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Three by One

Age 16 to 18
Challenge Level Yellow star
Secondary curriculum
  • Problem
  • Getting Started
  • Student Solutions
  • Teachers' Resources

The solutions produced here by school students show eight different methods. Reflection on these methods will help other students to see something of the 'bigger picture' in a way they will not experience from ploughing through the syllabus and working from textbooks (although that is also absolutely necessary).

Eight distinct proofs were given to this problem by two students, Alex and Neil (Madras College) using respectively sines, cosines, tangents, vectors, matrices, coordinate geometry, complex numbers and pure geometry.



See Alex and Neil's solution here.

Alex and Neil went on to generalise this problem to rectangles with dimensions $n$ by 1.

See 'Why Stop at Three by One?'

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Flexi Quads

A quadrilateral changes shape with the edge lengths constant. Show the scalar product of the diagonals is constant. If the diagonals are perpendicular in one position are they always perpendicular?

Tetra Perp

Show that the edges $AD$ and $BC$ of a tetrahedron $ABCD$ are mutually perpendicular if and only if $AB^2 +CD^2 = AC^2+BD^2$. This problem uses the scalar product of two vectors.

Flexi Quad Tan

As a quadrilateral Q is deformed (keeping the edge lengths constnt) the diagonals and the angle X between them change. Prove that the area of Q is proportional to tanX.

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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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