Rich Task 1:

Task: Your task is to cut the grid shown below into nine squares, then
reassemble them back in 3 x 3 large squares, so that the expressions on
either side of rejoined edges are equal
 Working out
• To reassemble the nine squares
into a 3 x 3 large square I first
started off by circling off the
answers that were already there.
• Then I started to solve the
equations that needed me to find
the product.
• Once I finished one square I
circled the answers of the
equations I solved in order to not
• Once everything on each square
confuse it with the squares with was completely finished I started
equations I have not solved. to pair up the cards I thought were
next to each other.
• Rearranged the squares until the
placement of them corresponded
to having the rejoined edges equal.
Final solution
Reflection
Tactics I used…
A tactic I used was putting
together pairs with an already
solved equation and an equation
solved by me. Then I reassembled
them according to how it make
sense and kept doing so until
each rejoined became equal.
Problems I encountered…
Main problems I encountered
where miscalculation, and not
reading the instructions
properly. By doing so I had to
repeat the process of
reassembling the squares which
took up a lot of unnecessary
time.
Rich Task 2:
Task: Why do number tricks work? This task will provide a guide as to
why one such trick works and challenge you to explain, using algebra,
what at least one other trick works.

“Always 22” The answer is…

Instructions Write Instructions Write
Think of any three different numbers Think of a number. Write in down
from 0-9 Double it
Make all possible two-digit pairs
Add 10
Add all the pairs to get A Divide it by 2
Add together the original numbers to Take away the number you started
get B with.
Divide A by B The answer is…
Trick: “Always 22”
Instructions Write

Think of any three different numbers 5, 6, 8

from 0-9
Make all possible two-digit pairs 56, 58, 65, 68, 86,85

Add all the pairs to get A 56 + 58 + 65 + 68 +86 +85 =

418 Instructions Write
Add together the original numbers to 5 + 6 + 8 = 19
Think of any three different 1, 4 , 7
get B
numbers from 0-9
Divide A by B 418/19 = 22
Make all possible two-digit pairs 14, 17, 41, 47, 71, 74
Instructions Write Add all the pairs to get A 14 + 17 + 41 + 47 +71 + 74 = 264
Think of any three different numbers 2, 3, 9 Add together the original 1 + 4 + 7 = 12
from 0-9 numbers to get B
Make all possible two-digit pairs 23, 29, 32, 39, 92, 93 Divide A by B 264/12 = 22
Add all the pairs to get A 23 + 29 + 32 + 39 + 92 + 93
= 308
Add together the original numbers to 2 + 3 + 9 = 14
get B
Divide A by B 308/14 = 22 Does it always work: YES
Investigation: “Always 22”
a, b, c a + b + c = product
10+10+1 1 a ,b, c
10a b =10a+b, 10b+a, 10a+c ,10c+a, 10b+c, 10c+b
10b a = (10a+b)+(10b+a)+(10a+c)+(10c+a)+(10b+c)+(10c+b )
=10a+10a+a+x + 10b+10b+b+b + 10c+10c+c
10a c
=22a + 22b + 22c
10c a =22(a+b+c)
10b c = 22(product)/ (product)
10c b = 22
10 + 10 + 1 + 1
Evaluation
1 Think of any three different numbers from 0-9

2 Make all possible two-digit pairs

3 Add all the pairs to get A
4 Add together the original numbers to get B

5 Divide a by b

The possibilities in step 2 are produced by placing one digit in the ten's place
and another in the one's place. To get all six possibilities, each digit will show
up in the ten's place a total of 2 times (10 + 10) and in the one's place a total
of 2 times (1 + 1) . Therefore, when we sum the numbers generated in step
two (step 3), each digit will occur 10+10+1+1 = 22. So, this sum is actually 22
times the sum of the three digits. After performing step 5, we are left with
the answer 22.
Trick: The answer is…
Instructions Write
Think of a number. Write in down 220
Double it 440
Add 10 450
Divide it by 2 225 Instructions Write
Take away the number you started 225 – 220 Think of a number. Write in down 1.5
with.
The answer is… 5 Double it 3
Add 10 13
Instructions Write
Divide it by 2 6.5
Think of a number. Write in down -34
Take away the number you started 6.5 – 1.5
Double it -68 with.
Add 10 -58 The answer is… 5

Divide it by 2 -29
Take away the number you started -34 – (-29)
with.
The answer is… 5 Does it always work: YES
Investigation: The answer is…
2𝑥 + 𝑎
2
Number = x Number = 32
2x 32 x 2
2x + a 64 +5
(2x + a)/ 2 69/2
(2x + a)/ 2 – x 34.5 – 32
X = a/2 The answer is… 2.5
Evaluation
1 Think of a number. Write in down
2 Double it
3 Add 10
4 Divide it by 2
5 Take away the number you started with.
6 The answer is…

The focus of this trick mainly lies in step 3 as any number as well as 10 can work. Obviously
the answer won’t be 5 if you use a number other than 10, however, there is a pattern as to
each number you try. Every time the answer is half of the number you add. f.e Add 43, ans:
21.5 (half of 43). following the instructions starting with the variable x instead of an actual
number, x is eliminated by Step 5.
Conclusions
The key is in the third step where we currently “Add 10.” Half of 10 is 5. You
can replace 10 with any number, and the answer will always be half of that
number, even if it’s an odd number and returns a decimal. For example if we
replace 10 with 20 and start with 15..

15 𝑥 2 + 20
2
= 30 + 20
= 50/ 2
= 25 – 15
= 10
Rich Task 3:
Task: in the right conditions, bacteria can increase very rapidly. The
number of bacteria that develop from a single cell over a period of time
can be found using mathematics.
Time elapsed (minutes) Number of 20-minute Number of bacteria Number of bacteria
periods (exponent form)

20 1 2 2^1

40 4

60 (1hr) 8
80

100

120 (2 hrs)

140
Investigation 1: Patterns
Time elapsed (minutes) Number of 20-minute Number of bacteria Number of bacteria
periods (exponent form)

20 1 2 2^1
x2
40 2 4 2^2
x2
60 (1hr) 3 8 x2 2^3
80 4 16 x2 2^4

100 5 32 2^5
x2
120 (2 hrs) 6 64 x2 2^6

140 7 128 2^7

360 (6hrs) 18 262144 = 2^18

Investigation
Time elapsed (minutes) Number of 20-minute Number of bacteria Number of bacteria
periods (exponent form)

20 1 2 2^1

40 2 4 2^2

60 (1hr) 3 8 2^3
80 4 16 2^4

100 5 32 2^5

120 (2 hrs) 6 64 2^6

140 7 128 2^7

360 18 262144 2^18

Explanation:
The bacteria count within 6 hours if they split if 20 minutes would be
262144. This is because the power to the base corresponds with the
number of 20 minute periods. For example if the number of 20 minute
periods is 3 then the power to the base would by 3 (2^3). This would
also make the bacteria count 8 as 2^3 is 8. The base is 2 because the
number of bacteria doubles each time. By dividing 360 minutes (6 hrs)
by 20 (time period) you get the answer 18 which means the number of
20 minute time periods is 18. As we know pattern, this means that too
find the bacteria count you must complete the equation 2^18. The
answer is 262144 therefore the bacteria count is 262144
Question 2:
Time elapsed (minutes) Number of 10 -minute periods Number of bacteria Number of bacteria (exponent
form)

10 1 2 2^1

20 2 4 2^2

30 3 8 2^3

40 4 16 2^4

50 5 32 2^5

60 6 64 2^6

70 7 128 2^7

80 8 256 2^8

360 36 68719476736 2^36

200 20 1048576 2^20

Explanation

By the end of 6 hrs it the amount of bacteria would be 68719476736.

As the amount of bacterium goes up in 2 and the number of 10 minute
periods is 36 the amount of bacteria would be 2^36.
It takes 200 minutes (3hrs and 20 minutes) for the amount of bacteria
to reach 1,000,000. Within 200 minutes the amount of bacteria equals
a total of 1048576.
Question 3:
Time elapsed (minutes) Number of 15-minute Number of bacteria Number of bacteria
periods (exponent form)

15 1 2 2^1

30 2 4 2^2

45 3 8 2^3

60 4 16 2^4

75 5 32 2^5

90 6 64 2^6

105 7 128 2^7

120 8 256 2^8

300 20 1048576 2^20

Question 3 part 2
Time elapsed (minutes) Number of 30-minute Number of bacteria Number of bacteria
periods (exponent form)

30 1 4 4^1

60 2 16 4^2

90 3 64 4^3

120 4 256 4^4

150 5 1024 4^5

180 6 4096 4^6

210 7 16384 4^7

240 8 65536 4^8

300 10 1048576 4^10

Explanation
Both bacterium would reach 1,000,000 at the same time as it takes both of them 300 minutes
(5 hrs) to reach that point.
Since type A multiples in 15 minutes time periods if you divide 300 by 15 you get the number
20. As type A multiples in 2, you can use 2 as the base for the exponent and 20 (300/15) as
the power. If you answer the exponent you will get the amount of bacteria that corresponds
with the time period, which is 20 x 15 (300) As a result it takes 5 hrs (300 minutes) for the
type A bacterium to reach 1,000,000
Since type B multiples in 30 minutes time periods if you divide 300 by 30 you get the number
10. As type B multiples in 4, you can use 4 as the base for the exponent and 10 (300/30) as
the power. If you answer the exponent you will get the amount of bacteria that corresponds
with the time period, which is 10 x 30 (300) As a result it takes 5 hrs (300 minutes) for the
type B bacterium to reach 1,000,000