Not only for solving
Algebra for fun
Algebra has modelled situations and solved for unknowns.
Shared by a Veda teacher · Generated with Veda AI · Oct 2026
Veda Bites are swipeable micro-lessons — each one teaches exactly one idea. Here's a taste from this kit; the app has the full deck.
Algebra for fun
Algebra has modelled situations and solved for unknowns.
A trick to start with
Think of a number, double it, add four, halve it.
Why trying more will not do
Testing 3, then 11, then 40 never settles the question.
What a number pyramid is
Each row is one entry shorter than the row below it.
Filling one upwards
Add neighbouring pairs to get the row above, and keep going.
Filling one downwards
If an entry and one beneath it are known, the other is their difference.
A number trick that ends on the same answer whatever you start from is not magic. Write the steps with a letter and the starting number cancels itself out, leaving only the constant behind.
~35 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
In a number pyramid each entry is the sum of the two below it. Letters turn a half-filled pyramid into equations, and they also give a formula for the top from the bottom row alone.
~35 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
Algebra settles two kinds of question here. Which arrangement of three digits gives the largest product, and why a trick about reversing digits always divides exactly.
~35 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
105 questions laddered from warm-up to topper-level, each with an explanation. A taste:
Besides modelling situations and solving for unknowns, the use this chapter makes of algebra is
Beginnerexplaining why a trick works
And inventing new tricks of your own.
Think of a number, double it, add four, divide by two, and take away the number you first thought of. The answer you reach is
Beginner2
It is 2 whatever the starting number was.
Trying the trick with 3, then with 11, then with 40 still settles nothing about whether it always works, because
Intermediatethere are always more starting numbers untried
An argument must cover every start at once.
Taking the starting number as x, doubling it and then adding four gives the expression
Beginner2x plus 4
Doubling first, then adding.
51 flashcards in this kit — the app reviews them with spaced repetition so the right card returns on the right day.
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The full Veda Bites deck, complete notes, spaced-repetition flashcards, leveled MCQs, tests and games for this kit — plus Daily Facts and the Arena, every day.