Math Puzzles to Stimulate Your Mind

March 6, 2014 | greystar

Take a break from social media, turn off the television and pick up a hobby that will really stimulate your mind. Whether you’re a math guru or you just want to brush up on your basic multiplication skills, these fun math puzzles are great for folks of all skill levels.

Feynman Long Division Puzzles
Physicist Richard Feynman developed this puzzle, which replaces digits in a long division problem with either a dot or the letter A. None of the dots are the same as the A digit, and, with that in mind, the goal is to re-create the original problem. Feynman long division puzzles are great ways to improve the math skills that you don’t frequently use.

Parasitic Numbers
A parasitic number is a positive natural number that can be multiplied by another number (n) by moving the farthest right digit to the front. For example, 4 x 128205 = 512820, which makes 128205 4-parasitic. To derive a number’s parasitic number, start with a digit (k) that is equal to or greater than another number (n) and place k in the rightmost units place. For example, if n = 4 and k = 7,  use 4 x 7 = 28. Work your way up until you find that 179487 is a 4-parasitic number with units digit 7. Make up your own numbers to challenge your mind!

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