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Think of a Number

Ten students think of a number then perform various operations on that number. You have to find what the original numbers were.
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This is level 1: Whole number THOAN problems. You can earn a trophy if you get at least 7 questions correct.

\( \times 2\)

\(+2\)

\(10\)


Sophia says:
'I think of a number. I double my number and add 2 the answer is 10'
What number was Sophia first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong


Elizabeth says:
'I am also thinking of a number. If I multiply my number by 2 and add 5 the answer is 37'
What number was Elizabeth first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Alexis says:
'I think of a number. I multiply my number by 3 and add 5 the answer is 38'
What number was Alexis first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Grace says:
'Can you guess what number I am thinking of if when I multiply it by 4 and add 6 the answer is 74?'
What number was Grace first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Sarah says:
'If I divide my number by 5 and add 6 the answer is 15'
What number was Sarah first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Alyssa says:
'If I multiply my number by 6 then add 4 then add 4 then add 3 the answer is 59'
What number was Alyssa first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Mia says:
'I am thinking of my favourite number. If I add 12 to my number then divide the result by 2, the answer is 11'
What number was Mia first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Natalie says:
'My plan was to add 6 to my number then multiply the result by 2. Then I multiplied the result by 6 and finally subtracted 5. The answer is 295'
What number was Natalie first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Chloe says:
'I decided to add 4 to my number then multiply the result by 3, After that I subtracted 2 then doubled the result. The answer is 32'
What number was Chloe first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Brianna says:
'If I multiply my number by 6 and subtract 3 then multiply the result by 4, the answer is 4 less than 472'
What number was Brianna first thinking of?

Working:

Correct Wrong
Check

This is Think of a Number level 1. You can also try:
Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

Instructions

Try your best to answer the questions above. Type your answers into the boxes provided leaving no spaces. As you work through the exercise regularly click the "check" button. If you have any wrong answers, do your best to do corrections but if there is anything you don't understand, please ask your teacher for help.

When you have got all of the questions correct you may want to print out this page and paste it into your exercise book. If you keep your work in an ePortfolio you could take a screen shot of your answers and paste that into your Maths file.
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Description of Levels

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Level 1 - Whole number THOAN problems

Level 2 - Decimal THOAN problems

Level 3 - Negative decimal THOAN problems

Level 4 - THOAN problems with the result a multiple of the number

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

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Curriculum Reference

See the National Curriculum page for links to related online activities and resources.

Example

Daniel says 'If I double my number and add 6 the answer is 30'

Method 1 - Work backwards

Start at the end of the sentence with the answer 30 and undo all of the operations Daniel performed on his number in reverse order.

30 minus 6 then divide by two

The number Daniel was thinking about was 12

 

Method 2 - Form and solve an equation

Let the number that Daniel is first thinking of be n.

2n + 6 = 30

Subtract 6 from both sides

2n = 24

Divide both sides by 2

n = 12

The number Daniel was thinking about was 12

 

Don't wait until you have finished the exercise before you click on the 'Check' button. Click it often as you work through the questions to see if you are answering them correctly. You can double-click the 'Check' button to make it float at the bottom of your screen.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

Log in Sign up

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