Katie Illingworth
Location UK
Activity
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
9, 23, 51, 76
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
ho sessantatre anni.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Mi chiamo Katie, sono inglese, sono in pensione. Mi piace molto viaggare all'estero.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Vivo a Birmingham. Io sono inglese.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Mi chiamo Katie
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Piacere. Mi chiamo Katie e sono inglesa.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I'm going to Sardinia shortly and want to be able to communicate without having to rely on finding english speakers.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I enjoyed this course. Some things were more difficult than others, it made me appreciate how challenging ones thought patterns opens up new areas to learn about. And also made me appreciate the thinking and maths skills behind things we take for granted like computers and shopping. Anyone remember when the till assistant had to enter every price manually...
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Katie Illingworth replied to Noelle W.
I agree examples would help.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I use the IF function in my financial planning spreadsheet to help me work out my tax liability at any particular level of income!! Given mine is all over the place at the moment (and even when it's less variable) it helps make sure I set aside enough of my income to pay my taxes.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
In music, for a key change up a semitone the operators would be sharpen every note, to get back to start flatten every note. Equally to go up a tone, double sharp every note, then double flat every note. In knitting, row 1 increase in every stitch, then row 2 knit 2 together to decrease. With things that melt, apply heat, apply cold. Sorry if I'm being...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Are things like COUNT and COUNTA in excel operators? I think I may be confusing instructions with operators. How about dy/dx? And the n in an expressions like 3 to the power of n?
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Katie Illingworth replied to Gillian Niven
@BenJ Thank you that helped a lot. I was getting to stage 2 then getting stuck.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
A very simple way to teach the 9 times table up to 10 x 9 is to use your fingers. Put all 10 on the table in front of you. For 1 x 9 put one finger under the table, it leaves 9 showing. For 2 x 9 put another one under the table, the answer is 18 (one less than the hidden fingers in the 10s column and the unhidden fingers in the units column), for 3 x 9 the...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
The egyptian method reminded me a lot of my old imperial measurement weighing scales for baking. It had 1oz, 2oz, 4oz, 8oz and then 1lb and 2lb weights in it. You could make any weight between 1oz and 15oz up using a combination of these, then you moved onto the 1lb plus combinations to go from 1lb to 1lb 15oz and then moved onto the 2lb etc. They were for...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I approached the last one somewhat differently to others. I discounted the first two options for the wheat as too difficult. How on earth would he do either of those options accurately and without taking ages? Option 3 using a common denominator of 45 meant everyone got (15 + 9 + 5)/45 bits which came to 29/45. Option 4 needed a common denominator of 90...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
It's fascinating how the symbology of numbers in the arabic system has come to signify the same thing the world over. Wouldn't life be confusing if the symbol 3 meant one quantity in say America, but something different in Australia. I need to research how number systems spread I think. And if aliens landed and saw our number system, I wonder how long it...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Got there in the end. Like others a couple of times I thought I'd solved it only to find I'd used the same number for 2 different letters. I enjoyed finding how each time I messed it up I learned a little more of the logic so could start eliminating things that it was becoming obvious wouldn't work.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I think I realised I'm of the generation where we had to learn our tables, and in my case we had to learn square numbers up to at least 13 x 13 too! And all the pythagorean triangles ;) Does make it easier when you can recognise things straight away.
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I'm sure you're not hopeless. I found on other courses it took a few days mulling things over (even when I wasn't aware I was doing so) for the penny to drop. Don't be put off by others finding it easy. Don't forget there are people here who did maths at uni, or are maths teachers/lecturers themselves. They don't mean to initimidate, just they've...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Looks interesting. Particularly like the first one, as my eldest is called Joe, and occasionally refers to himself as kingjo. When he was little we used to nickname him Jokety Joe because he was a real joker!! Sorry, not relevant to the maths, but it made me smile.
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I like the challenge, and being made to think in different ways about something. If I'm completely honest I guess I like the smug feeling that solving something gives me especially if I know it's meant to be 'difficult'.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Thank you for this course. If you run it again I would be interested in joining again. For me I think it's one of those things that takes time to inwardly digest and start to make sense, and I think a second run through would enable me to start to understand better the more challenging bits. I must admit I ended up having to rush the last week and a half...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I enjoyed the course, though I need to revisit and spend more thinking time on the later content. I didn't know there were so many types of flexagon beforehand, and the pointers to where to learn more are very helpful. I'm not sure I understand how the maths behind it is applicable to every day life.
Though I am wondering whether the thing with the catalan... -
Katie Illingworth made a comment
I found I had to make all these to get the answers. The one where you cut 1/3 in was interesting, I hadn't expected what happened when I had got all the way round and back to the cellotape for the first time.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Thank you, I enjoyed this. Looking forward to the cryptology course.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I learned that as I suspected there are strategies for winning certain games and it was interesting to see these formalised. Game of nim was new to me and the different version of Tic Tac Toe. I hadn't come across the Game of Life before and that challenged me in being able to apply rules and visualise consequences of certain actions (I suppose that skill is...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I really enjoyed this, it introduced me to lots of new (and at times challenging) things. I found Yossi an engaging and enthusiastic teacher and I like the way the activities were organised in that we were given enough information to do the tasks but weren't overloaded. It was good to have links so that those who wanted to could explore further. There's...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
So to try and work out what was going on: I made the model and labelled the ends of each loop where they joined with As on one and Bs on the other. I put a total of 4 on each piece, so when I cut the loops in half and across the cellotape joins there'd be one on each piece. I then tried to work out what was happening with each component: for the...
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Katie Illingworth replied to Katie Illingworth
I guess the hint regarding the grid could be seen as confusing as to which way to draw it if you don't know convention is that you give the X direction first (ie horizontal) followed by the Y (vertical), so a 14 x 7 grid is 14 wide by 7 high rather than the other way round.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Both are fun, agree comments from others. We used to have one of these and it seems like it might be based on similar principles. I'm definitely going to make the chocolate one for my adult kids :) https://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/jacobs-ladder-toy.html
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Some of the effects Vi Hart shows in her videos are really cool too :)
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
At times I have to say I think double dutch has been the language of choice :)
To be serious, in terms of 'should' I don't think there's an answer on that. -
Katie Illingworth made a comment
I got 10. In the absence of graph paper at the moment I used Excel to prepare an A4 sheet as a grid (format cells to square shapes, then get as many on a page as your eyesight will allow (!), and print with gridlines). You can also do it onscreen using excel, and that could help as you can colour code like in Yossi's video to help with working out. It took...
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Katie Illingworth replied to ben f
Thank you Yossi. Really enjoying this and your videos are full of infectious enthusiasm.
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Katie Illingworth replied to Chris Pyves
That is a good one. Thanks for the info.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
The misere game I know is as one of the calls you can make in Solo Whist. The call misere ranks third in the hierarchy and means a player thinks they will lose every trick. Misere ouverte (ie open) is the second highest call and means they think they can lose every trick even with their hand displayed for everyone to see. More info here ...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I expect most of us remember playing this game with someone older and the frustration of not being able to work out how they either always won, or prevented you from doing so! A quick internet search wasn't an option when I was younger :) I found the wikipedia article interesting especially the bit about perfect players and random players. Playing against...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Agree all below regarding the solution. For those who are finding the multi pile game hard, you're not alone. I knew what I had to do but as the piles got bigger I kept finding myself having handed the advantage to the computer (wasn't going to the effort of working out Nim sums, just trying to do it intuitively and pretending the computer was like a real...
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Katie Illingworth replied to ben f
Hi @benf @NimB, if you click on the link above to Vi Hart decorated tri-hexa-flexagons she shows you how to make one without needing a template. Instructions start at around 01.56. My printer only does black and white, and I can't hand on heart say pritt stick is an essential purchase at the moment, so I've found her method really helpful as on my first...
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Katie Illingworth replied to Heather Morris
Hi Heather, if you click on the link above to Vi Hart decorated tri-hexa-flexagons she shows you how to make one without needing a template. Instructions start at around 01.56. My printer only does black and white, and I can't hand on heart say pritt stick is an essential purchase at the moment, so I've found her method really helpful as on my first attempt...
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Katie Illingworth replied to Heather Morris
I had to download the templates as a pdf, then when I viewed the document in my downloads file it showed properly as 12 individual pages and I could print the ones I wanted. I too couldn't get it to print just selected pages from the link, it was all or nothing at that stage.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
The main ones I know are penicillin and radioactivity. Not sure if the process of how vaccines work would count - Edward Jenner observing that milkmaids who'd had cowpox seemed to be immune to small pox and then researching why.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I like making things and maths, so this course neatly combines the two. I also like illusions and magic (though the only magic trick I can do is the one I learned on Yossi's recreational maths course!) and want to learn more about the maths behind it.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
This looks like maths with a little magic added in. I like making things and these sound like intriguing.
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Katie Illingworth replied to Katie Illingworth
Thanks Ben. I managed to sort it out in my head using your hint. I was overthinking it in terms of that it was what Isaac believed that counted. So the statement 'Even great scientists make mistakes sometimes' although intuitively I knew it had to be true, in my head it was whether Isaac believed that or not that counted. Though I can see that that's...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Looking at the comments, I think there's a statement missing from the question. Some people who are perhaps already familiar with this type of problem have subconsciously worked as if it were included. Others who aren't familiar can't understand why this is difficult. The missing statement is that the farmer always has to have a least one thing in the boat....
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I think missing from this question is the usual statement that the farmer always has to have at least one thing in the boat. He can't just cross on his own. That's why people are taking things back and forth to comply with that rule. Otherwise like you say it's not that hard!
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
This game is similar in strategy I think to one called Othello. I used to always lose until i twigged that if you play it right then the player who goes first has an advantage and theoretically should win. But there's so much scope to make a silly mistake that that isn't a given!! https://www.ultraboardgames.com/othello/game-rules.php
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Katie Illingworth replied to Eddie Ridgwell
Great explanation. I got it that the winner needs to make sure that their pre-penultimate go leaves 4 stones, forcing the next player into a situation where they can't win. But I couldn't have explained it so well. Thank you.
I think player 2 can win if player 1 is unfamiliar with the game and makes the mistake of taking 3 stones first go leaving 7. ... -
Katie Illingworth made a comment
Looking forward to it. Had a brief look at Game of Life in the link in the earlier section. Seems like something like it (but even more complicated) may be what's used to model behaviour of viruses and predict infection rates. Very pertinent at the moment!! Thank goodness for computers in these scenarios eh.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I found this quiz suited how my mind works much better than some previous topics. But realise that staying within my comfort zone whilst great at one level isn't actually teaching me anything new :) For the latin square I found the diagonals most useful. The first square I solved was the one where the diagonals cross and that then unlocked others. I found...
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Katie Illingworth replied to E F
If you can use the Excel link by the question then that is a good way without needing to print. Also handy as if you make an error you can just use the 'undo' button to get back to where you think it may have happened, rather than having to do a complete restart :)
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Katie Illingworth replied to ben h
3D sudoku adds a whole new level!! I also like kakuro but they do take a while. Killer sudoku is different to the standard format and I find them very challenging.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
1 J A C K A N D G I L L W E N
2 T U P T H E H I L L T O F E
3 T C H A P A I L O F W A T E
4 R J A C K F E L L D O W N A
5 N D B R O K E H I S C R O W
6 N A N D J I L L C A M E T U
7 M B L I N G A F T E R . . .
Sorry when this posts the columns move about a bit, but basically the code is inserted downwards in each... -
Katie Illingworth made a comment
Yes. I find the traditional type easier to solve than so called 'killer' which are a bit different. Once a newspaper had a 3D one to solve, I got in a complete mess and couldn't do my usual of redrawing the grid and starting again. The original net needed you to be good at art too!! I also like Kakoru, though they take me ages, and I'm still working on...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I solved the first one by reading the article which comes up if you click on the words 'transposition cipher' above. I hadn't a clue before that. Use Yossi's hint and draw up your grid (you'll still be wondering how that will help). Using his hint again, put the 3 dots in as the last cell in each of the 3 last columns of the 14 x 7 grid. My hint, once you've...
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I know it's hard to think of X as a number for the equations, but that's what it is, it's just that at the beginning we don't know what it is. The trial and error basis works when the number you're trying to find is small, but it would be tricky if say the number on the carousel turned out to be 100 or higher. That's where equations come into their own. If...
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I'll try. So I assumed an unknown number of children on the carousel = X. We can't give an actual number at the moment, that's what we're trying to work out. Since Sammy is one of the children, then the ahead of him must be X take away 1 (1 of them is Sammy). Because it's a circle, then the number behind him must be the same as the number ahead (this makes...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Got in a mess on A,J and I question. If we are told each person makes one true and one false statement then if we assume A's first sentence is the false one, that becomes 'I did make the mistake Isaac didn't'. The true statement is unchanged is 'In any case I wrote a different part of the project'. The two are incompatible. If it's the other way round ie...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Sorry I find this really confusing. I think it's to do with the word 'happens' in the question. To me 'happen' refers to an event, not a thought. I've attempted to understand the explanations, but getting bogged down. Just going to accept this is an area I need to spend more time thinking about in future and move on. Otherwise I'll beat myself up about...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
The crocodile dilemma.
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I agree Karen. I read a book when my kids were learning maths written by a teacher who cited an example of a child who said he couldn't do division or fractions, and was confused working out the figure for a 'guzunder' (he meant the figure to put on the bottom of a fraction as in 'goes under'). She gave him a bar of chocolate with 16 squares and asked him...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
My sister has a set of something called dancing dolphins. There are 5 in different poses, and the challenge is to create a group of all of them which balance perfectly on the base unit. I'd never really thought about it as a maths puzzle before, although I realised the maker must have done some calculations regarding weight and shape etc. Take a look at some...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I liked both, but egg best. I see myself as more likely to need to solve that kind of problem lol. To be honest I couldn't solve either on my own, but I'm finding the explanations are making me learn about other ways to approach a problem and making me realise the limitations of my current way of thinking. That has to be good. I kind of realised the egg...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I got the same answer as those that started with [5,0]-->[2,3] etc. Decided that the friend had their own jug for me to put their 4 litres in so I could start again. Either that or they downed 4 litres in one go!! I understand the points below about it not being clear about what to do with the first 4 litres. Maybe to avoid confusion the question should...
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Hi Jan, yes I agree. It makes it very challenging to set questions. I was more poking fun at myself for not realising that when it said count multiples of 3 and 5 twice, I overthought it and made a mistake, and actually counted the ones in that category 3 times. You could say I swallowed the bait, as if they hadn't mentioned it I might have got it right...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I couldn't do the probability one. But I do understand the explanation. I put in 1 hour for the pills and was told I was wrong. So then I started looking for hidden meanings. Like, a new half hour begins every minute, so in theory you could take one a minute, which would be one each half hour. But that was overthinking it. And it turned out 1 hour was...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
The magic aspects. The sculptures. The Game of Life. I am learning a lot on this course, it's fascinating.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Think I've got it. It's a bit like in which year did Christmas Day and New Years day fall in the same year.
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Struggling to understand the wording of the Dudeney puzzle. Interesting to see others interpretations. For the Loyd one I got into equations. I assumed X as number of children on carousel (including Sammy) So (x-1) ahead of him and (x-1) behind as it's a circle. I then solved the equation 1/3(x-1) + 3/4(x-1) = x
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I'm late, I'm late for a very important date. No time to say Hello, Goodbye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late.
Applies to lots of us at one time or another, me included. -
Katie Illingworth made a comment
I found the triangle question hardest. Got it wrong first time as I tried to do it without the hint and got bogged down in unsolvable Pythagoras (well unsolvable to me, I had too many unknowns). Once I read the hint I solved it. Don't remember Euclid's triangle from school, know the name but it was a long time ago!! Have had to revisit BODMAS!! I did the...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Totally with you Yossi. Too many people think they can't do maths, having been made to feel they can't at school. In fact they do it all the time eg calculating what needs to be put on and when in order for different parts of a meal to all be ready at the same time, deciding how much sandwich filling to buy to have enough for their kids lunchboxes for a...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
Agree others comments. Think the rubik cube might qualify - I can't do it, my sister just does it on auto pilot!! Observing maths in nature I think - spiral in a pine cone etc. Numbers of petals on flowers. Maths in music, maths in dance (repeat sequences of steps making up a particular number of beats), maths when driving - eg calculating if it's safe to...
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Katie Illingworth made a comment
I always loved maths at school. I want to do something fun with it during self isolation. This seemed a good start.
