Primary Mathematics Challenge – February 2019

Answers and Notes

These notes provide a brief look at how the problems can be solved.
There are sometimes many ways of approaching problems, and not all can be given here.
Suggestions for further work based on some of these problems are also provided.

P1 E (12 = 3 × 4) P2 D (100 000 000)

1 B 1902 The options closest to 2019 are clearly B and C. Since 2190 − 2019 = 171 whereas
2019 − 1902 = 117, the closest of the options to 2019 is 1902.
12 3
2 D 75% We can count that 12 of the 16 smaller triangles are shaded. Since 16 = 4, as a
percentage this is 75%.
3 B after Paula can create these numbers: 54637, 45637, 46537, 46357, 46375. The smallest
the 4 of these arises when the 5 is inserted after the 4.
4 C 20 There are 5 stations to start from and from each of them there are 4 other stations
to travel to. Therefore the number of different journeys on this line is 5 × 4 = 20.
5 D 70 We can say that
10 × 30 × 50 × 70 = 1 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 10 000
whereas
1 × 30 × 500 = 1 × 3 × 5 × 1000.
So the number that should go into the box is 7 × 10 = 70.
6 E 12 cm2 The area of the outer square is 8 × 8 = 64 cm2 and that of the inner square is
4 × 4 = 16 cm2 . Hence the area between the two squares is 64 − 16 = 48 cm2 .
Since the two squares share the same centre, each trapezium has the same area,
that is 48 ÷ 4 = 12 cm2 .
7 D 90 minutes The number of Kit-Clats eaten every hour is 50 × 60 × 60, so the number of
minutes of production to make this number of Kit-Clats is 50×2000
60×60
= 5×62×6 =
180
2 = 90.
8 C 72 cm The 12-sided star has six edges that are 7 cm long and
six edges that are the difference between the 8 cm and
7
the 3 cm sides, i.e. 5cm. So the perimeter of the star has
a length of 6 × (7 + 5) cm = 72 cm. 5
3

9 E 2374 We could simply divide each of the five options by 7 to decide which of them is or
is not a multiple of 7. However, having found that option A (2345) is a multiple
of 7, and noticing that options B, C and D are 7, 14 and 21 larger than option A,
and that the option E is 8 greater than option D, it is clear that option E (2374) is 1
greater than a multiple of 7.
10 B FINLAND The question is entirely about the repetition of letters in the seven-letter names of
countries. In the name CROATIA there are two occurrences of the letter A and
five other unrepeated letters – this pattern of repetition is the same as occurs in
the name FINLAND, which has two Ns and five other letters.

11 C 40 Let Agnijo have n apps. Now Sam has 2n, and Naomi 6n. Therefore n + 2n + 6n =
9n = 180, and so n = 180 ÷ 9 = 20. Hence Sam has 2 × 20 = 40 apps.
12 C 700 g Given that 10% of the weight of Erica’s Camembert is 28 g, its total weight is 28 ×
10 = 280 g. Half of this weight is 280 ÷ 2 = 140 g, which is 20% or one fifth of the
weight of Pete’s Cheddar. Thus the weight of Cheddar is 140 × 5 = 700 g.
13 D Option B is a reflection of the
original symbol in an axis parallel
to its centre line; option E in
an axis at right-angles to the E
centre line; options A and C are
reflections in the two lines at 45°
to the centre line. Option D
cannot be a reflection because the A B C
circle and the square on the stems
have been swapped without the
stems being swapped.
14 D 97° Because PQRS is a rhombus, the lines PQ and SR Q
are parallel, and so angle PSR = 180°− angle
QPS = 180° − 37° = 143°. Moreover, each of the P 37◦ R
S
angles in the two equilateral triangles is 60°.
143◦
Hence angle x = 360° − 143° − 2 × 60° = 97°. 60◦ 60◦
x

15 E 1S 1W Since we know that Matthew must pass through all

eight labelled squares, we can work out the combined 2S 1E Treasure 1S 2W
direction after taking all eight instructions into account:

row N S E W
1S 2E 1S 1W 1N 2W
1 2+1 1 2
2 1 1+1 2 1+2
3 1+2+2 2+1 1 1N 2E 2N 1E 2N 1W

total 6 5 6 6

So the directions amount to 6 North, 5 South, 6 East and 6 West, or more simply 1
North. If Matthew is to reach the Treasure he must therefore start 1 South of the
Treasure, that is, in the square marked 1S 1W.
16 A 7 If all the bunches are the same, then the number of bunches must be a common factor
of 21, 35 and 28. The only common factors are 1 (in which case we have one very large
bunch of 84 tulips) and 7 (which gives seven bunches, each of with 3 white, 5 yellow
and 4 red tulips).
17 B 1.8 cm The volume of the brownie mixture in the rectangular tin is 15 × 24 × 2 = 720 cm3 .
Given that Beattie puts this same volume in the square tin, the depth of the mixture
will be 720 ÷ (20 × 20) = 720 ÷ 400 = 7.2 ÷ 4 = 1.8 cm.
18 B 10 years Panath and Ranesh share the 32 sweets in the ratio 20 : 12 = 5 : 3. Therefore the
sum of their ages a multiple of (5 + 3), i.e. 8. However, the sum of their ages is also
a multiple of 5, and so a multiple of 40. The only such multiple which is less than 50
is 40 itself, in which case their ages are 25 and 15, so the difference is 10 years.
1
19 C 2 A simple way, but perhaps not the most obvious, is to regard the shaded areas as
fractions of two triangles and a central strip, as shown below:

In each of the three parts, we can see that the shaded part is 42 of the whole. Hence
the total shaded area of the three smaller squares is 21 of the large square.
20 A 000 The product 123 × 124 × 125 × 126 × 127 is a multiple of 125; moreover, it also has
a factor of 2 three times, from 124 (= 2 × 2 × 31) and from 126 (= 2 × 63). Therefore
it is a multiple of 125 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 1000, and so it must end in 000. Alternatively,
working from the options, it is easily seen that the product is a certainly an even
multiple of 5 – so its unit digit is 0.
21 E 22 Since each of the averages are for two children 11
at a time, we can place the children on a
number line according to their ages, Kelly John Kelly Leo Mila
exactly halfway between John and Leo; Leo
himself halfway between Kelly and Mila.
Clearly the average of the ages of Kelly and Leo is also 11, and so the sum of their
ages is 22.
22 C between The area of the shaded region is equal to the area of
7 cm2 the central square (shown dashed on the right) minus
and 9 cm2 the area of the four quarter-circles inside it. The area
6 cm of the central square is 6 × 6 = 36 cm2 , and the area of
the four quarter-circles is the area of one circle, which
(we are told) is approximately 28.26 cm2 . Therefore
the shaded area is roughly 36 − 28.26 = 7.74 cm2 .
12 cm
23 B 92 cm In considering this problem, it is useful to see
what has been subtracted from the perimeter
of the large hexagon and what has been added
to it. It can be seen that the section PQR P
P ′
of the large hexagon has the same length as
the section P′ Q′ R′ of the smaller hexagon, so Q
the section P′ Q′ R′ adds no extra length to the ′
Q
perimeter. However, the sections PP′ and RR′ R
do have the effect of increasing the perimeter,
and their combined length is 62 = 13 of the R′
perimeter of that smaller hexagon.
Since a similar calculation can be applied to the two other smaller hexagons, the
perimeter of the new shape is the perimeter of the large hexagon + 13 of the total
perimeter of the three smaller hexagons = 60 + 96 ÷ 3 = 92 cm.
24 A 42 cm2 The white triangle is right-angled and
isosceles (since the diagonals of the
square are parallel to the sides of the
8 cm 3 cm rectangle. So, cutting it in half into the

3 cm right-angle gives two halves that may be

6 cm formed into a square with sides of 3 cm
3 cm (as shown on the left). Now the shaded
area is the combined area of the square
and rectangle minus twice the area of the white square = 6 × 6 + 3 × 8 − 2 × 3 × 3 =
36 + 24 − 18 = 42 cm2 .
25 B 365 The illustration below shows a unit centimetre cube, the three possible ways of
turning the double-cube around, and the box into which they will fit:

cm
cube double cubes box 6 cm

5 cm
X Y Z 5 cm

We shall consider how many positions there are for the double cube in the three
ways in which it can be turned around: X, Y and Z.
 X Imagine that the double-cube X is lying on the bottom of the box. Looking down
from the top, it might look like this diagram. From the possible positions of the
dotted corner, it should be clear that there are 4 × 5 = 20 positions for X on the
bottom of the box. However, there are 6 “layers” inside the box in which it could
be placed in a similar position, and so altogether there are 20 × 6 = 120 positions when
the double-cube is turned as X.
Y Now imagine that the double-cube Y is lying on the bottom of the box. As
before, there are 5 × 4 = 20 positions for Y on the bottom of the box. Again, there
are 6 “layers” inside the box in which it could be placed in a similar position, and
so altogether there are 20 × 6 = 120 positions when the double-cube is turned
as Y.
Z Finally, imagine that the double-cube Z is standing on the bottom of the box.
There are 5 × 5 = 25 positions for Z on the bottom of the box. However, in
any of those positions it could also be raised by 1 cm, 2 cm, 3 cm or 4 cm and
still remain within the box. So, when the double-cube is turned as Z, there are
altogether 25 × 5 = 125 positions.
So taking all three ways in which the double-cube might be turned, the total number of positions
for the double-cube is 120 + 120 + 125 = 365.

Some notes and possibilities for further problems

3 Where should the 5 be inserted to get the resulting number as large as possible? Use different numbers
such as 11 111 or 98 765 or 50 505 and insert a 7 – what answers are there now?
5 What number will go in this box?
10 × 30 × 50 × 70 × 90 = 1 × 30 × 500 × 7000×

8 If the lengths of the three sides of a triangle are a, b and c, and you find that b2 = a2 + c2 − a × c, then
the triangle will have a 60° angle between the sides with length a and c. For the 8-7-5 triangle in the
question, this is true because 72 = 82 + 52 − 8 × 5, and so the 60° angle is between the sides with lengths
8 cm and 5 cm. For this reason it is possible to fit six of these triangles around a point as shown with the
star. Can you find other triangles with integer sides that also lead to a triangle with a 60° angle?
10 There are quite a few other countries with seven-letter names:
Albania, Algeria, Antigua, Armenia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia,
Burundi, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Eritrea, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Holland,
Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Jamaica, Lebanon, Lesotho, Moldova, Myanmar, Nigeria, Romania,
Sarawak, Senegal, Somalia, St Kitts, St Lucia, Surinam, Tokelau, Tunisia, Ukraine and Vanuatu.
Do they all fit one of the five pie-charts in the question or do we need others?
What we know in English as a pie-chart has various different names (related to food) in other European
countries: in Portuguese it is a gráfico di pizza, in Swedish a tårtdiagram and in French a diagramme en
Camembert (named after the well-known cylindrical cheese).
11 Pupils may have used a variety of methods to solve this (and other questions). Ask them to discuss their
methods and compare them.
19 Can pupils see why the shaded square in the bottom left-hand corner has the same area as the two
smaller shaded squares combined?
21 Algebra can help one to arrive at a solution, though it also somehow hides the crux of the question.
j+l k+m
Let j, k, l and l represent the ages of John, Kelly, Leo and Mila respectively. Then k = 2 , l= 2 and
j+m k+l
2 = 11, hence 2k + 2l = j + k + l + m = k + l + ( j + m) = k + l + 22, and so k + l = 22 and 2 = 11
25 The answer 365 is also the smallest number that can be written as a sum of consecutive square numbers
in more than one way where the numbers squared are consecutive: 365 = 102 + 112 + 122 = 132 + 142 .
Not be outdone, 366 is the sum of four consecutive square numbers — which ones?
And finally: 364 is how many gifts are given altogether in the Christmas rhyme On the first day of
Christmas my true love sent to me. Can pupils explain how to arrive at this total?

© Primary Mathematics Challenge Bonus Round, February 2019