MT

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MT

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UKMT

United Kingdom
Mathematics Trust

Mentoring Scheme
Supported by

Pythagoras
Sheet 2

Questions

This programme of the Mentoring Scheme is named after Pythagoras of Samos (c. 569–475 BCE).
See http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Pythagoras.html for more information.

If you are unfamiliar with a topic, you may find it useful to refer to the ‘notes for mentees’, which are
designed to provide helpful information for the earlier levels of the mentoring scheme. They are available
from the UKMT Mentoring Scheme page: https://www.ukmt.org.uk/enrichment/mentoring-scheme

These questions may be used freely within your school or college. You may, without further permission,
post them on a website that is accessible only to staff and students of the school or college, print out
and distribute copies within the school or college, and use them in the classroom. If you wish to use
them in any other way, please consult us. © UK Mathematics Trust

Enquiries about the Mentoring Scheme should be sent to:

Mentoring Scheme, UK Mathematics Trust, School of Mathematics,
University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT
T 0113 343 2339 mentoring@ukmt.org.uk www.ukmt.org.uk

Version 1.1, Nov 2019

UKMT Mentoring Scheme Questions Pythagoras, Sheet 2

1. Without using decimal equivalents (or a calculator), prove that these three fractions are arranged in
order of size, largest first:
6 7 8
11 13 15
2. The sum of two numbers is 80. One is four times the other. What are they?
3. You travel the first 48 miles of a journey at an average speed of 36 mph and the second 48 miles at an
average speed of v mph. What is v if you average 45 mph over the whole 96 mile journey?
4. Beth has 4 of her friends round for a sleepover. She puts two airbeds down in her own bedroom while a
second bedroom has two beds. In how many ways can they split themselves between the two bedrooms
if she decides not to sleep in her own bed? (Note that this question does not ask in how many ways can
they arrange themselves in the beds.)
5. How many triangles are there in this figure?
If the diagram were based on half of a 5 by 5 square instead of half of a 4 by 4 square, how many extra
triangles would there be?

6. New Year’s Day in 2019 was on a Tuesday. On what day will New Year’s Day be in 2119?
(Try to work it out without asking Google!)
7. When we write 789 in decimal, we mean 7 hundreds plus 8 tens plus 9 ones. We write abc10 to mean
the number 100a + 10b + c (and not a multiplied by b multiplied by c, as in normal algebra).
Show that if a + b + c is divisible by 9, then abc10 is also divisible by 9. Show the converse too: if
abc10 is divisible by 9, then so is a + b + c.
This gives us a test for determining whether a three-digit number is divisible by 9. Generalise this test
to numbers with any number of digits.
8. In this figure, △ABC is right-angled at A, and AB < AC. BCDE is a square.
F is on AC so that ∠ AFE = 90◦ , G is on E F so that ∠BGE = 90◦ .
Prove that AFGB is a square.
A

B C

E D

8. You are advised to draw in the extra lines on the diagram.

© UK Mathematics Trust www.ukmt.org.uk

UKMT Mentoring Scheme Questions Pythagoras, Sheet 2

This page is for mentors, and gives suggestions for supporting their students. If your mentee has found the
first sheet at the Pythagoras level quite easy, you may consider moving him/her up to the Hypatia level. If
so, please contact the UKMT office.
1. The way that most students will tackle this is the first one on the solution sheet. You would be advised
to check that a student can write this out explaining how the calculations confirm the correct order.
There are two other methods also suggested on the solution sheet which you might wish to share with
your mentee.
2. Students might benefit from formulating this problem algebraically.
3. Algebra gets in the way. It is easier to work out the total time for the journey as the first step.
4. The wording is attempting to prevent students giving the answer 4 × 4! = 96.
5. The answer may give a student a clue how to generalise the solution to larger figures, perhaps even to
half an n by n square. Marking the right angles of each of the triangles with dots may help a student to
view this problem in a different light. Some insight might be gained by reflecting the overall triangle in
the diagonal (or a line parallel to the diagonal).
6. The objective is to get students to think that every leap year, the day on which the following 1st January
falls advances 2 days rather than 1 day round the 7 days of the week. Another way of thinking about
this is that every four years 1st January advances 5 days round the week. As 2100 is not a leap year, an
adjustment must be made for advancing only 4 days across the change of century.
7. Can the student write a clear simple proof which convinces the reader?
8. Geometry is a topic where students frequently waffle their way through the problem. They do not have
to use the words ‘similar’ or ‘congruent’ but it helps! Somehow they need to convince the reader that
△BGE is congruent to △BAC. Concentrating on the angles around B should do the job.
Some students may feel more comfortable with transforming figures, e.g., by rotation. There are traps
in doing it this way. A student may make some assumption about the position of G before they complete
the necessary proof.

© UK Mathematics Trust www.ukmt.org.uk