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.

Birthday problem

6 September, 2019 0

The workings Everyone has at least once in their life attended a friend or family member’s birthday party and has probably sung the well-known and famous song “Happy Birthday To You”, considered the most popular […]

Solution: 2019

5 September, 2019 0

The fun Prove that if \(x\) and \(y\) are positive integers such that \(x + y = 2019\), then \(x \cdot y\) is not divisible by \(2019\). Prove that the same is true for any […]

Solution: Birthday problem

5 September, 2019 2

This is the solution to the Birthday problem. The fun Three friends, Javi, Juan and Manolo, all mathematicians, want to celebrate the third anniversary of the presentation of the IMUS Blog by a mutual friend, […]

2019

21 June, 2019 0

The workings Now that the year 2019 is halfway through, it is time to propose an amusement in which this number is the leading character. On this occasion, the idea is to separate the number […]

Geometric construction of Pi

8 March, 2019 1

The Workings To commemorate the approaching Pi Day, we propose a problem about a geometric construction of Pi. We recall that a number is algebraic if it is a root of a polynomial with integer […]

Solution: geometric construction of Pi

7 March, 2019 0

We publish here the solution to the divertimento about the geometric construction of pi. The problem is extracted from a paper by Thomas Osler. Divertimento Justify the following construction: Draw the unit square and the […]

Who killed David?

14 December, 2018 0

The workings Many years ago, the Sociedad Andaluza de Educación Matemática SAEM THALES (Andalusian Society of Mathematical Education) published a series of booklets aimed at secondary and high school students in the schools and colleges […]

Solution: Who killed David?

13 December, 2018 0

We publish here the solution to the divertimento Who killed David?. The fun Detective O’Thales and his assistant Mathson were asked by the police to help them solve a mysterious murder that had taken place […]

Beetles

2 June, 2018 0

The workings Today’s Divertimento fills our blog with beetles, bugs that for me are more literary than real. I remember reading Edgar Allan Poe’s The Golden Beetle (1843) when I was eleven or twelve, and […]

Solution: Beetles

1 June, 2018 0

We publish the solution to the Beetles divertimento. This problem was proposed by Jean-Paul Delahaye, based on an earlier problem popularised by Peter Winkler. The fun Nine beetles are placed in a circular loop whose […]