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Put Out the Flags

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow star
  • Problem
  • Getting Started
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Tim and Beth both have a string of flags. They have red flags, white flags, blue flags, and union jacks.

Flags

They both counted how many of each colour they had.

Tim's flags are $50$% blue, $35$% red, $10$% white and $5$% union jacks.

Beth's flags are $40$% blue, $32$% red, $20$% white and $8$% union jacks.

They both have as few flags as is possible with those percentages.

Who has the most flags?

Who has the most red flags?

Who has the most blue flags?

How many union jacks do they have between them?


If instead you know that Tim and Beth have $10$ union jacks between them how many flags do they have altogether?

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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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