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The Answers Challenge

A collection of challenging space-themed math questions with step-by-step solutions.

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The Answers Challenge

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  1. The Answers Challenge ‘11

  2. Far, Far Away Alpha Centauri, the closest star to the sun, is 4.3 light years away. A starship is travelling at 1516 times the speed of light. How long would it take for it to get from the sun to Alpha Centauri?

  3. Far, Far Away 4.3 years ÷ 1516 = 1571 days ÷ 1516 = 37963.8 hours ÷ 1516 = 24.86 hours = 24 hours & 52 minutes (to the nearest minute)

  4. Ear We Go Yuri and his space dog Laika travel to a moon base. Before they had arrived, there were 52 ears at the base; after they arrived, there were 43 pairs of legs at the base. How many cosmonauts and how many space dogs are there now at the base?

  5. Ear We Go Cosmonauts have 2 ears and 2 legs Dogs have 2 ears and 4 legs C = number of cosmonauts before Yuri and Laika’s arrival D = number of dogs before their arrival Before: 2C+2D = 52 After: 2(C+1) + 4(D+1)= 2× 43 • 2C + 2 + 4D + 4 = 86 • 2C+4D=80

  6. Ear We Go Subtract before from after 2D=80-52=28 • D=14 Substitute into before 2C + 2×14=52 • 2C=52-28=24 • C=12 So after their arrival there are: 13 Cosmonauts and 15 dogs

  7. Just before Jonathan and Jim step out for a space walk, Jean-Luc decides to give them a challenge: ‘I’m thinking of a prime number less than 10000. The product of its digits is zero, and its first digit is equal to the sum of the other digits.’ Jonathan replies that this is insufficient information to work out the number. Jean-Luc then adds: ‘Reversing the digits gives you a number which is divisible by exactly three prime factors, two of which are 19 and 29.’ Jim states that this is now enough information. What number is Jean-Luc thinking of? Prime Directive

  8. Prime Directive The reversed number is divisible by 19 and 29 so is divisible by 551, so the reversed number is one of: The third factor is prime, so that narrows it to: The product of its digits is 0 => at least one digit is a 0, so we are left with:

  9. Prime Directive So the original number was: 1606 or 2011. 2011 is the only prime. Check that 1st digit is the sum of the others. 2011 is the number.

  10. Trouble at Hubble In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched. Twenty-one years on, it was in need of repair, and a rocket was sent into space to repair it. The rocket made good progress on the way up to the telescope, travelling at an average speed of 3,000mph. Whilst at the telescope, the rocket developed a fault and the rocket’s speed on the return journey was reduced to 1,000mph. What was the overall average speed of the rocket?

  11. Trouble at Hubble The return flight takes 3 times as long as the outward trip. So time is 4T (T = time for outward trip) Distance is 2D (D= distance from start to telescope) D/T=3000 => D=3000T So speed = 2D / 4T = 2×3000T / 4T = 6000/4 = 1500mph

  12. Line Dancing Mercury orbits the Sun in 89 days, Earth orbits in 365.25 days. If, at midnight on 21st December 2010, the planets are in alignment on the same side of the Sun, on which dates will Mercury pass between the Earth & the Sun during 2011?

  13. Line Dancing 18th April 9th December 14th August

  14. Line Dancing • We gave +/- 1 day for the first two dates and +/- 2 days for the last date.

  15. Ma's Boys Four astronaut brothers, Neil, John, Buzz, and Eugene, all do tours of duty on a space station. Neil returns to Earth every 9 weeks; John returns every 10 weeks; Buzz goes home every 11 weeks; and Eugene every 12 weeks. Each visit home is on a Friday for one day, and is included in the number of weeks above. They are all home for their mother’s 50th Birthday party. How old will she be when she next has all four sons home together?

  16. Ma's Boys The LCM of 9, 10, 11 and 12 is 1980 weeks. At first glance this is 38 years and 4 weeks, But 52 weeks is only 364 days, so the extra days add up to more than 4 weeks. So Ma will still be 87.

  17. Space Men • Toy space men of different shapes are each formed from five 1cm cubes, with adjacent cubes firmly welded together face-to-face. To qualify for space flight, each space man has to be able to fit into a 3cm × 3cm × 3cm escape pod. How many such space men are there, each distinct from the other?

  18. Space Men

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