Mathematics · Professor Pi

JMC 2018:全部卡片

整套按顺序列出——孩子看到之前,您可以先通读一遍。

1 KS3-MATH-JMC-0049

A diagonal is drawn across a square. What does it do to the two corner angles it passes through?

Halves them to 45°

提示A square's diagonal is a line of symmetry.

为什么Because the diagonal is a line of symmetry, it bisects the right angles at both ends, giving 45° each way and making two right-angled isosceles triangles. Angles at a corner shared by a square and another shape are then just a matter of adding.

2 KS3-MATH-JMC-0050

A heptagon has ____ sides, an octagon ____, a decagon ____ and a dodecagon ____.

7; 8; 10; 12

提示Greek number words: hepta, octo, deka, dodeka.

为什么Regular polygon questions almost always need the number of sides for a perimeter or an angle. A regular polygon has equal sides, so its perimeter is the side length times the number of sides.

3 KS3-MATH-JMC-0051

How many whole numbers are there from a up to b inclusive?

b − a + 1

提示Count from 3 to 5 on your fingers before you subtract.

为什么From 12 to 30 inclusive there are 30 − 12 + 1 = 19 numbers, not 18. Subtracting alone counts the gaps; the +1 adds back the number you started on. Strictly between a and b there are b − a − 1. The same fencepost logic counts terms in a sequence and posts along a fence.

4 KS3-MATH-JMC-0052

Comparing with twelfths shows that 7/12 lies between 1/2 and 2/3, since 1/2 = 6/12 and 2/3 = ____/12.

8

提示Scale two thirds up until its denominator is twelve.

为什么To place a fraction between two others, rewrite them all over one common denominator: 1/2 = 6/12 and 2/3 = 8/12, so 7/12 sits between them. With the same numerator instead, the fraction with the larger denominator is the smaller one — one eighth is less than one quarter because the whole is cut into more pieces.

5 KS3-MATH-JMC-0053

A cube with edge length a has surface area ____a², one square for each face.

6

提示Count the faces of a dice.

为什么Each face is a × a and there are six of them. For a solid with no hidden pockets, count the faces you can see from each of the six directions — top, bottom and four sides — rather than the faces of each cube.

6 KS3-MATH-JMC-0054

A number is a multiple of 15 exactly when it passes the tests for 3 and for ____.

5

提示One test looks at the last digit.

为什么Because 3 and 5 have no common factor, being a multiple of both is the same as being a multiple of 15. So check the last digit (0 or 5) and the digit sum (a multiple of 3). The same works for 45 = 9 × 5 and 12 = 3 × 4, but not for 12 = 2 × 6, because 2 and 6 share a factor.

7 KS3-MATH-JMC-0055

In 'largest / smallest / closest' digit puzzles, which digit position do you settle first?

The leading digit

提示The most significant place decides the most.

为什么Fix the front of the number first, then fill greedily: for the largest, the biggest remaining digits in decreasing order; for the smallest, the smallest remaining in increasing order. For 'closest together', give the two numbers neighbouring front digits, then push one down and the other up.

8 KS3-MATH-JMC-0056

How many different nets does a cube have? (type the number only)

11

提示Six squares joined edge to edge that fold up with no overlap — there are more than you'd guess.

为什么Six of the eleven have a strip of four squares with one square on each side. To test a net quickly, check that no four squares meet at a point (a 2 × 2 block) and that the two 'flap' squares fold onto opposite faces, not the same one.

9 KS3-MATH-JMC-0057

The faces in the net of a triangular prism

Three rectangles and two triangles

提示Picture a tent-shaped box unfolded flat: the long panels, plus the piece at each end.

为什么A net must contain every face exactly once and fold up with no overlap. For a cube that means six squares; for a triangular prism, three rectangles and two triangles; for a square-based pyramid, one square and four triangles.

10 KS3-MATH-JMC-0058

A bag holds marbles in three colours. Picking blind, how many marbles guarantee at least one matching pair? (type the number only)

4

提示Think about the worst case: how many picks can go by with no match at all?

为什么One more than the number of colours forces a pair, because the worst case is one of each colour before the next pick must repeat one. Always reason from the worst case: what is the most you could pick without success?

11 KS3-MATH-JMC-0059

What is the size of each exterior angle of a regular polygon with n sides?

360° ÷ n

提示All the exterior angles are equal and together make one full turn.

为什么For a regular polygon, exterior angle = 360° ÷ n and interior angle = 180° − exterior. Running it backwards is how you find n: an interior angle of 156° means an exterior angle of 24°, so n = 360 ÷ 24 = 15.

12 KS3-MATH-JMC-0060

A regular polygon

All sides equal and all angles equal

提示The one word that lets you assume everything is identical.

为什么'Regular' is the word that unlocks a diagram: it hands you equal sides (so isosceles triangles from the centre) and equal angles (so 360° ÷ n exterior, and 180° minus that interior). Without it, none of those follow.

13 KS3-MATH-JMC-0199

Splitting a bracketed division (a + b) ÷ c gives a÷c + ____.

b÷c

提示Divide each part of the sum by c separately, then add the results.

为什么Because division distributes over addition, (a + b) ÷ c splits into a÷c + b÷c — often easier mental arithmetic than adding first. This only works for dividing a SUM by a number: a ÷ (b + c) does NOT equal a÷b + a÷c, so always check which value is being divided.

14 KS3-MATH-JMC-0200

When a group loses some members and gains others in one step, what's the fastest way to find the overall change?

Combine the losses and gains into one net change first

提示Add the joiners and subtract the leavers, in either order.

为什么Work out the net change as one signed number (arrivals minus departures) and apply it once, rather than updating a running total after every single step. If the net change is negative, subtract it from the starting count; if positive, add it. One combined calculation beats several small ones.

15 KS3-MATH-JMC-0201

What's a reliable way to find the number of minutes between two clock times?

Convert the full hours to minutes (×60), then add the leftover minutes

提示Break the gap into a round number of something, plus what's left.

为什么Split the interval into a whole number of hours plus a remaining number of minutes, then convert: total minutes = hours × 60 + remaining minutes. It's easy to slip when the times sit either side of an hour mark, so sanity-check your hour count against a clock face if you're unsure.

16 KS3-MATH-JMC-0202

Two lines crossing at the same cell in a magic square

Have equal totals, so their other entries can be compared directly

提示Every row, column and diagonal in the square adds to the same fixed amount.

为什么Every row, column and diagonal in a magic square shares one fixed total. When two lines cross the same cell, setting their sums equal and cancelling the shared entry links the OTHER numbers on those lines directly — often solving the puzzle without ever finding the magic total itself.

17 KS3-MATH-JMC-0203

For a 'roughly how big' or 'how many digits' question, what should you do instead of computing an exact value?

Estimate using powers of ten by rounding the numbers first

提示Think in tens, hundreds and thousands rather than exact figures.

为什么When a question asks for an approximate size or how many digits an answer has, round the numbers involved to the nearest power of ten (or a friendly multiple) before dividing or multiplying — you rarely need the exact value. For a division, comparing digit counts (or trailing zeros) is often the fastest route to the digit-count of the answer.

18 KS3-MATH-JMC-0204

All but one of several numbers should add up to a known total. What's the fastest way to spot the missing one?

Add up all the numbers, then subtract the given total

提示Sum everything first — the leftover gap is your answer.

为什么Adding the whole set (including the odd one out) is usually easier than trialling each candidate in turn. Subtract the known target total from that full sum, and whatever's left over is the value that was excluded.

19 KS3-MATH-JMC-0205

When two angles are given in a ratio, like 2:3, inside a shape with a known angle sum, how do you find each one?

Let them be 2k and 3k, then solve k from the angle sum

提示Turn the ratio into algebra with one shared unknown multiplier.

为什么Whenever a diagram splits an angle (or several angles) in a given ratio, introduce a single unknown k so the parts become multiples of k — 2k and 3k for a 2:3 split. Then use whichever angle-sum fact applies (180° in a triangle, 360° in a quadrilateral, or two triangles' sums linked by a given relationship) to write one equation and solve for k.

20 KS3-MATH-JMC-0206

A word problem gives several quantities as multiples of two unknown base amounts, with a fixed total. How do you pin down the actual numbers?

Combine the multiples into one equation, then find the integer solution

提示Only whole-number pairs where every count stays positive will work.

为什么Give each unknown its own letter (the 'unit' amounts), express every quantity as a multiple of one of them, and add them to the given total to get one equation in two unknowns. Because every quantity must be a positive whole number, only a small number of pairs actually satisfy it — checking them is faster than solving generally.

21 KS3-MATH-JMC-0207

The largest number of non-overlapping pieces you can place is at most total cells ÷ ____.

cells per piece

提示Think about how many identical shapes could ever squeeze into the whole grid.

为什么Since each piece covers a fixed number of cells and pieces can't overlap, the count can never exceed total cells ÷ cells per piece, rounded down. That's only an upper bound — you still need an arrangement that actually achieves it — but it instantly rules out any higher answer.

22 KS3-MATH-JMC-0208

A rectangle's area divided by one known side

Gives the length of the other side

提示Two numbers multiply together to make the space a shape covers.

为什么A rectangle's area equals length × width, so any one side equals area ÷ the other side. When two rectangles in a diagram share an edge, find that shared length from the rectangle whose area you already know, then use it to solve the second rectangle.

23 KS3-MATH-JMC-0209

What do you call a statement whose truth depends on a fact about itself, like its own vowel count?

self-referential

提示It talks about its own answer, not something separate.

为什么A self-referential statement's truth depends on a fact about itself — like a sentence claiming a count that only holds for the right number. You can't calculate the answer directly; instead you test candidates and see which one makes the statement true of itself.

24 KS3-MATH-JMC-0210

In a sequence where each term equals the sum of several terms before it, how do you find an earlier term from a later known one?

Rearrange the sum rule to isolate the missing earlier term

提示Move every known value to one side, leaving the gap alone.

为什么If term n equals the sum of the k terms before it, rearrange that rule to express any one of those earlier terms as (term n) minus the sum of the others. This works backwards through a sequence just as easily as forwards, so 'find the earlier blank' is really rearrange-and-subtract, not a fresh calculation from scratch.

25 KS3-MATH-JMC-0211

When identical rectangles are joined edge-to-edge into a chain, every join hides ____, so the combined shape's perimeter is ____.

two matching edges; smaller than the sum of the separate perimeters

提示Wherever two rectangles touch, that boundary disappears from what you can see around the outside.

为什么Every rectangle contributes its own full perimeter on its own — but wherever two are joined, the touching edges sit inside the shape rather than around its outline, so that length is removed from both rectangles at once. Count how many joins there are, work out what each one removes, and subtract that total from the sum of the individual perimeters.

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