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The Barge Team Competition

Each semester, the Lafayette College Department of Mathematics holds the Barge Competition. Each week (on Friday), the Math department posts a new problem. Teams turn their solutions into the department by the following Friday. The contest lasts for 8 weeks, and the problems vary in difficulty, usually getting harder as the semester progresses.

The 2005 Fall Team Barge competition has started. Look below for this semester’s problems! The 2005 Spring Team Barge competition results are posted at the bottom of the page.

The Rules

Form a team with other Lafayette students. Each team must have 3, 4 or 5 members. You can consult with inanimate objects (books, computers and the like), but not faculty. The weekly problem appears on this web site as the current problem and is also posted in the Math Department. Solve the Problem of the Week with your team and submit your solution to the Math Department by the weekly deadline. There will be 8 problems during the semester, so keep turning in problems, even if your team isn't 100% sure of your solution; it's unusual for any team to completely solve all of the questions.

The Problems

The problems usually involve some ingenuity or insight and generally not lots of background information from previous courses. The topics range over all areas of mathematics: probability, geometry, number theory, combinatorics, algebra, calculus and more. The current problem is also available during the semester. Check it out!!!

Send an email to Professor Berkove with your team members and their email addresses and you'll all receive the complimentary weekly barge problem by email. If you need any other information about the Barge Competition, contact: Professor Berkove in Pardee 221 or email him at berkovee@lafayette.edu

This Week’s Problem