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| For more advanced mathematical problems please see the Advanced Scientific Mathematics section. For advanced activities more directly based around specific mathematical applications, please see bioNRICH , chemNRICH , physNRICH or engNRICH | |||
| Area of maths | Style | Question | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers | Big and Small Numbers in Biology | 10 individual questions using numbers big and small to calculate or estimate various quantities in simple biological contexts. | |
| Big and Small Numbers in Physics | 10 individual questions using numbers big and small to calculate or estimate various quantities in simple contexts relevant to physics. | ||
| Constantly Changing | Many physical constants are only known to a certain accuracy. Explore the numerical error bounds in the mass of water and its constituents. | ||
| Peaches Today, Peaches Tomorrow | A little monkey had 60 peaches. On the first day he kept 3/4 of his peaches, gave the rest away and then ate one. On the second day he kept 7/11 .... How many did he have left at the end? | ||
| See also, in particular, the Dilution and Proportional Reasoning problems on the chemNRICH pages | |||
| Algebra, equations and graphs | Temperature | Is there a temperature at which Celsius and Fahrenheit readings are the same on a thermometer? | |
| How Far Does it Move? | Experiment with the interactivity of "rolling" regular polygons, and explore how the different positions of the red dot affects the distance it travels at each stage. | ||
| What's that graph? | Which graphs, equations and physical processes go together? | ||
| Dangerous Driver | Was this driver dangerous? Was the penalty ticker issued in error? | ||
| Whose Line Graph is it Anyway? | Which line graphs, equations and processes go together? | ||
| Geometry and symmetry | Air Nets | Practise your skills of visualisation by watching these nets unfold before your eyes. | |
| Efficient Packing | How will you go about calculation to pack small circles into a large square? | ||
| Ball Bearings | If a is the radius of the axle, b the radius of each ball-bearing, and c the radius of the hub, why does the number of ball bearings n determine the ratio c/a? Find a formula for c/a in terms of n. | ||
| Curve fitting and sketching | Real-life Equations | Relate these commonly used equations to points on a series of graphs. Which are possible and which are not? | |
| Equation Matcher | A series of graphs are given containing just 2 or 3 points. Which equations do the points rule out? | ||
| Maths Filler | Can you work out how to make height-time charts as these unusually shaped vessels are filled up? | ||
| Curve Match | Can you match these curves to the graphs? | ||
| Approximations and estimations | More or Less? | 10 individual questions asking you to assess the accuracy of a variety of scientific estimates. | |
| Approximately Certain | Estimate these curious quantities sufficiently accurately that you can rank them in order of size | ||
| Global Warming | How much energy has gone into warming up the planet? | ||
| Carbon Footprints | Is it really greener to go on the bus, or to buy locally produced food? | ||
| Powers and roots | A Question of Scale | This interactive page allows you to test your knowledge and skill using powers of 10 to place physical quantities in order of size. | |
| Power Countdown | Try to hit the targets using the operations of powers and roots. | ||
| Data handling | Data Matching | Use your skill and judgement to match the sets of random data | |
| Odd One Out | Develop your eye for patterns in data by trying to deduce the likely location of the odd ones out in six sets of random numbers | ||
| Back Fitter | 10 graphs are of noisy experimental data are given. Can you use the spreadsheet provided to find algebraic graphs which match them closely? | ||
| Trigonometry | Far Horizon | An observer is on top of a lighthouse. How far from the foot of the lighthouse is the horizon that the observer can see? | |
| Solar Eclipses | Explore the mathematics behind the concepts of solar eclipses across the solar system. | ||
| Units | Uniform Units | Can you choose your units so that a cube has the same numerical value for it volume, surface area and total edge length? | |
| Bigger or Smaller? | Develop your intuition for changing units by asking the simple question: will a unit change give me a larger or smaller number? | ||
| Choose Your Units | Which would be the most sensible units in which to measure these objects? | ||
| General mathematics | NRICH Starter Problem Selection | A list of introductory mathematical problems which will give a good general grounding in rich mathematical thinking. | |
| NRICH Stage 4 Articles | A complete list of intermediate mathematical articles from the NRICH website. | ||