Chika Ofili, a 12-year-old, has emerged as one of the youngest mathematics scholars in the world after discovering a new mathematical formula.
Born in London, the United Kingdom, the Nigerian boy discovered a formula that solves several division problems swiftly.
He discovered this while completing a homework assignment given to him by his teacher.
Chika Ofili, based in the UK, was recently awarded the TruLittle Hero Awards for discovering the new formula for divisibility by seven in mathematics.
Chika attended Westminster Under School in London, and his mathematics teacher, Miss Mary Ellis, gave him a book called “First Steps for Problem Solvers” while on break.
Ofili’s teacher, also the head of the mathematics department at Westminster Under School, said he discovered the formula while solving a holiday assignment. Miss Ellis said in an educational journal that she gave a book called First Steps for Problem Solvers (published by the UKMT) to study during the holidays.
The book had several divisibility tests to quickly determine whether a number is exactly divisible by either 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 before you start dividing. The book had no memorable tests listed for checking divisibility by 7.
Ofili discovered the formula and had an algebraic proof to back it up.
The new formula involves taking the last digit of any whole number, multiplying it by 5, and then adding it to the remaining part of the number to get a new number. If this new number is divisible by 7, then the original number is divisible by 7.
Congratulation, Amber.