Search

The following article explores a fascinating mathematical problem: the probability of a cat on a 3x3 chessboard encountering a mouse and catching it. Through several solutions, this probability is calculated for a variety of board sizes. The solutions include an analysis of possible paths for cat and mouse and a general formula that shows how the probability decreases as the number of squares increases. The study also provides an interesting window into the complex interactions between mathematics and probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Annex A to the DPCM of 4 August 2023 it is stated that <

In an overall framework of numerical illiteracy (i.e., innumeracy), mathematical games can provide useful introductory tools to critical thinking and the scientific method to deal with logical and probability problems that arise in everyday life. The work provides a unified framework to a number of puzzles, already spread in several papers. The majority of them are somewhat paradoxical, i.e., of counterintuitive solution, but, in addition to being entertaining, allow us to critically and quantitatively evaluate situations, even subjective ones, related to our lives. Many cases, e.g., the controversial Monty Hall problem, a classical brain teaser, can be tackled intuitively, often with the aid of heuristics or rules of thumb, by using very simple arithmetic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]