Sam’s Math Club Notes http://samsmathclub.com/Forum/index.

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LECTURE 1: ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION

Properties

Commutative Property:

The order in which numbers are added does not change the sum.
4+7=7+4 a + b = b + a.

278 + 163 + 522

= 278 + 522 + 163

Associative Property (grouping property)

(4 + 3) + 7 = 4 + (3 + 7) (a + b) + c = a + (b + c).

123 + 458 + 877 + 542

= (123 + 877) + ( 458 + 542)

Distributive Property:

3  (4 + 3) = 3  4 + 3  3 a( b + c) = ab +ac.

(15 + 4 ) × 5 = 15 × 5 + 4 × 5

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Operation Skills

Examples:
(1) Thirty-seven people took a bus. Twelve got off. Then 5 got off. How many people
are on the bus now?

Solution:
Method 1: 37 – 12 – 5 = 20

Method 2: We calculate the total number of people that got off: 12 + 5 = 17.
37 – 17 = 20
From example (1), we see that the following expressions are the same:
37 – (12 + 5) = 37 – 12 – 5 = 20.

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(2).
(a). 128 – (28 + 10)

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 = 128 – 28 – 10 = 100 – 10 = 90. a – (b + c) = a – b – c.

(b). 483 – (183 – 47)

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 = 483 – 183 + 47 = 300 + 47 = 347. a – (b – c) = a – b + c.

(c). (138 + 753 + 112) – 253

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 = (138 +112) + (753 – 253) (a + b+ c) – d = a + (b– d) + c.
= 250 + 500 = 750

(d). (354 + 189) – (154 + 89)

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= (354 – 154) + (189 – 89) (a +b)– (c + d) =(a – c) + (b – d).
= 200 + 100 = 300.

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2. DIFFERENT WAYS OF CALCULATIONS

2.1 When numbers are close to ten or one hundred

If the last digit of a number is close to ten or zero, make the number end in zero.

9 = 10 – 1 8 = 10 – 2 7 = 10 – 3
11 = 10 + 1 12 = 10 + 2 13 = 10 + 3
19 = 20 – 1 18 = 20 – 2 17 = 20 – 3
101 = 100 + 1 199 = 200 – 1
Examples:

(1). Calculate: 276 + 199

= 276 + 199 + 1 – 1 = 276 + 200 – 1 = 476 – 1 = 475.

(2). Calculate: 443 + 59

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= 440 + 3 + 60 – 1 = (440 +60) + (3 – 1 ) = 500 + 2 = 502

(3). Calculate: 69 + 14 + 205 + 48 + 17

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= (70 + 10 + 200 + 50 + 20) + (4 + 5 – 1 – 2 – 3) = 350 + 3 = 353.

(4). Calculate: 423 – 98

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= 423 – 100 + 2 = 323 + 2 = 325.

(5). Calculate: 500 – 297 – 49

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= (500 – 300 – 50) + (3 + 1) = 150 + 4 = 154.

(6). Calculate: 31 + 58 + 69

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 = (31 + 69) + 58 = 100 + 58 = 158.

2.2. Find a reference number.

Examples:

(1): Alex’s father bought five bags of apples. They weighted 51, 52, 48, 47, and
53 lbs. What is the total weight of the apples?
Solution: We let the number 50 be the reference number.
51 + 52 + 48 + 47 + 53
= 50 + 1 + 50 +2 + 50 – 2 + 50 – 3 + 50 + 3
= (50 + 50 + 50 + 50 + 50) + (1 + 2 – 2 – 3 + 3) = 250 + 1 = 251.

(2): Bob’s mother bought 10 bags of rice with the weights of 101, 102, 100, 106,
98, 103, 94, 99, 107, and 95 lbs. Find the total weight of the 10 bags of rice.

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 Solution: We let the number 100 be a reference number.
101 + 102 + 100 +106 + 98 + 103 + 94 + 99 + 107 + 95 = (100 + 100+ 100 + 100
+ 100 + 100 + 100 +100 +100 +100) + (1 + 2 + 0 + 6 – 2 + 3 – 6 – 1 + 7 – 5)
= 1000 + 5 = 1005.

2.3. Using addition instead of subtraction.

Examples:

(1). Calculate: 1,200 – 230 – 450 – 270

Solution:
1,200 – (230 + 450 + 270) = 1,200 – [(230 + 270) + 450] = 1,200 – (500 + 450) =
1,200 – 950 = 1,200 – 1000 + 50 = 200 + 50 = 250.

(2). Calculate: 4,000 – 5 – 10 – 15 – … – 95 – 100

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Solution:
4000 – 5 – 10 – 15 – … – 95 – 100
= 4000 – (5 + 10 + 15 +…+ 95 + 100)
= 4000 – (5 + 100) × (20 ÷ 2) (look at lesson 2.5 for the formula)
= 4000 – 105×10 = 4000 – 1050 = 4000 – 1000 – 50 = 3000 – 50 = 2950.

(3). Evaluate the expression: 100 – 81 + 64 – 49 + 36 – 25 +16 – 9 + 4 – 1.

(Mathcouts competitions).

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 Solution:
Method 1:
100 – 81 + 64 – 49 + 36 – 25 +16 – 9 + 4 – 1
= 100 + 64 + 36 + 16 + 4 – (81 + 49 + 25 + 9 + 1)
= 100 + (64 + 36) + (16 + 4) – (80 + 1 + 50 – 1 + 20 + 5 + 10)
= 100 + 100 + 20 – (80 + 20 + 50 + 10 + 5)
= 100 + 100 + 20 – (100 + 20 + 40 + 5) = 100 – 40 – 5 = 60 – 5 = 55

Method 2:
100 – 81 + 64 – 49 + 36 – 25 +16 – 9 + 4 – 1
= 19 +15 + 11 + 7 + 3 = (19 + 11) + (7 + 3) + 15 = 30 + 10 + 15 = 55.

Method 3: Observe: 102 – 92 = 10 + 9. 82 – 72 = 8 + 7. We have:

102 – 92 + 82 – 72 + 62 – 52 + 42 – 32 + 22 – 12
= 10 + 9 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 55.

2.4. Find two numbers that will add to ten or hundred.

1 + 9 = 10; 2 + 8 = 10; 3 + 7 = 10; 4 + 6 = 10; 5 + 5 = 10.

Examples:

Compute:
(1). 31 + 57 + 69
= (31 + 69) + 57 = 100 + 57 = 157
(2). 325 + 27 + 675

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 = (325 + 675) + 27 = 1,000 + 27 = 1,027.

(3). 7,474 + 846 + 526 + 154

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 = (7,476 + 524) + (846 + 154) = 8,000 + 1,000 = 9,000

2.5 Addition of consecutive positive integers

2. 5. 1 The following formula can be used to compute the sum of consecutive integers, or
sum of consecutive odd/even integers or the sum of a series of integers that have a
common difference.
( a  b) n
S
2
Where a is the beginning number and b is the ending number. n is the number of terms in
the addition.

Common difference d:
For the list of numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4,…, the common difference is d = 2 – 1 = 3 – 2 = 4 – 3
= 1.
For the list numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7,…, the common difference d = 3 – 1 = 5 – 3 = 7 – 5 = 2.
For the list of numbers: 1, 5, 9, 13,…, the common difference is d = 5 – 1 = 9 – 5 = 13 –
9 = 4.

The number of terms n (with the common difference is d):

n = (last term – first term) ÷ d + 1
Examples:
(1). How many terms are there in the sequence 1 + 2 + 3 +.. + 100?
Answer: n = 100 – 1 + 1 = 100
(2). How many terms are there in the sequence 11 + 12 + 13 + .. + 100?
Answer: n = 100 –11 + 1 = 90
(2). How many terms are there in the sequence 2 + 4 + 6 + .. + 100?
Answer: n = (100 –2)/2 + 1 = 50

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2.5.2. The following formula can be used to compute the sum of series integers that have
a common difference.
S  m n
Where m is the middle number and n is how many numbers in the addition.

Examples:

Compute:
(1). 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + …+ 20
(a  b)n (1  20)  20
=   21  10  210
2 2

(2). 1 +3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13 + 15

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 (1  15)  8
  16  4  64
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(3). 37 + 38 + 39 + 40 + 41 + 42 + 43

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= 40 × 7 = 280
(4). 38 + 39 + 40 + 41 + 42 + 43

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 40  41
=( )  6  81  3  243
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3. ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION PROBLEMS EXPANDED

Examples:

(1). What is the smallest positive value that the expression

1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8
can have when parenthesized in any way? (Multiplication and division are not
allowable operations.) (Mathcounts Handbooks).

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Solution: 2.
(1 – 2) – (3 – 4) – (5 – 6) – (7 – 8) = 2.

(2). The digital root of a number is computed by adding its digits, adding the
digits of the resulting sum, and so on, until a single digit results. To find the root
of 637, for example, add
6 + 3 + 7 = 16
1+6=7
and the digital root of 637 is 7. Given that n is a three-digit number whose digital
root is 7 and that two of the digits are 2 and 5, what is the largest possible value of
n? (Mathcounts Handbooks).

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Solution: 952.
Method 1: We are given that the digit root of 637 is 7. We know that n also has 7
as its digit root.
The largest possible value of n can be obtained this way:
6 + 3 + 7 = 7 + 6 +3 = 8 + 5 + 3 = 9 + 5 + 2
The largest possible value of n is 952.

Method 2: We know that we can get the digit root module 9.

Let the third digit be m, we can write:
2+5+m=7  m = 0;
Or
2 + 5 + m = 16  m=9
The largest possible value of n is 952.

Note 2 + 5 + m = 25 is not obtainable since m is at most 9.

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(3). What is the sum of all positive odd multiple of 3 that are less than 100?
(Mathcounts Handbooks).

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 Solution:
The smallest value is 3 and the greatest value is 99:
(3  99)
3 + 9 + 15 +… + 99 =  17  867
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4. ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION RELATED TO DIGITS

Examples:

(1). When placing each of the digits 2, 4, 6, 8, and 9 in exactly one of

the boxes in the addition problem shown, what is the greatest possible
sum? (Mathcounts Handbooks).

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Solution:

We place “9” in the hundred position, then we put 8 and 6 on the

ten’s digit positions. Other two digits will fit in to the units digit
places. The greatest possible sum is 984 + 62 = 940 + 44 + 60 + 2
= 1,000 + 46 = 1,046.

(2). Variables have replaced some digits in the addition problem that
follows. Given that each digit 1 through 9 appears exactly once in
the problem, which digit should replace the letter b? (Mathcounts
Handbooks).

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Solution: b = 3.
We know that c = 6 or c = 7. a can only be 3 or 6. If c = 6, a must be 3 and we
also get d = 6. This does not work. So c = 7. Since a + 2 +1 = d and b + 5 = e.
We have the four digits (3, 6, 8, and 9) to be used. a can only be 6 and b can only
be 3.

(3). In the following addition problem, each letter represents a digit.

What is the value of a + b + c + d ? (Mathcounts Handbooks).

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Solution: 12.

Since the 3-digit number “aaa” becomes a 4-digit number when a one-digit
number is added, we know that a should be “9”, d should be “0” and c should be
“1”. So b = 2. We have a + b + c + d = 9 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 12.

(4). Each of the digits 0 – 9 was used exactly once in this addition
problem. Someone erased all but three of the digits. Replace the
letters with the missing digits. Which digit will replace d ?
(Mathcounts Handbooks).

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Solution: 3.

We know right way that e = 1. We have 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 left. If d is any of these

digits, when d + 9, it carries up. So we are sure b + 7 will carry. Then we know
that a + c = 9. We have two cases:
Case I: a could be 5 and c could be 4. d will be 3 and b = 8. It works.
Case II: a could be 6 and c could be 3. No combination of these digits will work.

(5). Given that the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are placed in the

boxes shown, what is the greatest possible positive difference
that can be obtained? (Mathcounts competitions).

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Solution: 531
Since we want to get the greatest positive difference, we want to
have the three-digit number ABC as large as possible and DEF
as small as possible. So we assign the letter A = 6, B = 5, C = 4,
D = 1, E = 2, and F = 3. The greatest difference is then 531.

(6). In the following subtraction problem, A, B, C, and D represent distinct digits.

What is the value of A + B + C + D?

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Solution:
We start with the ones digit.
Step (1). Subtract ones. We do not have enough ones. We regroup ones and get D
= 13 – 6 = 7.
Step (2). Subtract tens. The greatest value for B is 9. If B = 9, since we regrouped
in step (1), we have 8 left and 8 – 2 is less than 7. So B = 9 not work. We regroup
tens and we get 10 + B – 1 – 2 = 7 or 7 + B = 7. Then B = 0.
Step (3).
Subtract hundreds. We do not have enough hundreds. We regroup hundreds. 10 +
3 – 1 – C = 7, or 12 – C = 7. C = 5.
Step (4). It is clear that A = 8.
So A + B + C + D = 8 + 0 + 5 + 7 = 20.

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