Problems

Age
Difficulty
Found: 1979

On the second day Robinson Crusoe stretched the rope between two pegs, put a ring on the rope, and tied the goat with another rope to the ring. What shape did the goat graze in this case?

On the third day Robinson Crusoe put two pegs again, and decided not to stretch the rope, but to tie the goat with two loose ropes of different lengths to those pegs. What shape did the goat graze on the third day?

One day Robinson Crusoe decided to take his usual walk, and followed his path on a plateau holding his goat on the lead of 1 m length. Draw the shape of the area where the goat could have being eating grass while walking along Robinson Crusoe. The path they followed was exactly in the shape of 1 km\({}\times{}\)3 km rectangle.

Draw how Robinson Crusoe should put pegs and ropes to tie his goat in order for the goat to graze grass in the shape of a semicircle

In his twelfth year on the island Robinson Crusoe managed to tame a wolf, and used him as a guard dog for his goat. He used to tie the wolf with ropes to pegs and other ropes in such a way that there was always a safe place for the goat to escape. Subsequently, he studied the shapes the goat was grazing on the ground.
Draw a picture how Robinson used to tie the goat and the wolf in order for the goat to graze the grass in the shape of a ring

Think of other shapes Robinson’s goat can graze without a wolf, or with a wolf tied nearby. What if Robinson managed to tame several wolves and used them as guard dogs? Can two tied wolves keep an untied goat in a triangle? Can you think of other shapes you can create with Robinson’s goat and wolves?

Prove the divisibility rule for \(3\): the number is divisible by \(3\) if and only if the sum of its digits is divisible by \(3\).

While studying numbers and its properites, Robinson came across a 3-digit prime number with the last digit being equal to the sum of the first two digits. What was the last digit of that number if among the number did not have any zeros among it’s digits?

Prove the divisibility rule for \(4\): a number is divisible by \(4\) if and only if the number made by the last two digits of the original number is divisible by \(4\);
Can you come up with a divisibility rule for \(8\)?