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Doodles

Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow star
  • Problem
  • Student Solutions
James cracked this toughnut for us:

To prove that each vertex number in the list twice, I noticed to get back to where we started pointing in the same direction we started we must go fully around the curve. So we will cover the entire curve, and since the curve goes through each vertex twice, the number of each vertex will appear twice.

For the next part, I tried to doodle with an odd number of vertex number between the pair:
As expected, I ran into some problems. If we consider the number between the pair of 1's. Going around anti-clockwise 2 crosses, then 3, then 4, and so on. If there are an odd number of crosses then the end of the line will end up inside the loop. But it can't cross this line again, and so we will always have one end of the line stuck inside the loop, and one outside, and so the curve couldn't be closed.

So between every pair we must have an even number of vertex numbers (since any pair will form a loop similarly to above).

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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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