Maths Puzzles: Cryptarithms, Symbologies and Secret Codes (FutureLearn)

Through the course you will develop problem-solving skills, gain knowledge about the history, art and methodology of encrypted puzzles, and exercise your brain with fun challenges.

What topics will you cover?

• Encoding maths puzzles, secret codes and symbologies
• Solving and creating cryptarithms - puzzles where numbers in a mathematical expressions are encoded
• Genres of cryptarithm including, ancient Hindu problems and alphametics
• Special and unique cryptarithms, including prime numbers, logarithms, square roots and powers
• Symbologies from ancient times to modern bar codes
• The language of computers including, binary, ternary and gray codes
• Decrypting ancient Egyptian number systems, Roman and Greek numerals
• Barcode puzzles and how to solve them
• Different types of operator puzzles including unary, binary and ternary
• Modern operators including, logic operators, text operators and operators in Excel

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

• Solve different kinds of cryptarithms and decipher symbologies
• Synthesise the knowledge gained from all the different steps into a coherent view of the art of information concealment
• Demonstrate puzzle solving skills
• Improve problem solving skills and out-of-the-box thinking
• Collaborate with other learners to solve problems
• Apply problem solving strategies in new situations

Who is the course for?
The course is designed for anyone who enjoys popular science, recreational maths and solving maths puzzles and crosswords. It will be especially useful for parents or teachers looking to inspire a love of math and do fun math activities with young people.