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MathXplosion, Ep 46: Can you solve the Three Cups Problem?

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Man stands in front of 3 cups on table
MathXplosion, Ep 46: Can you solve the Three Cups Problem?

SUBJECTS:  Maths

YEARS:  3–4


Find three cups, place them in a line and turn one cup facing down.

Can you get all three cups facing down after making exactly three moves?

The one rule is: for every move, two cups must be flipped simultaneously.

Since the goal is to get all three cups facing down (an odd number) and you start with one cup facing down (also an odd number), you must turn down an even number of cups (two), because an odd plus an even is an odd.


Acknowledgements

Video © GAPC Entertainment.


Date of broadcast: 26 Nov 2018


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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