Mathematics · Professor Pi

JMC 2020: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-0073

To decide whether a number such as 143 is prime, how far up do you need to test prime divisors?

Its square root

提示Any factor above that point pairs with a smaller one you would already have found.

为什么143 needs only 2, 3, 5, 7 and 11 tested (11 × 11 = 121, 13 × 13 = 169), and 11 × 13 = 143 catches it. Odd numbers between 120 and 170 are a classic trap — 143, 161 and 169 all look prime and none is. Try 3 (digit sum), then 7, 11 and 13 before declaring one prime.

2 KS3-MATH-JMC-0074

How many times a shape fits onto itself during one full turn

Its order of rotational symmetry

提示Spin it and count the matches, including the one at the end.

为什么Order 2 means a half turn works; order 4, a quarter turn. Every shape has order at least 1. A shape can have rotational symmetry with no line of symmetry, and a rectangle's centre is the point everything turns about.

3 KS3-MATH-JMC-0075

Multiplying a decimal by 100 moves each digit how many places to the left? (type the number only)

2

提示One hop per zero.

为什么4.25 × 100 = 425, not 4.2500. Digits move; the decimal point stays put. Converting metres to centimetres is exactly this move, and kilometres to metres is three hops.

4 KS3-MATH-JMC-0076

Which positive whole number is a factor of every number, yet never appears in a prime factorisation?

1

提示Not prime, not composite — and easy to forget that it counts as a factor.

为什么1 is not prime, so it never appears in a prime factorisation, but it is a perfectly good positive whole number. 30 = 2 × 3 × 5 = 1 × 2 × 3 × 5. Watch for the difference between 'prime factors' and 'positive whole numbers' in the wording.

5 KS3-MATH-JMC-0077

To find a fraction of a fraction — such as a third of a quarter — you ____ the two fractions.

multiply

提示The word 'of' between two fractions is an operation sign.

为什么Two thirds of three fifths is 6/15 = 2/5. When a chain of "of"s ends in a known value, reverse it by dividing by each fraction in turn — or, faster, by multiplying by each one turned upside down.

6 KS3-MATH-JMC-0078

A square grid of n by n small cells is drawn with wire. How many straight wires run in each direction?

n + 1

提示A 1 by 1 grid already needs a line on both sides.

为什么Cells and lines differ by one, like fence panels and fence posts. A 5 × 5 grid has 6 lines each way; each line is as long as the grid, so the wire needed is 2 × (n + 1) × n.

7 KS3-MATH-JMC-0079

You know the mean of a set of numbers and how many numbers there are. How do you recover their total?

Mean × number of values

提示The average is fair shares — reverse the sharing.

为什么Mean = total ÷ count, so total = mean × count. Most mean questions are really about the total: find it, subtract the parts you know, and what is left belongs to the missing values.

8 KS3-MATH-JMC-0080

When two straight lines cross, the vertically opposite angles are always ____.

equal

提示The X shape: look at the angle across the crossing point.

为什么The two angles on either side of a straight line add to 180°, and the two across a crossing point match. Together with the exterior angle theorem for a triangle, those three facts solve almost every angle chase in the paper.

9 KS3-MATH-JMC-0081

As fractions in their simplest form, 0.125 = ____, 0.2 = ____ and 0.375 = ____.

1/8; 1/5; 3/8

提示Write each as thousandths or ten-thousandths, then cancel.

为什么0.375 is 375/1000, which cancels to 3/8. Moving the decimal point one place divides by 10, so 1.25 = 5/4 and 0.0125 = 1/80 follow at once.

10 KS3-MATH-JMC-0082

Why can a prime number bigger than 5 never end in 0 or 5?

It would be a multiple of 5

提示Think about which times table those last digits always belong to.

为什么A number ending in 0 or 5 divides by 5, and one ending in an even digit divides by 2. So beyond the single digits every prime ends in 1, 3, 7 or 9 — the first filter to apply before testing 3 (digit sum), 7 and 11.

11 KS3-MATH-JMC-0083

The volume of a cuboid

Length × width × height

提示Count the unit cubes in one layer, then the layers.

为什么Doubling one dimension doubles the volume; doubling all three multiplies it by 8. A cuboid that is 2, 2 and 5 times the size of a cube in its three directions holds 2 × 2 × 5 = 20 times as many unit cubes.

12 KS3-MATH-JMC-0084

What is the smallest number with four different prime factors? (type the number only)

210

提示Small primes, each used once.

为什么Any number that is a multiple of 2, 3, 5 and 7 is a multiple of 210. Adding 1 to a product of primes is the heart of Euclid's proof that primes never run out: the result cannot be divided by any prime you multiplied, so some prime is still missing from your list.

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