What is a Clock Problem?

The earliest known clock problem was posed in 1694 by

A clock problem is a mathematical problem which focus on Jacques Ozanam in his “Recreations Mathematiques et
the relationship of the movements of the hands (hour hand, Psysiques.”
minute hand, second hand) of the clock. This type of problem
is for mechanical clocks only and never for a digital clocks. What is Variation Problem?

The longest hand is the second hand while the shortest hand Variation problems are problems in Algebra which show the
is the hour hand. By principle, the second hand (SH) always relationship between the variables in terms of expressions
moves faster than the minute hand (MH) and the minute hand such as “directly proportional or inversely proportion or
always moves faster than the (HH). The relation between the simply proportional”.
three hands of the clock are as follows:
The expression x varies (ᴥ) is replaced by an equality symbol
𝑀𝐻 𝑀𝐻 𝑆𝐻 and a constant of proportionality, k, hence:
HH = HH = HH =
12 720 12 x = ky
The expression x varies inversely as the square of y is
Where : SH in number of seconds expressed as follows:
MH is in number of minutes 1
x=k
𝑦²
Most of the problems in clock problem involve only the
minute hand and the hour hand. The diagram shows the What is a Diophantine Equation?
relation between movement of the minute and hour hands.
A Diophantine equation is an equation that has integer
MM coefficients and for which integer solutions are required.

The best examples of Diophantine equations are those from

Pythagorean Theorem, a2 + b2 = c2, where a, b and c all
required to be whole numbers.

𝑀𝐻
12
Despite its simple appearance, Diophantine equations can be What is an Element?
fantastically difficult to solve. A notorious example comes
from Fermat’s Last theorem, which is an = bn + cn , where n > 2. Elements are the term used to describe the numbers in a
given sequence. An element is sometimes called a term.
Diophantine equations may refer to a system of equations
where the number of equations is one less than the number of What is a Series?
unknowns. These equations yield whole number for its
answers. Series is the sum of the terms in a sequence.

Diophantine equation is named after a Greek mathematician, What is an alternating series?

Diophantus of Alexandria (AD c200 – c284) who developed
his own algebraic notation and is sometimes called the An alternating series has positive and negative terms
“Father of Algebra’. arranged alternately.

What is a Sequence? What is the difference between a converging series and a

divergent series?
A Sequence is a set or collection of numbers arranged in an
orderly manner such that the preceding and the following If an infinite series has a finite sum, it is referred to as
numbers are completely specified. convergent series and divergent series if it has no sum at all.

What is the difference between an infinite and a finite What is a progression?

sequence?
A progression is simply another term for a sequence.
An infinite sequence is a function whose domain is the set of
positive integer. If the domain of the function consists of the What is the types of progression?
first n positive integers only, then it is said to be a finite The most common types of progression are:
sequence. 1. Arithmetic Progression (AP)
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 → finite sequence 2. Geometric Progression (GP)
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 ……→ infinite sequence 3. Harmonic Progression (HP)
What is an arithmetic progression? The corresponding sum of all terms in geometric progression
is called as geometric series.
A sequence is said to be in arithmetic progression if its
succeeding terms have a common difference. Also, there are only two formulas (i.e. last term and sum) to
remember and used in solving a problem in geometric
The corresponding sum of all the terms in arithmetic sequence.
progression is called as arithmetic series. Last term (nth term)
an = a1rn-1
There are only two formulas (i.e. last term and sum) to Sum of all terms:
remember and used in solving a problem in arithmetic
sequence. 𝑎₁(𝑟 𝑛 −1) 𝑎₁(1−𝑟 𝑛 )
S= or S=
𝑟−1 1−𝑟
Last term (nth term): Where: a1 = first term
an = a1 + (n – 1)d an = last term (nth term)
n = number of terms
Sum of all terms: r = common
𝑎₂ 𝑎₃
ratio = = = …….
𝑛 𝑛 𝑎₁ 𝑎₂
S = 2(a1 + an) or S = 2 [2a₁ + (n − 1)𝑑]
What is an Infinite Geometric Progression?
Where: a1 = first term
an = last term (nth term) This type of progression is a geometric progression only that
n = number of terms the number of terms (n) is extremely large or infinity.
d = common difference
d = a2 – a1 = a3 – a2 = …….. if r > 1, sum of all terms is infinite
if r >, the sum of all terms is
What is a geometric progression? 𝑎₁
S=
1−𝑟
A sequence is said to be a geometric progression if its Where; a1 = first term
succeeding terms have a common ratio. r = common ratio
What is Harmonic Progression? 3. Figurate Numbers:
A. Triangular numbers: Numbers which can be drawn
A sequence of numbers whose reciprocals form an arithmetic as dots and arranged in triangular shape.
progression is known as harmonic progression. In solving a
problem, it would be wise to convert all given terms into
arithmetic sequence by getting its reciprocals. Use the
formulas in arithmetic sequence and take the reciprocal of c
1 3 6 10 15 21
resulting value to obtain the equivalent harmonic term for an
answer. B. Square numbers: Numbers which can be drawn as
dots and arranged in square shape.
What are the Fibonacci and Related Sequences?

The following are the some of the famous and related

sequences.

1. Fibonacci Numbers – Named after the Italian

C. Gnomons: Numbers which can be drawn as dots on
merchant and mathematician. Leonardo di Pisa or
equally long legs of a right angle.
Fibonacci (Figlio dei Bonacci, “Son of the Bonnaccis”).

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 , 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144……

Each number is equal to the sum of the two preceding

numbers.

2. Lucas Sequence – Named after Edouard Lucas (1841 –

1891). Like the Fibonacci numbers, every term of the
Lucas sequence is the sum of the two preceding
numbers.
1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, 47, 76, 123……
D. Oblong numbers: Numbers which can be drawn as H. Square pyramidal numbers:
dots and arranged in a rectangle shape.

I. Supertetrahedral numbers:
E. Pentagonal numbers:
By piling up tetrahedral numbers, 1, 4, 10, 20, 35,
56, etc, we make four-dimentional numbers:

1, 5, 15, 35, 70,….

1 =1
1+4 =5
F. Cubic numbers: 1 + 4 + 10 = 15
1 + 4 + 10 + 20 = 35
1 + 4 + 10 + 20 + 35 = 70

1 8 27 64

G. Tetrahedral numbers: