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Mathematics Trust

Mentoring Scheme
Supported by

Pythagoras
Sheet 6

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, Mar 2020

UKMT Mentoring Scheme Questions Pythagoras, Sheet 6

1. At most how many Mondays can there be in 45 consecutive days?

2. How many digits are there in the smallest number composed entirely of fives (for example, 5555555)
that is divisible by 99?
3. Calculate the sum 1 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 5 + 5 + · · · + 34 + 34 + 35 + 35 + 36.
4. You have two jugs with capacities of exactly 7 litres and 5 litres, and a tap for a supply of water. Using
only these jugs, you have to pour into a bottle (capacity about 1 12 litres) with exactly 1 litre of water.
A jug may be filled to the top from the tap or from the other jug, a jug may be entirely poured into the
other jug if there is sufficient space available, or a jug may be completely emptied.
How do you pour exactly 1 litre of water into the bottle?
5. Matthew sends an encrypted message to Eman by using an agreed key word which has no letter
repeated, e.g. XIHLBW. He replaces an original ‘a’ with X, ‘b’ with I, ‘c’ with H, ‘d’ with L, ‘e’
with B and ‘f’ with W, then he continues through the remaining letters of the alphabet. He replaces ‘g’
with Y (which is the next unused letter after W), ‘h’ with Z, and then he continues from the start of the
alphabet so that ‘i’ is replaced with A, ‘j’ with C and so on until the substitution cypher is complete.
What letter does he replace with R?
Matthew and Eman challenge Hayley to decrypt their messages. Hayley knows their system and that
they are using a six letter key word. How may possible such keywords are there?
6. Mandy tries a card ‘trick’ on her friends. Out of sight, she arranges eight cards numbered 1 to 8 face
down in a specific order. She hands the pack face-down to one of her friends and gives them these
instructions:
(a) Turn over the top card and lay it face up on the table.
(b) Transfer the (new) top card to the bottom of the pack.
(c) Repeat (a) and (b) in turn until all the cards have been laid out on the table.
What original card order did she use to make the cards come out in order from 1 to 8?
Can you use the method you have found to do this for cards numbered 1 to 16?
7. In the rectangle 𝐴𝐵𝐶𝐷, 𝐴𝐵 = 4 and 𝐵𝐶 = 2. Let 𝐸 be the midpoint of the side 𝐵𝐶, and let 𝐴𝐸 cut
𝐵𝐷 at 𝐹. Prove that ∠𝐵𝐶𝐹 = 45°.
𝐷 𝐶

𝐸
𝐹
𝐴 𝐵

8. In the summer term, Sal walks to school starting soon after 7 am when the hour hand is at an angle of
110◦ to the minute hand. She arrives at school before 8 am when the hands are again at an angle of
110◦ to each other. How many minutes does she take to walk to school?
moves than the hour hand.
8. You do not need to work out the time at which Sal leaves her house. Consider how much faster the minute hand

extra points if you need them.

7. Look for similar triangles. Find out in what ratio the point 𝐹 divides both the lines 𝐸 𝐴 and 𝐵𝐷. Add a few

6. Just try it!

3. Have you seen triangle numbers illustrated with dot patterns?

© UK Mathematics Trust www.ukmt.org.uk

UKMT Mentoring Scheme Questions Pythagoras, Sheet 6

This page is for mentors, and gives suggestions for supporting their students. If your mentee has found the
Pythagoras level sheets quite easy, you may consider moving him/her up to the Hypatia level. If so, please
contact the UKMT office.
1. This could also be followed up with the question of how few Mondays there can be, and whether there
is a time period in which there are always the same number of Mondays. This might lead to the ideas
of the floor and ceiling of a number.
2. Students should know the rule for divisibility by 9. There is a rule for divisibility by 11 which is less
well known but not needed in this case. This rule is: if alternately adding and subtracting successive
digits in a number gives a multiple of 11 (including zero), then the number is divisible by 11, otherwise
it is not.
3. No formula is needed for this question. Encourage students to build on the hint given.
4. An interesting discussion point that might arise is whether this can be done with any sizes of jug. In
this case, 5 and 7 are prime. Is this important?
5. This is a modified form of the Caesar cipher. It is relatively easy to break with frequency analysis.
6. The extension to 16 cards can be thought of as a form of induction.
7. A more sophisticated way of finding this result is to note that proving 𝐵𝐹 : 𝐹 𝐷 = 𝐵𝐶 : 𝐶𝐷 leads to
the angle bisector theorem for a triangle. This states that 𝐶𝐹 must bisect ∠𝐵𝐶𝐷. The important data is
that 𝐴𝐵 = 2 × 𝐵𝐶. More generally 𝐴𝐵𝐶𝐷 does not have to be rectangle: it could be a parallelogram.
Then the result to be proved is that 𝐶𝐹 bisects ∠𝐵𝐶𝐷.
8. The more sophisticated solution pointed at in the hints uses the idea of relative motion. This is quite an
intricate concept but is worth spending time getting to grips with.

© UK Mathematics Trust www.ukmt.org.uk