Take the Maths Challenge

The think-tank Reform has just wired us a copy of their maths challenge – a set of 10 questions designed not only to test the grey-matter, but also to promote a rigorous maths curriculum.  The challenge will be distributed at the party conferences – to see how the politicos fare – but we’ve reproduced it below for the benefit of CoffeeHousers.  For information on how to have your answers checked, click here.  Do let us know how you get on… 

Questions

Note: These problems are designed to be tackled without a calculator

1.(a) 15 x 9 = ?;

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  (b) (2 1/2 + 5/3 ) ÷ 2 1/2 = ?

2.When you count “1, 2, 3, …” out loud, what is the first number you come to that contains an “a”?

3.What is the angle between the hands of Big Ben at 9.15?