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.

Forgotten formula

6 April, 2018 0

The workings In today’s Divertimento, a student faces a maths exam. Maths tests are often associated with a certain amount of stress and anxiety, but usually do not reach the levels that Professor Igor Tamm […]

Solution: Forgotten formula

5 April, 2018 0

We publish here the solution to the divertimento Forgotten formula. The fun A student taking an exam on the applications of Trigonometry is asked for the area of a trapezoid of which the two bases […]

Conversations during the Last Supper

23 March, 2018 0

The workings There has been much debate as to whether Judas was free to decide to betray Jesus Christ, or whether it was imposed on him by divine command that Christ had to be sacrificed. […]

Solution: Conversations during the Last Supper

22 March, 2018 0

This is the solution to the Divertimento Conversations during the last supper. The fun A group of \(n\) people agree to have dinner together on different evenings. Each time they sit around a round table […]

Three portions of cheese

23 February, 2018 0

The Workings We have a new divertimento of culinary sharing. As we already said in Balanced division of a sandwich, “balanced divisions are often far from being innocent problems, especially if issues of economic redistribution […]

Solution: Three portions of cheese

22 February, 2018 0

We publish the solution to the Three Pieces of Cheese divertimento. The Fun Three friends buy a cheese weighing 1800 g. The first of them cuts it into three pieces. The second decides to weigh […]

Three-way billiards

12 January, 2018 3

The Workings Today’s divertimento features the game of billiards, whose history has a vague origin. There is a widespread belief about the invention of this game, which points to a dispute between the English and […]

Solution: Three-way billiards

11 January, 2018 0

We are publishing the solution to the divertimento Three-way billiards. The Fun Billiards is a game or sport that raises interesting questions. Today we pose the following one. We consider a billiard table, \(OABC\), where \(OC=AB=2\) […]

Christmas Lunch

15 December, 2017 0

The workings The Fun and Games area is going to take a well-deserved holiday. But not before proposing a special divertimento to help you get through the Christmas season. It has to do with the […]

Solution: Christmas lunch

14 December, 2017 0

We publish here the solution to the divertimento Christmas lunch. The Fun A chef is about to slaughter a turkey for Christmas dinner, but the animal revolts and escapes. The cook, surprised, takes a few […]