Competition February 2009
Many thanks to all the students who entered the competition for January. We had over 200 entries, alas there can be only one winner.
The winner for January 2009 was,
A first year student in Ratoath College. Karen correctly stated that there were 48 ways to spell Pascal. Congratulations.
To see some solutions on how to solve last months problem click here
If you would like to be in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes, why not enter our competition for February... see below for more details.
Project Maths Student Competition.
Each month Project Maths will launch a new student competition. There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs, such as an i-pod shuffle, DVD players, i-tunes music vouchers and many more.
For the moment, the competition is only open to First and Fifth year students involved in the project maths pilot program.
The competition will be based around the "Mathematician of the Month".
The mathematicians for February 2009 are,
Pierre De Fermat (1601-1665) |
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| “I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to contain.”(Pierre De Fermat) | |
Fermat's Last Theorem |
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| Pierre De Fermat was a seventeenth century French Mathematician. He actually worked in the civil service and mathematics was his hobby. Fermat never published his mathematical conclusions as he wanted to be able to enjoy his puzzle solving in private. He often sent letters to other mathematicians challenging them to find proofs to his theorems. Probably one of his most frustrating tests was to become known as “Fermat’s Last Theorem”. He claimed in a margin of his notebook that he had no space to write his proof of it. The problem plagued mathematicians for centuries. |
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Andrew Wiles (Born 1953 ) |
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| "However difficulut it seems, if you don't try it, then you can never do it." (Andrew Wiles) |
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Andrew Wiles proves Fermat's Last Theorem. |
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| Andrew Wiles found the riddle of Fermat's Last Theorem in a maths book in his local library when aged ten and dedicated eight years of his life to fulfilling his childhood dream of solving the mystery. Wiles thought he had solved it in 1993 but after rigorous checks it emerged that a complicated flaw had been made. Wiles however put things right and published his proof in May 1995 in “Annals of Mathematics” thereby claiming the $ 100, 000 Wolf Prize | |
To enter this months competition, simply answer the question below:
Continue this sequence until you reach triangle number 10.
How many dots are there in triangle number 10?
To download a printable version of this puzzle, English | Gaeilge
Once you have found the answer, e mail it to [email protected]
Don't forget to include the following information,
1. Your answer, and a brief explanation of how you found it;
2. Your full name;
3. The name of your school;
4. Your age, year and class;
5. The name of your maths teacher.
The competition closes at 5.00 p.m. on 28th of Febuary 2009. No entries will be accepted after this time.
Note: By entering this competition, you agree to accept the competition terms and conditions as laid down by the Project Maths Development Team.
To view a copy of the terms and conditions, click here
The Project Maths competition is sponsored by Intel Education (Ireland)
