Fun & games in the working

Paraphrasing Terence, one could say: “Mathematics is a human work, and nothing human is alien to it”. The purpose of these games in the working could not be more more humane: to provide a few moments of relaxation and entertainment for those who like to solve puzzles and challenges of a more or less mathematical nature. But that is not all. Faithful to Terence’s quote, each problem will be enriched with an introduction that, on the one hand, will place it in society -either now or at another historical moment- and, on the other hand, will serve to generate reflection and discussion on certain aspects of society itself. In other words, these amusements will be much more than mathematical. Because, to paraphrase again: “The brain is only the second favourite organ of mathematicians”.

Introductions by Antonio Durán, Francisco Javier Carrillo, Alberto Castaño and Julia Martínez
Fun & games by Francisco Javier Carrillo, Alberto Castaño, Manuel Delgado, Julia Martínez and Juan Núñez.

Numbered houses

29 May, 2020 0

The workings As those who have come across set theory at some point know, counting is nothing more than a particular way of establishing a bijection between some set and a special set, such as […]

Solution: Numbered houses

28 May, 2020 0

Here is the solution to the numbered houses divertimento. The fun The conversation between two mathematicians exchanging home addresses goes as follows: –What is the number of your house? –In my street the houses are numbered […]

Trapezoids

1 May, 2020 10

The workings Last fortnight we proposed to our dear readers a very cheap activity, without much difficulty and that could be done in any home (whether there were stackable cubes or not is another story). […]

Solution: Trapezoids

30 April, 2020 0

This is the solution to the Trapezoids divertimento. The fun Given two positive integers \(a\) and \(b\), the relations existing between their different Pythagorean means (arithmetic, geometric and harmonic) and their quadratic mean are well known, […]

Four chess pieces

13 December, 2019 0

The workings Fun & games in the working is taking a short (and well-deserved?) Christmas break; we’ll be back in the new year. To spend the holidays we thought we would talk about chess. And […]

Solution: Four chess pieces

12 December, 2019 0

We publish here the solution to the four chess pieces divertimento. The fun A chessboard has size \(n \times n\), with \(n >1\). What is the smallest number of pieces to place on the board to […]

Playing with triangles

29 November, 2019 0

The workings Three horses pull better than two. This obvious idea is one of the keys to the popularity of the troika, a Russian draught created in the 17th century that allowed a single person […]

Solution: playing with triangles

28 November, 2019 0

We are publishing here the solution to the divertimento Playing with triangles.  The fun A figure consisting of an equilateral triangle and a line parallel to one side passing through its centre is given. A […]

Single-dose tablets

18 October, 2019 0

The workings Who hasn’t recommended taking an ibuprofen tablet for a headache? In January this year, Stewart Adams, who is considered to be its inventor, died. The truth is that the discovery was the work […]

Solution: single-dose tablets

17 October, 2019 0

This is the solution to the divertimento Single-dose tablets.  The fun A bottle contains 50 single-dose tablets of a medicine and 50 double-dose tablets. On arrival, each patient randomly takes out a pill; if it […]