they all changed to
butterflies and flew away. This puzzled Esmerelda,
but she was a curious girl. She wanted to see what
would happen next.
Every morning she awoke to find that two
new branches had grown from the ends of the
branches where the cluster of flowers had been;
and at the end of each new branch was a cluster of
flower blossoms with half as many blossoms as the
morning before.
On the eighth morning, each new branch had only
one flower. She climbed up the tree and touched
a blossom. This time, instead of butterflies, the
blossoms turned to gold. Esmerelda cut all the
gold blossoms from the tree.
© 2016 RSM Foundation
The next morning the tree was gone.
How many blossoms became butterflies? How
many gold blossoms did Esmerelda cut from the
tree?
3
 Amusements 5

Amusements
1) The numbers from 1 to n are 2) Find the digits A and B.
multiplied together. What is n
ABA
if the prime factorization of the
x AB
product is: 215· 36 · 53 · 72 · 11 · 13?
ABAB

3) What is the 20th term of

the sequence? What is the
nth term?
© 2016 RSM Foundation
4) If you write a number such
that its digits are natural
numbers from 1 to 1000:
3) How many
123456789101112131415…. ,
three-digit multiples of
what is the 100th digit
3 can you make using
you write?
only the
digits 0, 1, 2, 3,

and 4, if no
digits are repeated
in a number?

4

5) A puppy and a kitten together
weigh 24 pounds. A kitten and
a bunny together weigh 11
pounds, and a puppy and a bunny
together weigh 17 pounds.
How many pounds do the three
animals weigh altogether?
7) Fill in only the shapes
so that each
row and column has only
one of each shape.
Amusements
6) Peter Piper picked
half a peck of pickled
peppers. If 16 pints
are in a peck and 64
pints are in a bushel,
how many bushels of
pickled peppers did
Peter Piper pick?
8) Find n (n >0), if
n n n n
n n n n = 500
© 2016 RSM Foundation
5
 A Probability Paradox

A Probability Paradox
By Andrey Polin & Laura Gallus
When you play a game, you often try to find
the best strategy to win. Oftentimes, you
must consider the chances of certain things
happening, or probabilities of events for the
game. Sometimes, however, we encounter games
with counterintuitive probabilities.

A woodland elf liked to play games with travelers passing through

the forest. The elf had three small wooden chests—one was filled
with emeralds and the other two were filled with rocks. One day,
while walking through the forest, you happen upon the elf. He
asks you if you want to play a simple game. To win the game all
you have to do is choose the wooden chest that has the emeralds.
If you win, the elf will give you the emeralds; but if you lose,

you get rocks. Well, you like to play games

too, and since you have nothing to lose, you
agree to play.
You choose one of the wooden chests (call it
Chest #1). After you make your choice, the
elf opens one of the two remaining chests
(call it Chest #3)—one with rocks inside. To
make the game more interesting, after open-
ing the chest with rocks, the elf gives you an
option: either stay with the chest you chose
originally (Chest #1), or switch to the other
remaining unopened chest (call it Chest #2).
What should you do?

You might be thinking, “This is nonsense!

There’s no chance I’d ever meet a woodland
elf in the forest.” But, if you play along and
pretend that this absolutely could happen,
© 2016 RSM Foundation

you’re next thought might be, “It makes no

difference which wooden chest I choose, my
chance of winning is now 50-50 since there
are only two unopened chests remaining—
Chest #1 and Chest #2.” Well, think again!

6
The simple game described above is based on the television game show “Let’s Make a Deal”, and is named for its
original host. It’s called The Monty Hall Problem.

You may be familiar with finding simple probabilities of events. But, to get a full understanding of the solution
of the Monty Hall Problem, let’s look at a couple examples on how to find the probability, or chance, that a specific
event will occur.

Example 1
When we toss a coin, what is the probability it will land head side up?

When we toss a coin, we have two possible outcomes: 1. It will land head side up (H); 2. It will land tail side up (T).
So we have a total of two events (H and T), one of which, (H), is favorable for us. The probability of an event is the
number of all favorable outcomes (or cases that the event occurs) divided by the total number of possible outcomes.
That is,
Number of favorable outcomes
P(event)=
Total number of outcomes

So, the probability of the coin landing head side up is P(Head) = ½.

The probability of an event is always greater than or equal to 0 (meaning the event will not occur), and less than or
equal to 1 (meaning the event is certain to occur). Now stop and think: Suppose you know that the probability of an
event is close, but not equal, to 1. Does it mean that the event will be happen next time without fail? No, the event
can fail!

Example 2
Suppose we toss two coins. What is the probability that at least one of the coins will land head side up?
What is the probability both coins land head side up?
All possible events are: (H, H), (H, T), (T, H), (T, T). The total number of possible outcomes is 4.
Since three events have a head, P(at least one Head) = ¾.
Since only one event has two heads, P(two Heads) = ¼.

Solution of the paradox

Now we return to our version of the Monty Hall Problem. We can find all possible variations of the placing emer-
alds inside wooden chests. We know that the placement of the emeralds does not change during the game. Remem-
ber that after you choose a chest --let's call it Chest #1 --the elf must open one of the two remaining chests: one that
is filled with rocks. The order of the steps here is very important!

The table below shows all possible outcomes:

If you stay with If you switch to

© 2016 RSM Foundation

Chest #1 Chest #2 Chest #3 Chest #1 another chest

Outcome #1 Emeralds Rocks Rocks You win You lose
Outcome #2 Rocks Emeralds Rocks You lose You win
Outcome #3 Rocks Rocks Emeralds You lose You win

7
 A Probability Paradox

Animal All
Note that the result of the game depends only on your final choice. World, a newfrom
outcomes zoo,the
opened in the city of
table are
possible. So we have a total of three possible events, and youEuler.
win inThe
twozoo hasthree
of the five main
eventsexhibit
if you areas; each
with animals from different continents. Denis
switch to the other wooden chest! The probability of winning is 2/3 if you switch to another chest.
and Kate were excited to see and to explore
So, the best strategy is to switch chests!
the zoo.

Not convinced? Let’s put it into perspective. Consider the case in which the elf has 100 wooden
“I can’t wait to see the pandas! They are my
chests—only one of which has emeralds inside. After you choose one chest, the elf must open 98 of the
favorite animal.” exclaimed Kate.
remaining 99 chests—all of which have rocks inside. How likely is it that you selected the chest with
“Well, I can’t wait to see the lions. They are the
the emeralds inside? Do you see why switching makes moreking senseofinthe
this case? (See
beasts,” Problem
replied 1.)
Denis.
“Let’s get a map!” replied Kate. “Then we can
It is very important to remember that the best strategy does figure
not meanoutthat you way
which will win
to gothe game. You
first.”
can lose even if the chance of losing is very small. If the game is played
“That’s many
a good times,
idea,” however,
Denis said. you will
win more often by choosing the best strategy. When they opened the map they could
see that the South America exhibit area is
Still not convinced? Then experiment by playing this game with surrounded
a friend.by water
It is easy and is connected to the
and relatively
other
quick to play. It’s not likely that you have a wooden chest filled withexhibit areas
emeralds by bridges.
lying around the house,
“Wow! This looks really
but you can improvise. For example, use three different objects. Decide which object will cool,”
be Denis said
the win-
excitedly.
ning prize; then, play the game. One of you needs to be the “host” of the game and the other needs to
“Look, there are eight bridges in the zoo. You
be the “contestant”. Play the game many times (at least 30) and record the number of times the contest-
know what would be fun?” asked Kate.
ant wins when they opt for the best strategy. Although the results of your experiment may not yield a
“What?”
probability of winning exactly equal to 2 , the results should be close to it.
3 “Let’s see if we can cross each bridge exactly
one time. Then we can go and see the Pandas
Problem 1. Suppose the elf has 100 wooden chests at the start of the game. What is the probability of
and the Lions.”
winning the game, if you choose the best strategy?
“Yes, that would be fun. I bet I can figure out
how quicker than you can!” Denis challenged.
Problem 2. What is probability of getting at least one head after tossing a coin three times?
They both studied the map, and after some
Problem 3. If you roll two dice and add the numbers, what isthought,
probability the sum
Denis said,is“I 11?
see(Hint: Think
how we can do it.”
However,
how we get 11: 11 = 5 + 6 or 11 = 6 + 5, the first number is result Kateof
of throwing said,
the “It’s
first not possible.”
die and the sec-
ond number is result of throwing of the second die.)
Who is correct?
Problem 4. If you roll a pair of dice and find the sum of the two numbers, which sum do you have a
greater chance of getting: 2 or 11?

Problem 5. What is the probability of getting doubles ( for instance, 4 and 4) after throwing of a pair of dice?
© 2016 RSM Foundation

8 © 2015 RSM Foundation

QUESTION 1 QUESTION 2
In the diagram below, AD = 18 and CB = 24. What is the largest 4-digit number with all
What is the distance between the midpoints different digits that is divisible by 18?
of segments AC and DB?
A C D B

QUESTION 3
What is the area of the triangle formed by the
lines x – y = 0, x – 4y = 0, and 2x + y = 9?
QUESTION 4
In 2016, the Fourth of July is on a Monday.
On what day of the week will the Fourth of
July be in the year 2040?
© 2016 RSM Foundation

9
 MChallenge

QUESTION 5 QUESTION 6
What number is 7 times its ones digit?
Find the value of
when x = 7.

QUESTION 7 QUESTION 8
If of of of a number is n, then what is If you write all the two-digit numbers, how
many times will you write the digit 5?
of this number?
© 2016 RSM Foundation

10
The Binary System
The Binary System
Andrey Polin and Laura Gallus
When you see a number such as 2016,
you’re probably not thinking about numeral
systems. In fact, we use numbers as naturally
as we use our native language. But, what is
a numeral system? Formally, it is a writing
system for expressing numbers. The symbols
we use to express numbers are Arabic
numerals.
Our numeral system is the decimal system.
Introduced in the 12th century, it is the most
widely used numeral system today. The
decimal system is a positional numeral system.
That is, the position of each digit in a number
determines its value. For instance, the digit 2
has a value of 200 in the number 216, but it
has a value of 2000 in the number 2016.
Note: Many different numeral systems were
used throughout human history, but not all
of them were positional numeral systems.
The most well-known of these is the Roman
Numerals: I, II, III, IV, V and so on.
Although the decimal system became the
“standard” system many centuries ago, the
advancement of science, and particularly the
advancement of computer technology, led to
the use of other positional numeral systems
such as the binary system.
What is the difference between the decimal
and the binary system? The decimal system
is a base-10 numeral system, where 10
indicates the number of symbols, or digits,
we use in the system. The first ten whole
numbers are lucky enough to be expressed
using only one digit (and we even call them
one-digit numbers). In fact, we use only
the digits from 0 to 9 in any position of a
number. After we express all the one-digit
numbers, we run out of digits and have to
start combining them. That is, we can count
There are only 10 types of people in
the world: those who understand
binary, and those who don't.
up to nine only; as soon as we get to ten, we call
it “one pile”. From that number on, we record how
many complete “piles” there are in a number, and
how much remains. The binary system is a base-
2 numeral system, which indicates that we use
only two digits in the system. We use the first two
whole numbers to express numbers in the binary
system. That is, we use only the digits 0 and 1 in
any position in a number. In the binary system, we
can count up to 1 before we run out of digits!
Note: The formal notation for a numeral system is
1002, 10010 where the subscript numbers 2 and 10
denote the base of the numeral system.
We use same math theory for binary numbers as
we use for the decimal system. For example:
1) 12 + 12 = 102 and 102 – 12 = 12
2) 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 = 102 + 102 = 1002 and 1002 – 12 =112
3) 1012 × 102 = 10102 and 10102 / 102 = 1012
Converting between the binary and the
decimal systems
Suppose that you see the number 10110002.
Can you quickly estimate the decimal value
of this number? Can you determine its exact
decimal value? We show here methods to convert
numbers from the binary system to the decimal
and backward.
Method 1: To convert a number in the binary
system to a number in the decimal system, we use
the binary number written in expanded form.
For example, we can write the number 10110002
as: 1×1026 + 0×1025 + 1×1024 + 1×1023 + 0x1022 +
0x1021 + 0x1020 .
© 2016 RSM Foundation
Since 102 = 210 = 2, we rewrite the sum above in
the decimal system as: 1×26 + 0×25 + 1×24 + 1×23
+ 0×22 + 0×21 + 0×20 = 64 + 0 + 16 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 0
= 88. Therefore, 10110002 = 8810.
11
 The Binary System
This method helps us to quickly estimate
the decimal value of a binary number,
which is always greater than or equal to
2n-1 and less than 2n, where n is number
of digits of the binary number. (In our
example: 10110002 is greater than or equal
to 26 = 64 and less than 27 = 128).
Method 1 also gives us a way to convert
the decimal number to the binary system.
Simply express the number as the sum of
powers of 2, and then write 1 if the power
was used and 0 of it was not used to write
this number in binary. For example:
26 25 24 23 22 21 20
64 32 16 8 4 2 1
88 = 64 +16 +8
1 0 1 1 0 0 0
So, 8810=10110002
This way of conversion is good to use for
small numbers. But what if you need to
convert 234567810 to the binary system?
The above method of conversion will work,
though it may be more difficult since you
need to know large powers of 2. We can
use a second method of conversion for any
number expressed in base-10.
Method 2: To convert a number in the
decimal system to a number in the binary
system, we use take all the remainders
when the given number in the decimal
system is divided by 2 (the base of the
binary system). When we divide a number
by 2, the remainder of the division will be
either 0 or 1. In this method we repeatedly
divide the given number in the decimal
system by 2 (the base of the binary
© 2016 RSM Foundation
system) until we get a quotient of 0. The
remainders (taken from last to first) are the
digits of the number in the binary system.
12
Let’s convert the number 8810 to a number in
the binary system.
88 ÷ 2 = 44 + 0 (first remainder)
44 ÷ 2 = 22 + 0
22 ÷ 2 = 11 + 0
11 ÷ 2 = 5 + 1
5 ÷ 2 = 2 + 1
2 ÷ 2 = 1 + 0
1 ÷ 2 = 0 + 1 (last remainder)
Now we write all reminders from “last to
first”, which gives 8810 = 10110002.
Divisibility and the binary system
The binary system can help to solve many
math problems. We show below a set of
divisibility problems for decimal numbers
that can be solved surprisingly quickly with
the help of the binary system. “Divisibility”
reminds us of the divisibility rules. Before the
set of problems we show some divisibility
rules in the binary system.
1) Divisibility by 2. Since the binary system does
not have the digit 2, we rewrite this rule as
divisibility by 102. We divide a binary number
by 102 in the same way we divide a decimal
number by 1010. Thus we get the divisibility
rule: a binary number is divisible by 210 = 102, if
the last digit of this binary number is 0.
2) Divisibility by 3. Again, because 310 = 112 we
will use the divisibility rule by 11 from the
decimal system, but for the binary numbers.
Thus we get the divisibility rule: a binary
number is divisible by 310 = 112 if the alternating
sum of its digits is divisible by 310 (or 112). It is
easy to apply this rule for a particular number.
For example, let’s see if 111111101012 is
divisible by 112. The alternating sum of its
digits is: 1-1+1-1+1-1+1-0+1-0+1 = 3 (or 112).
So, 111111101012 is divisible by 310 = 112.
3) Divisibility by 4. Because 410 = 1002 we get
the divisibility rule: a binary number is divisible
by 410 = 1002 if the last two digits of this binary
number is 00.
For each other divisor we must consider the
binary form of the divisor to determine a
divisibility rule in the binary system.
The Binary System

Now we show the set of divisibility problems.
Problem 1: For which natural numbers n is 2n – 1
divisible by 3?
Solution: We can rewrite the problem using the
binary system.
Problem 3: Prove that 2n + 1 is not divisible by
7 for any natural number n.
Solution: We have that (2n + 1)10 = 10 … 012
But 10 … 012 is not divisible by 1112 (check it
on your own). So, 2n + 1 is not divisible by 7 for
any natural number n.

The number (2n – 1)10 in the binary system is: Finally, we offer a few additional problems to
(2n – 1)10 = (10n -1)2 = 10 … 02 - 12 = 11 ... 12 solve on your own.
n zeroes n ones
The number 310 equals 112 in the binary system.
We consider two cases: Problem 4: A student says, “I am 1100
years old and I am a 111th grader.” Can you
a. n = 2k + 1 (n – an odd number) then: “translate” it?
11 … 12 = 11 … 102 + 12 .
2k+1 ones 2k ones
Problem 5: Fill out an empty multiplication
The first number is divisible by 112 , but 12 is not
table for the binary system.
divisible by 112, so 11 … 12 is not divisible by 112
if n = 2k + 1. 0 1 10 11 100
0
b. n = 2k (n – an even number) then: 111...12 is
1
divisible by 112 .
10
11
So 2n – 1 is divisible by 3 if n = 2k.
100

This problem can be easily solved by some standard

methods. However, it is better to use the binary
Problem 6: Is the number
system in the next two problems.
1010101010101010102 divisible by
610 = 1102?
Problem 2: For which natural numbers n is 2n – 1
divisible by 7?

Problem 7: For which natural number n is

Solution: Again, we rewrite the number
2n – 1 divisible by 15?
(2n – 1)10 in the binary system as:
(2n – 1)10 = (10n – 1)2 = 11 … 12.
n ones

The number 710 equals 1112. Now we have three

cases: n = 3k, n = 3k +1, n = 3k +2. Similarly to
problem 1, we prove that 11 … 12 is divisible by
© 2016 RSM Foundation

1112 if and only if n = 3k.

So 2n – 1 is divisible by 7 if n = 3k.

13
At the RSM Foundation, we believe that
there is no such thing as a “math person.”
When introduced logically, slowly, and with excitement,
all children can learn math and appreciate its beauty and
importance in the world around them.
But what is math? It’s more than numbers and calculation. From identifying the fastest
line in the supermarket to helping a knight slay a dragon with instantly regenerating
heads, math is a pathway to higher-level thinking and reasoning. It provides the
tools you need to analyze, understand, and solve complex problems. It plays a
critical role in the development of logical thinking in young minds.

Have suggestions or questions about MPower! ?

Please email mpower@rsmfoundation.org

Answers can be found at: www.rsmfoundation.org/mpower