Last week Charterhouse fielded three teams in the Surrey Schools’ Mathematics Quiz
A total of 13 schools entered the competition held at St Peter's Catholic School in Guildford including RGS Guildford, Guildford High School for Girls, Cranleigh and Reed’s. Each school chose three of their most able mathematicians in each year group. The competition consisted of several rounds: algebra, geometry, number and the ‘relay’ section which involved answering a maths puzzle and then running to collect the next question!
The night was an enjoyable test of the pupils’ ability to work calmly under pressure and collaborate as a team on challenging problems. The tight time-limits on each round meant that not only accuracy but also speed was of the essence. Adding to the tension, the fire-alarm went off midway through the competition and everyone had to evacuate the building. Evidently our students were unperturbed by the interruption; indeed the breath of fresh air may have helped to oxygenate their brains, as two Charterhouse teams ended up on the podium.
Hearty congratulations to the Year 9 team, who placed first in their age-category, winning by a significant margin. A special mention must also go to our Year 10 team who placed third in their category and to the Year 11 pupils for a spirited performance.
Charterhouse Mathematicss Team Members
Year 9 pupils:
- TianZong
- Toby
- Ed
Year 10 pupils:
- Lancelot
- Jack
- Justin
Year 11 pupils:
- Horace
- Aidan
- Michael
For anyone interested in the type of questions that the students had to grapple with, here is the hardest question of the night. Can you solve it?
Big Bang
Farmer Guy is building his own conical firework to finish the fireworks display with a bang. He plans to cut out a small sector from a circular piece of sturdy cardboard (diameter 1.75m) and glue the exposed radii together to form the curved surface of the firework. He wants to maximise the volume of the cone so that he can fit as much gunpowder in as possible.
Q: What angle of sector should he cut out to maximise the volume of the cone?
Mr L Radovic, Mathematics
