Math Recreations
A big part of mathematics is problem-solving and critical thinking, but who said that it couldn’t be fun, too?
Explore this section to find challenging problems, and you may find a previously unexplored area of math in which you excel.
Problems have been divided into three categories:
High School: The problems on this page will be directed primarily toward high school students, although everyone is welcome to participate. Each month, the solution to the previous month's problem will be posted along with the names of those who have solved it.
Advanced: This page will pose problems which assume some college-level mathematics, typically calculus, but occasionally higher-level courses. Solutions are solicited. Each month, the names of those solving the puzzle will be posted along with one of their solutions (assuming any are received).
Challenge: This page does not presuppose a knowledge of calculus, but the problems posed tend to be of a more challenging nature. Solutions are solicited. Each month, the names of those solving the puzzle will be posted along with one of their solutions (assuming any are received).
Other puzzle and problem resources:
- Carlos Rivera's "The Prime Puzzles & Problems Connection"
- Ed Pegg Jr.'s Math Puzzle of the Week
- Erich Friedman's Math Magic
- IBM Research's "Ponder This"
- Math Forum: Problems of the Week
- Ole Miss Math Challenge
- Project Euler (a series of challenging mathematical/computer programming problems)
- Purdue University's Problem of the Week
- Stan Wagon's Macalester College Problem of the Week
- "The Puzzle Toad" at the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science
- Using Your Head is Permitted
If you have a link to a "non-commercial" site you'd like to add, send it to Dr. Les Reid . The site can be affiliated with a company, but the principal purpose of the page should be problem-solving, not trying to sell something.