Intergalactic Adventure - Challenge 2

Ready for a mathematical space adventure? Complete your Intergalactic Passport Application Form and prepare for a journey to the Planet Turasmara.

Created by Scottish Mathematical Council

An image of a galaxy with red and black colour nuances, and white shining stars.

Challenge 2: Keypad

To board the Phoenix Intergalactic Spacecraft you must first enter the correct code into the keypad. The problem is you don’t know the code, so it’s time to get solving.

You look around for some clues - luckily, the last person to use the keypad left something behind. Perhaps a fingerprinting kit might help you!

A graphic image of a keypad, with fingerprints on top of the numbers 2, 4, 6 and 9. Above the keypad is a screen, with the words "To unlock this door you'll need 4 digits - all are different. If you start with the first, then 2/3 of it follows. Then a quarter of the first two still remains."

The finger printing kit has helped you to identify the four correct keys, but what order do they go in? You notice another clue on the screen above the keypad - if you can work out the maths problem in the clue, you'll have that spacecraft door open in no time!

Download Keypad

Proceed to Challenge 3

(If you are arriving at the Intergalactic Adventure on this page, you can go back to the Introduction and Challenge 1 to start you off)