There’s no higher method to encourage outside-the-box considering than math mind teasers! They’re normally rather more about utilizing logic than being a math whiz, so everybody might want to suppose creatively. Listed below are a few of our favourite math mind teasers for college students of all ages, that are good for bell ringers, additional credit score, or to fill the previous couple of minutes on the finish of sophistication.
Plus, click on the button beneath to obtain a Google Slideshow with all of our math mind teasers in an easy-to-present format!
Our 50 Math Mind Teasers
1. Utilizing solely addition, add eight 8s to get the #1,000.
Reply: 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1,000.
2. Two years in the past, I used to be 3 times as outdated as my brother was. In three years, I will probably be twice as outdated as my brother. How outdated is every of us now?
Reply: The older brother is 17, and the youthful brother is 7.
3. If a hen and a half lays an egg and a half in a day and a half, what number of eggs will half a dozen hens lay in half a dozen days?
Reply: 2 dozen, or 24 eggs.
4. When does 9 + 5 = 2?
Reply: Whenever you’re telling time. 9:00 + 5 hours = 2:00.
5. A farmer had 17 sheep. All however 9 of them ran away. What number of sheep does she have left?
Reply: 9.
6. A boy is 2 years outdated. His brother is half as outdated as him. When the primary boy is 100, how outdated will his brother be?
Reply: 99.
7. Use the numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5 and the symbols + and = to make a real math equation.
Reply: 2 + 5 = 3 + 4.
8. If 3 cats can catch 3 bunnies in 3 minutes, how lengthy will it take 100 cats to catch 100 bunnies?
Reply: 3 minutes.
9. Mr. Lee has 4 daughters. Every of his daughters has 1 brother. What number of youngsters does Mr. Lee have?
Reply: 5 (The entire daughters have the identical brother.)
10. What single digit seems most continuously between and together with the numbers 1 and 1,000?
Reply: 1.
11. Which weighs extra: 16 ounces of feathers or a pound of strong gold?
Reply: They weigh the identical. 16 ounces = 1 pound, it doesn’t matter what materials is being weighed.
12. Jake purchased a pair of footwear and a shirt, which value a complete of $150. The footwear value $100 greater than the shirt. How a lot was every merchandise?
Reply: The footwear value $125, the shirt $25.
13. You could have two cash that complete 30 cents. Certainly one of them just isn’t a nickel. What are the 2 cash?
Reply: 1 / 4 and a nickel. (Solely ONE of the cash just isn’t a nickel!)
14. A + B + C = D, and A x B x C = D. What numbers make these two equations true?
Reply: A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, and D = 6.
15. Clear up this in your head (no writing it down!). Take 1,000 and add 40 to it. Add one other 1,000. Now add 30. Add one other 1,000. Now add 20. Add one other 1,000. Now add 10. What’s the complete?
Reply: 4,100.
16. Grandmother died and left half her cash to her granddaughter and half of that quantity to her grandson. She left a sixth to her brother, and the rest, $1,000, to the animal shelter. How a lot did she depart altogether?
Reply: $12,000.
17. Your sock drawer accommodates 18 white socks and 18 blue socks. With out trying, what’s the smallest variety of socks it is best to take out to ensure an identical pair?
Reply: 3.
18. You planted sunflower seeds in your backyard. Day by day, the variety of flowers doubles. If it takes 52 days for the flowers to fill the backyard, what number of days would it not take for them to fill half the backyard?
Reply: 51.
19. There are 100 homes within the neighborhood the place Alex and Dev reside. Alex’s home quantity is the reverse of Dev’s home quantity. The distinction between their home numbers ends with 2. What are their home numbers?
Reply: 19 and 91.
20. What are you able to place between 8 and 9 to make the end result higher than 8 however lower than 9?
Reply: A decimal (8.9 is bigger than 8 however lower than 9).
21. Multiply this quantity with some other quantity and you’ll get the identical reply each time. What’s the quantity?
Reply: Zero.
22. If there are 6 oranges in a basket and you are taking out 4, what number of oranges do you’ve gotten?
Reply: 4 (You took 4 oranges, so you’ve gotten 4 oranges!)
23. There are 8 apples in a basket. Eight folks every take 1 apple, however there’s nonetheless 1 apple within the basket. How can this be?
Reply: The eighth individual took the basket with 1 apple nonetheless in it.
24. Multiply all of the numbers on the quantity pad of a telephone. What’s the complete?
Reply: Zero (Cellphone quantity pads embrace the numbers 0-9.)
25. There are 7 youngsters within the Garcia household, every born 2 years aside. If the eldest Garcia little one is nineteen, how outdated is the youngest Garcia little one?
Reply: 7.
26. Two moms and a pair of daughters every had 1 egg for breakfast, however they solely ate 3 eggs all collectively. How can this be?
Reply: There have been solely 3 folks—a grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter.
27. A 300-foot prepare touring 300 toes per minute should journey by means of a 300-foot-long tunnel. How lengthy will it take the prepare to journey by means of the tunnel?
Reply: 2 minutes. (It takes the entrance of the prepare 1 minute, and the remainder of the prepare will take 1 extra minute to clear the tunnel.)
28. I’m a three-digit quantity. My second digit is 4 occasions higher than the third digit. My first digit is three lower than my second digit. What quantity am I?
Reply: 141.
29. Tom was requested to color numbers exterior 100 residences, which suggests he should paint numbers 1 by means of 100. What number of occasions will he have to color the quantity 8?
Reply: 20 occasions (8, 18, 28, 38, 48, 58, 68, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88 [two 8s], 89, 98).
30. Ellie works on the aquarium. When she tries to place every turtle in its personal tank, she has one turtle too many. But when she places two turtles per tank, she has one tank too many. What number of turtles and what number of tanks does Ellie have?
Reply: Ellie has 3 tanks and 4 turtles.
31. If eggs value 12 cents a dozen, what number of eggs are you able to get for $1?
Reply: 100 eggs (The eggs value 1 penny every.)
32. Should you toss a coin 100 occasions and it lands heads up each time, what’s the likelihood it should land heads up in your subsequent throw?
Reply: 50/50 (The earlier tosses don’t make any distinction; you at all times have an equal likelihood of heads or tails.)
33. You’re visiting a clothes retailer that has an odd approach of pricing gadgets. A vest prices $20, socks value $25, a tie prices $15, and a shirt prices $30. You wish to purchase some underwear. How a lot will it value?
Reply: $45. Gadgets value $5 for every letter used to spell the phrase.
34. How are you going to make this equation appropriate: 81 x 9 = 801?
Reply: Flip it the other way up: 108 = 6 x 18.
35. You’re planning to spend your birthday cash taking some mates to the flicks. Is it cheaper to take 1 pal to the flicks twice or 2 mates to the flicks on the identical time?
Reply: Take 2 mates on the identical time, so that you’ll solely purchase 3 tickets complete. Should you take 1 pal twice, you’ll want to purchase your self a ticket every time, for a complete of 4 tickets.
36. Every day, a snail climbs 3 toes up a wall, however every evening it slips 2 toes again down whereas it sleeps. If the wall is 30 toes excessive, what number of days will it take for the snail to achieve the highest?
Reply: 28 days. Every day, the snail makes a 1 foot acquire, bringing it to 27 toes by the twenty seventh day. On the twenty eighth day, it should climb the final 3 toes and attain the highest.
37. Divide 40 by half and add 10. What’s the consequence?
Reply: 90. The instruction says to divide by half, to not divide in half. In different phrases, the equation is 40 ÷ .5 = 80 + 10 = 90.
38. Add me to myself and multiply by 4. Divide me by 8 and you should have me as soon as extra. What quantity am I?
Reply: This works for any quantity!
39. Lin is 4 occasions as outdated as her daughter Rosa. In 20 years, Lin will probably be twice as outdated as her daughter. How outdated are Lin and Rosa now?
Reply: Lin is 40, and Rosa is 10.
40. A field holds 13 blue marbles, 13 crimson marbles, and 13 inexperienced marbles. Should you’re unable to see into the field, what’s the minimal variety of marbles it is advisable take out to make sure you have one in all each colour?
Reply: 27. You may must take out each one in all two colours of marbles (26) earlier than pulling one of many third colour (+1).
41. A retailer is providing a bat and ball for a complete of $1.10. The bat prices $1 greater than the ball. How a lot does every merchandise value individually?
Reply: The ball prices 5 cents, and the bat prices $1.05.
42. Discover two numbers whose squares add as much as 100. (Neither quantity is zero.)
Reply: 8 and 6 (64 + 36 = 100).
43. Miguel, Sara, and Olive share a field of 120 M&Ms. Miguel eats half the sweet, Sara eats one-third, and Olive eats one-tenth. What number of M&Ms are left?
Reply: 8. Miguel eats 60, Sara eats 40, and Olive eats 12. This leaves 8 items of sweet uneaten.
44. What is exclusive about this quantity: 8,549,176,320?
Reply: When spelled out as phrases, it accommodates the numbers 0 to 10 in alphabetical order. (Eight, 5, 4, and so forth.)
45. Organize the numbers 1 to 9 in a 3 x 3 grid such that the sum of every row, column, and diagonal is similar.
Reply: Row One: 8 3 4, Row Two: 1 5 9, Row Three: 6 7 2.
46. A rectangle has a fringe of 24 inches. If the size is twice the width, what are the size of the rectangle?
Reply: Width = 4 inches, size = 8 inches.
47. I’m a four-digit quantity (ABCD). Whenever you multiply me by 4, the reply is similar four-digit quantity in reverse (DCBA). What quantity am I?
Reply: 2,178.
48. What’s the subsequent quantity on this sequence? 7,645 5,764 4,576 _______.
Reply: 6,457 (Transfer the ultimate digit to the start every time.)
49. A triangle has three angles which might be all sq. numbers. What are the angles of this triangle?
Reply: 16 levels, 64 levels, and 100 levels.
50. What’s the smallest complete quantity that, when written out in phrases, makes use of all of the vowels precisely as soon as?
Reply: 5 thousand.
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