How many math words can you find on a phone keypad by starting on one of the eight
lettered buttons (2 through 9) and picking one of the letters on it, then moving one button
in any direction (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) to a new button and picking one
of its letters, and so on?
You may use a button only once in each word, and words must be two to eight letters in length.
You must find at least six MATH words to be included on the Problem Solvers list.
Solution to the Problem:
I did not allow abbreviations, only math words. Here is a list of math words that I found on the phone keypad: (1) pi -- number (2) four -- number (3) two -- number (4) couple -- two (5) plane -- undefined term in geometry (6) half -- fraction (7) sum -- addition (8) bit -- binary digit (9) cent -- hundred (10) dot -- dot-product (11) rule -- a ruler or algorithm (12) slant -- slant height of solids in geometry (13) fair -- in game theory or statistics (dice) (14) fairly -- in game theory (15) unfairly -- in game theory? This word uses ALL 8 buttons!!!! (16) flow -- as in flow chart? K. Sengupta added the following: (17) plot -- on a coordinate system John Funk added the following: (18) loci -- plural of locus (location) (19) foci -- plural of focus (20) trial -- in statistics John Funk and Les Walker added the following: (21) flip -- in probability (coin tossing) Les Walker added the following: (22) nu -- Greek letter used in statistics (23) box -- box plots in statistics ----------------------------------------------------------- K. Sengupta, Les Walker, and John Funk sent in numerous abbreviations: LCM LCD nth cis cot GCF
Correctly solved by:
| 1. K. Sengupta (14 math words) | Calcutta, INDIA |
| 2. John Funk (13 math words) | Ventura, California |
| 3. Les Walker (8 math words) | Ventura, California |