Homework Help: algebra

Posted by Linda on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 12:22pm.

My science class is pretty small. There are just 18 students in the class. My teacher, Mr. Burnett, has an unusual system for picking lab partners. He has given each student a number from 1 to 18, and on lab days, he pulls two numbers out of a bag to match people up. During our last lab I noticed that the sum of each pairing was a perfect square. How were the partners paired with each other?

algebra - Steve, Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 5:13pm
Starting with the biggest,

18+7=25
17+8=25
16+9=25

Now all the numbers 7-10 and 15-18 are taken. That leaves 1,2,3,4,5,6,10,11,12,13,14,15
Taking the easy way out,

1+15=16
2+14=16
3+13=16
4+12=16
5+11=16
6+10=16

There may be other arrangements, but this one falls out the easiest.
algebra - MathMate, Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 5:14pm
This is a neat problem!

The hardest ones to match are those from 16 to 18, since we can only match to a total of 25. The rest can match to a total of 16 and the job is done.

Answer this Question

Related Questions

Algebra - Ms Newton's class took the same test as Mr. Euclid's students...
Algebra - Ms Newton's class took the same test as Mr. Euclid's students...
General - Is it illegal for a school to not have a subsitute teacher assigned to...
math - Mr. Mole determined that 2/3 of the students in his math class had ...
math - every math class at super fun time high school has 31 students and every ...
Math - There are 24 students in Mrs.Smith's 1st block class. 1/4 of the ...
Math 156 - The ratio of girls to boys in Mr. Maddox's class of 20 students ...
math/hurry - The ratio of boys to girls in Mr. Joiner’s class is 5 to 7. If...
math - The ratio of boys to girls in Mr. Joiner’s class is 5 to 7. If there...
math - The ratio of boys to girls in Mr. Joiner’s class is 5 to 7. If there...

For Further Reading

First Name:
School Subject:
Answer: