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Think of a Number

Ten students think of a number then perform various operations on that number. You have to find what the original numbers were.

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This is level 1: Whole number THOAN problems. You can earn a trophy if you get at least 7 questions correct.

\( \times 2\)

\(+3\)

\(9\)


Caden says:
'I think of a number. I double my number and add 3 the answer is 9'
What number was Caden first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong


Blake says:
'I am also thinking of a number. If I multiply my number by 2 and add 6 the answer is 48'
What number was Blake first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Carson says:
'I think of a number. I multiply my number by 3 and add 4 the answer is 34'
What number was Carson first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Emily says:
'Can you guess what number I am thinking of if when I multiply it by 4 and add 4 the answer is 64?'
What number was Emily first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Emma says:
'If I divide my number by 5 and add 6 the answer is 21'
What number was Emma first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Madison says:
'If I multiply my number by 5 then add 6 then add 5 then add 6 the answer is 112'
What number was Madison first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Abigail says:
'I am thinking of my favourite number. If I add 8 to my number then divide the result by 2, the answer is 25'
What number was Abigail first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Olivia says:
'My plan was to add 4 to my number then multiply the result by 4. Then I multiplied the result by 6 and finally subtracted 5. The answer is 475'
What number was Olivia first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Isabella says:
'I decided to add 6 to my number then multiply the result by 3, After that I subtracted 6 then doubled the result. The answer is 90'
What number was Isabella first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Hannah says:
'If I multiply my number by 4 and subtract 5 then multiply the result by 6, the answer is 6 less than 48'
What number was Hannah first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Check

This is Think of a Number level 1. You can also try:
Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

Instructions

Try your best to answer the questions above. Type your answers into the boxes provided leaving no spaces. As you work through the exercise regularly click the "check" button. If you have any wrong answers, do your best to do corrections but if there is anything you don't understand, please ask your teacher for help.

When you have got all of the questions correct you may want to print out this page and paste it into your exercise book. If you keep your work in an ePortfolio you could take a screen shot of your answers and paste that into your Maths file.

Why am I learning this?

Mathematicians are not the people who find Maths easy; they are the people who enjoy how mystifying, puzzling and hard it is. Are you a mathematician?

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Thanks again"

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"What a brilliant website. We have just started to use the 'starter-of-the-day' in our yr9 lessons to try them out before we change from a high school to a secondary school in September. This is one of the best resources on-line we have found. The kids and staff love it. Well done an thank you very much for making my maths lessons more interesting and fun."

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Featured Activity

Numskull

Numskull

Interactive, randomly-generated, number-based logic puzzle based on the Latin square designed to develop numeracy skills. These puzzles are drag and drop and can earn you a Transum Trophy.

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https://www.Transum.org/go/?Num=58

Description of Levels

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Level 1 - Whole number THOAN problems

Level 2 - Decimal THOAN problems

Level 3 - Negative decimal THOAN problems

Level 4 - THOAN problems with the result a multiple of the number

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

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Curriculum Reference

See the National Curriculum page for links to related online activities and resources.

Example

Daniel says 'If I double my number and add 6 the answer is 30'

Method 1 - Work backwards

Start at the end of the sentence with the answer 30 and undo all of the operations Daniel performed on his number in reverse order.

30 minus 6 then divide by two

The number Daniel was thinking about was 12

 

Method 2 - Form and solve an equation

Let the number that Daniel is first thinking of be n.

2n + 6 = 30

Subtract 6 from both sides

2n = 24

Divide both sides by 2

n = 12

The number Daniel was thinking about was 12

 

Don't wait until you have finished the exercise before you click on the 'Check' button. Click it often as you work through the questions to see if you are answering them correctly. You can double-click the 'Check' button to make it float at the bottom of your screen.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

Log in Sign up

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