Explaining, convincing and proving

Weekly Problem 31 - 2017
The triangle HIJ has the same area as the square FGHI. What is the distance from J to the line extended through F and G?

Arrange the numbers 1 to 16 into a 4 by 4 array. Choose a number. Cross out the numbers on the same row and column. Repeat this process. Add up you four numbers. Why do they always add up to 34?

I start with a red, a blue, a green and a yellow marble. I can trade any of my marbles for three others, one of each colour. Can I end up with exactly two marbles of each colour?

A little bit of algebra explains this 'magic'. Ask a friend to pick 3 consecutive numbers and to tell you a multiple of 3. Then ask them to add the four numbers and multiply by 67, and to tell you the last two digits of her answer. Now you can really amaze her by giving the whole answer and the three consecutive numbers used at the start.

Find the area of the annulus in terms of the length of the chord which is tangent to the inner circle.

If you know the sizes of the angles marked with coloured dots in this diagram which angles can you find by calculation?

Consider the equation 1/a + 1/b + 1/c = 1 where a, b and c are natural numbers and 0 < a < b < c. Prove that there is only one set of values which satisfy this equation.

You can work out the number someone else is thinking of as follows. Ask a friend to think of any natural number less than 100. Then ask them to tell you the remainders when this number is divided by 3, 5 and by 7...

Do you know how to find the area of a triangle? You can count the squares. What happens if we turn the triangle on end? Press the button and see. Try counting the number of units in the triangle now. Do you have any interesting findings to report?

Use the numbers in the box below to make the base of a top-heavy pyramid whose top number is 200.