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Caught in the Web

Age 14 to 16
ShortChallenge Level Yellow star
Secondary curriculum
  • Problem
  • Getting Started
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The mass of insects caught by spiders in a year in the UK is approximately equal to the mass of the human population of the UK.

Assuming this population is 60 million and the average mass of a human is 70 kg, what is the mass, in tonnes, of insects caught by spiders per year in the UK?





If you liked this problem, here is an NRICH task which challenges you to use similar mathematical ideas.
This problem is taken from the UKMT Mathematical Challenges.
You can find more short problems, arranged by curriculum topic, in our short problems collection.
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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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