The problems in this booklet are organized into strands.

A
problem often appears in multiple strands. The problems are
suitable for most students in Grade 5 or higher.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
An Odd Outcome
Given the digits 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, many 2-digit numbers can be
made by using one digit for the tens digit, and a different digit
for the ones digit. Kim makes such a number by randomly
choosing one digit for the tens digit and a different digit for
the ones digit.
What is the theoretical probability that her number will be odd?

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Strand: Probability, Number Sense

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
An Odd Outcome
Problem
Given the digits 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, many 2-digit numbers can be
made by using one digit for the tens digit, and a different digit
for the ones digit. Kim makes such a number by randomly
choosing one digit for the tens digit and a different digit for
the ones digit.
What is the theoretical probability that her number will be odd?
Solution
The theoretical probability is the ratio of the number of desired outcomes
possible (i.e., the number of odd numbers that can be formed from the five
digits), to the total possible outcomes (i.e., the total number of 2-digit numbers
that can be formed from the five digits).
The total number of 2-digit numbers is 5 4 = 20, since any of the five digits can
be used for the tens digit, and any of the remaining four digits for the ones digit.
The ten such numbers with a smaller tens digit are 34, 35, 36, 37, 45, 46, 47, 56,
57, and 67; reverse the order of the digits to get the remaining ten.
Since an odd number formed from the digits 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 must have a ones digit 3
or 5 or 7, and a tens digit one of the remaining four digits, there are 3 4 = 12
possible odd numbers. They are 35, 37, 43, 45, 47, 53, 57, 63, 65, 67, 73, and 75.
Thus the theoretical probability of Kim making an odd number with different
12
3
tens and ones digits is
, or .
20
5
Something to Think About
What would be the probability of Kim making an even 2-digit number in the
same manner from these five digits? Is it the same as the probability of making
an odd number? Why, or why not?
What would happen if both digits could be any of the five given digits? Do these
probablilities change?

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
A Little Help From A Friend
Pierre has asked his friend Halle to help him solve the following problem.
In the square shown at the right, the horizontal lines are equidistant (equally spaced)
from one another.
What fraction of the square is shaded?

Extension
Having solved the above problem together, the two friends decide to tackle
another problem.
The mid-points of the sides of the outer
square are joined as shown.
What fraction of the outer (larger) square
is shaded?
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Strand: Geometry

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
A Little Help From A Friend
Problem
Pierre has asked his friend Halle to help him solve the following problem.
In the square shown at the right, the horizontal lines are equidistant (equally spaced)
from one another.
What fraction of the square is shaded?
Solution
Since the horizontal lines are evenly spaced, the four cells
in the first column all have the same area. The same is
true of the second and third columns This means that
exactly 14 of each column is shaded. Thus, by shifting all
the shaded regions to one row, we see that 14 of the whole
square is shaded.
Solution to Extension
Join the midpoints of the sides with a horizontal line,
dividing the large square into four identical smaller
squares. Each of these is divided into two identical triangles, giving eight identical triangles. Thus 28 or 14 of the
square is shaded.
Something to Think About
In the square shown at the right, the horizontal lines are
also equidistant from one another. What fraction of this
square is shaded?

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
Dont Fence Me In (Part 1)
Farmer Brown wants to fence a field for his 4 cows. They require 100 square
metres of pasture.
(a) Determine the dimensions of all possible rectangular fields which would meet
these requirements and have sides which are whole numbers.
(b) Are all of these choices sensible? Explain.

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Strand: Measurement

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
Dont Fence Me In (Part 1)
Problem
Farmer Brown wants to fence a field for his 4 cows. They require 100 square
metres of pasture.
(a) Determine the dimensions of all possible rectangular fields which would meet
these requirements and have sides which are whole numbers.
(b) Are all of these choices sensible? Explain.
Solution
(a) To find the area of a rectangle, multiply the length and the width. Since the
area of the field is 100 square metres, the length and the width of the field
must be whole numbers that multiply to 100. Possible products are:
100 1, 50 2, 25 4, 20 5, 10 10.
Therefore the possible dimensions of the field are 100 m 1 m,
50 m 2 m, 25 m 4 m, 20 m 5 m, 10 m 10 m, 5 m 20 m,
4 m 25 m, 2 m 50 m, and 1 m 100 m.
(b) Not all of these choices are sensible. Since most cows are about 2 metres
long, pastures in which one of the dimensions is 1 m or 2 m would be too
narrow for the cows to turn around.
Extension
If fencing costs $10 per metre, which of these fields would be least expensive to
fence? What is the shape of this field?
Solution to Extension
The choice of field with the least perimeter will be the least expensive to fence.
Using the possible products in the order given in part (a) above, the perimeters
are 202 m (2 100 + 2 1), 104 m (2 50 + 2 2), 58 m (2 25 + 2 4), 50 m
(2 20 + 2 5), and 40 m (2 10 + 2 10), respectively. Thus the field that is
least expensive to fence is the square 10 m 10 m field.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
Mmmm! Chocolate...
At Jen and Berrys Public School, four of every ten people prefer chocolate ice
cream, and the rest prefer vanilla ice cream.
(a) If 350 people plan to attend a school barbecue, how many will eat chocolate
ice cream?
(b) If each person will eat 250 grams of ice cream, how much chocolate ice
cream should be purchased?

Extension
If ice cream comes in 750 g containers, how many containers of vanilla ice cream
will need to be purchased? Of chocolate?

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Strand: Number Sense, Measurement

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
Mmmm! Chocolate...
Problem
At Jen and Berrys Public School, four of every ten people prefer chocolate ice cream, and the
rest prefer vanilla ice cream.
(a) If 350 people plan to attend a school barbecue, how many will eat chocolate ice cream?
(b) If each person will eat 250 grams of ice cream, how much chocolate ice cream should be
purchased?

Solution
(a) We can divide the 350 people into 35 groups of 10 people, since 35 10 = 350. Four
people in each of these groups prefer chocolate ice cream.
Since there are 35 groups, then there are 35 4 = 140 people who prefer chocolate ice
cream.
(b) Since each person will eat 250 g of ice cream and 140 people will eat chocolate ice cream,
then 140 250 = 35 000 g of chocolate ice cream should be purchased.

Extension
If ice cream comes in 750 g containers, how many containers of vanilla ice cream will need to
be purchased? Of chocolate?

Solution to Extension
Since 140 people will eat chocolate ice cream, then 350 140 = 210 people will eat vanilla ice
cream.
Since each person will eat 250 g of ice cream, then 210 250 = 52 500 g of vanilla ice cream
will be eaten.
Since each container holds 750 g of ice cream, then 52 500 750 = 70 containers of vanilla ice
cream need to be purchased.
Since 35 000 g of chocolate ice cream will be eaten, then 35 000 750 = 46 23 containers of
chocolate ice cream are needed. Since part of a container of ice cream cannot be purchased,
then 47 containers of chocolate ice cream need to be purchased.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
Dont Fence Me In (Part 2)
Jose is planting a garden. He must make a fence around the garden (so that the
rabbits will not eat all his lettuce and carrots). The garden is to be 10.2 m long
and 4.5 m wide. The fence is to be 11.5 m long and 6 m wide. What is the area
of the unplanted portion outside the garden but inside the fence?
Fenced Area
Garden

4. 5 m

6m

10. 2 m
11. 5 m

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Strand: Measurement

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
Dont Fence Me In (Part 2)
Problem
Jose is planting a garden. He must make a fence around the garden (so that the
rabbits will not eat all his lettuce and carrots). The garden is to be 10.2 m long
and 4.5 m wide. The fence is to be 11.5 m long and 6 m wide. What is the area
of the unplanted portion outside the garden but inside the fence?
Fenced Area
Garden

4. 5 m

6m

10. 2 m
11. 5 m

Solution
The area of the garden is 10.2 4.5 = 45.9 m2 . The total fenced area is
11.5 6 = 69 m2 .
The area of the unplanted portion outside the garden but inside the fence will be
the difference in these areas. Therefore the area of the unplanted portion outside
the garden but inside the fence is 69 45.9 = 23.1 m2 .

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
Dont Fence Me In (Part 3)
Part of Jans yard is fenced to make a pen for her dog. The pen measures 10
metres wide by 20 metres long.

(a) If Jan increases the length of the pen by 5 metres, by how much does the
area of the fenced part increase?
(b) Jan wants to enlarge the pen as she has adopted a second dog. She plans to
move one side of the pen outward to increase the area by 40 square metres.
What is the least number of metres of additional fencing Jan will need to
enclose the enlarged pen if she re-uses all the existing fencing?

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Strand: Measurement

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
Dont Fence Me In (Part 3)
Problem
Part of Jans yard is fenced to make a rectangular pen for her dog. The pen measures
10 metres wide by 20 metres long.
(a) If Jan increases the length of the pen by 5 metres, by how much does the
area of the fenced part increase?
(b) Jan wants to enlarge the pen as she has adopted a second dog. She plans to
move one side of the pen outward to increase the area by 40 square metres.
What is the least number of metres of additional fencing Jan will need to
enclose the enlarged pen if she re-uses all the existing fencing?
Solution
(a) The area of the existing pen is 10m 20m = 200 square metres. If Jan
increases the length of the pen by 5 m, the new pen will measure 10m by
25m, with area 10m 25m = 250 square metres, an increase of
250 square metres 200 square metres = 50 square metres.
(b) To create the additional area of 40 square metres, Jan can increase the width
by 2m (since 2m 20m = 40 square metres), or increase the length by 4m
(since 4m 10m = 40 square metres), as illustrated below. Clearly choice
(i) uses the least new fence, 2m + 2m = 4 m, while (ii) uses 4m + 4m = 8m.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
How High Can You Go?
Welcome to the Not Just a Noether Game Show!" In each of Game 1 and Game
2, the goal is to arrange the digits 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 in the given boxes to achieve the
greatest possible answer, using each digit once. Check with your friends to see
how well you did!

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Strand: Number Sense

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
How High Can You Go?
Problem
Welcome to the Not Just a Noether Game Show!" In each of Game 1 and Game 2, the goal is
to arrange the digits 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 in the given boxes to achieve the greatest possible answer,
using each digit once. Check with your friends to see how well you did!

Solution
The greatest possible sum is 1839.
In order to get the greatest sum, we put the largest digits in the column with the largest place
value, the next largest digits in the next column, and so on.
The greatest sum is 1839, from any arrangement of digits with 9 and 8 in the hundreds
column, 7 and 6 in the tens column, and 5 and 4 in the units column.
For example, 975 + 864 = 1839. It turns out that there are eight possible ways to arrange the
digits so that the maximum sum 1839 is obtained.
The greatest possible difference is 531.
In order to get the greatest difference, we make the top three-digit number (called the
minuend ) as large as possible and the bottom three-digit number (called the subtrahend ) as
small as possible.
The largest possible three-digit number that can be made from these digits is 987 (by putting
the largest digit in the hundreds place, the next largest digit in the tens place, and so on). In a
similar way, the smallest possible three-digit number that can be made is 456. Although we
can find the sum in eight different ways, there is only one way to find the largest difference.
Therefore, the greatest difference is 987 456 = 531.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
How Many Combinations?
Lauras class has taken a test with 30 multiple-choice questions. The marking
scheme is as follows:
a correct answer is awarded 5 points;
for every incorrect answer, you lose 2 points;
an unanswered question gets 0 points.
Laura received a total of 98 points. Determine the number of different ways
Laura could have answered the questions in order to achieve her score.

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Strand: Number Sense

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
How Many Combinations?
Problem
A test has 30 multiple-choice questions. A correct answer is awarded 5 points, but for every
incorrect answer, you lose 2 points. An unanswered question gets 0 points. Laura received a
total of 98 points. Determine the number of different ways Laura could have answered the
questions in order to achieve her score.

Solution
Since Laura received a total of 98 points, then she received at least 98 points from her correct
answers.
Since 19 5 = 95 and 20 5 = 100, then she got at least 20 questions right.
If Laura got 20 questions right, then she received 20 5 = 100 points for these questions. This
means that she lost 100 98 = 2 points for her wrong answers and so got 1 question wrong.
Since there were 30 questions in total, then she left 30 20 1 = 9 questions unanswered.
If Laura got 21 questions right, then she received 21 5 = 105 points for these questions. This
means that she lost 105 98 = 7 points for her wrong answers. But each wrong answer takes
away 2 points, so it is impossible for her to lose 7 points for wrong answers, since 7 is not a
multiple of 2. So Laura cannot have gotten 21 questions right.
If Laura got 22 questions right, then she received 22 5 = 110 points for these questions. This
means that she lost 110 98 = 12 points for her wrong answers and so got 6 questions wrong.
Since there were 30 questions in total, then she left 30 22 6 = 2 questions unanswered.
If Laura got 23 or more questions right, then she received at least 23 5 = 115 points for these
questions. This means that she lost at least 115 98 = 17 points for her wrong answers. Since
each wrong answer is worth 2 points, then she must have gotten at least 9 questions wrong
(since 9 2 = 18). But 23 + 9 = 32, which is more than the total number of questions on the
test, so this is impossible.
Therefore Laura can obtain her test score in two possible ways. The possibilities were 20
correct, 1 incorrect and 9 unanswered or 22 correct, 6 incorrect and 2 unanswered.

Refer to the next page for an extension to this problem.

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Extension
John claims he scored 142. Is his claim correct? Explain your answer.

Solution to Extension
Since John scored 142, then he must have answered at least 29 questions correctly, since
28 5 = 140 and 29 5 = 145.
Since there were 30 questions on the test, then John answered either 29 or 30 questions
correctly.
If he answered all 30 questions correctly, then his score would have been 30 5 = 150, not 142.
If he answered 29 questions correctly, then he got 29 5 = 145 points for these questions, and
answered at most 1 question incorrectly.
In this case, he lost at most 2 points for his incorrect answer, not the 3 points that he would
need to have lost for a score of 142 (since 145 142 = 3).
Therefore, John cannot have obtained a score of 142 and his claim is incorrect.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
Dont Lose Your Marbles!
Three friends, Lloyd, Akim, and Eli, have just played a game of marbles. Lloyd
says If only I had one more marble, I would have four times as many as Akim
and five times as many as Eli." What is the least number of marbles that Lloyd
could have?

Lloyd

Akim

Eli

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Strand: Number Sense

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
Dont Lose Your Marbles!
Problem
Three friends, Lloyd, Akim, and Eli, have just played a game of marbles. Lloyd
says If only I had one more marble, I would have four times as many as Akim
and five times as many as Eli." What is the least number of marbles that Lloyd
could have?
Solution
We are looking for the least number that is one less than a common multiple of 4
and 5. The lowest common multiple of 4 and 5 is 4 5 = 20. One less than 20 is
19. Therefore the least number of marbles Lloyd could have is 19.
Extension
What are the other possible numbers of marbles less than 100 that Lloyd could
have?
Solution to Extension
The other common multiples of 4 and 5 are the multiples of 20, namely, 40, 60,
80, and 100. Thus Lloyd could also have one less than each of these. Therefore
Lloyd could have had 39, 59, 79, or 99 marbles.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
Mmmm! Chocolate...
At Jen and Berrys Public School, four of every ten people prefer chocolate ice
cream, and the rest prefer vanilla ice cream.
(a) If 350 people plan to attend a school barbecue, how many will eat chocolate
ice cream?
(b) If each person will eat 250 grams of ice cream, how much chocolate ice
cream should be purchased?

Extension
If ice cream comes in 750 g containers, how many containers of vanilla ice cream
will need to be purchased? Of chocolate?

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Strand: Number Sense, Measurement

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
Mmmm! Chocolate...
Problem
At Jen and Berrys Public School, four of every ten people prefer chocolate ice cream, and the
rest prefer vanilla ice cream.
(a) If 350 people plan to attend a school barbecue, how many will eat chocolate ice cream?
(b) If each person will eat 250 grams of ice cream, how much chocolate ice cream should be
purchased?

Solution
(a) We can divide the 350 people into 35 groups of 10 people, since 35 10 = 350. Four
people in each of these groups prefer chocolate ice cream.
Since there are 35 groups, then there are 35 4 = 140 people who prefer chocolate ice
cream.
(b) Since each person will eat 250 g of ice cream and 140 people will eat chocolate ice cream,
then 140 250 = 35 000 g of chocolate ice cream should be purchased.

Extension
If ice cream comes in 750 g containers, how many containers of vanilla ice cream will need to
be purchased? Of chocolate?

Solution to Extension
Since 140 people will eat chocolate ice cream, then 350 140 = 210 people will eat vanilla ice
cream.
Since each person will eat 250 g of ice cream, then 210 250 = 52 500 g of vanilla ice cream
will be eaten.
Since each container holds 750 g of ice cream, then 52 500 750 = 70 containers of vanilla ice
cream need to be purchased.
Since 35 000 g of chocolate ice cream will be eaten, then 35 000 750 = 46 23 containers of
chocolate ice cream are needed. Since part of a container of ice cream cannot be purchased,
then 47 containers of chocolate ice cream need to be purchased.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
Lornas Fish
Lorna has six fish. Two are blue, two are red, and two are yellow. The fish have
lengths 2 cm, 4 cm, 6 cm, 8 cm, 10 cm, and 12 cm. Use the clues below to decide
on the colour and length of each fish.
1. The longest fish is not yellow.
2. The shortest fish is blue.
3. One red fish is 4 cm longer than the other red fish.
4. The 8 cm fish is not red.

10 12

Y
R
B

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Strand: Logic

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
Lornas Fish
Problem
Lorna has six fish. Two are blue, two are red, and two are yellow. The fish have
lengths 2 cm, 4 cm, 6 cm, 8 cm, 10 cm, and 12 cm. Use the clues below to decide
on the colour and length of each fish.
1. The longest fish is not yellow.
2. The shortest fish is blue.
3. One red fish is 4 cm longer than the other
red fish.
4. The 8 cm fish is not red.

2
Y a
R g
B m

4
b
h
n

6
c
i
o

8
d
j
p

10 12
e f
k l
q r

Solution
We develop the solution by using the information in the clues to decide whether
each element a, b,. . . , r of the table is true (X) or false (X).
Clue 1 tells us that f is X, since the 12 cm fish
is not yellow. Clue 2 tells us that m is X, since
the 2 cm fish is blue. This also means that a
and g are X, since we know the colour of the
2 cm fish. Clue 4 tells us that j is X, since the
8 cm fish is not red.

2 4 6 8 10 12
Y X
X
R X
X
B X

Using the data in the grid so far, Clue 3 tells us

the red fish are 6 cm and 10 cm, since there is
no other combination left of two lengths that
differ by 4 cm. We can then fill the rest of the
R row with Xs and the rest of the 6 cm and
10 cm columns with Xs.

2 4 6 8 10 12
Y X
X
X X
R X X X X X X
B X
X
X

Thus the two yellow fish must have lengths 4 cm and 8 cm, and the 12 cm fish
must be blue, which completes the descriptions. Therefore, the yellow fish have
lengths 4 cm and 8 cm, the red fish have lengths 6 cm and 10 cm, and the blue
fish have lengths 2 cm and 12 cm.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
T-Shirts Galore!
(a) Becca bought 7 T-shirts at $9.95 each (taxes
included). She received $10.35 in change. How
much money did she give the cashier?
(b) Her friend Sarah bought 9 other T-shirts, all
priced the same as each other, on a day when
the store had a special no tax sale. She gave
the cashier $100, and received more than $10
in change. What is the maximum possible
price of each of Sarahs T-shirts?

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Strand: Number Sense

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
T-Shirts Galore!
Problem
(a) Becca bought 7 T-shirts at $9.95 each (taxes included). She received $10.35
in change. How much money did she give the cashier?
(b) Her friend Sarah bought 9 other T-shirts, all priced the same as each other,
on a day when the store had a special no tax sale. She gave the cashier
$100, and received more than $10 in change. What is the maximum possible
price of each of Sarahs T-shirts?
Solution
(a) The 7 T-shirts at $9.95 each cost Becca 7 $9.95 = $69.65 . Since she
received $10.35 in change, she must have given the cashier
$10.35 + $69.65 = $80.00 .
(b) Solution 1:
Since Sarah received more than $10.00 in change, she paid less than
$100 $10 = $90 for the 9 T-shirts. But her T-shirts were all the same
price, so the price of each shirt was less than $90 9 = $10 . This means
that the largest possible price for each T-shirt was $9.99. (This would give a
total cost of $9.99 9 = $89.91 .)
Solution 2:
Since Sarah received more than $10.00 in change, she paid at most
$100.00 $10.01 = $89.99 for the 9 T-shirts. But her T-shirts were all the
same price, and $89.99 is not an even multiple of 9. The largest amount of
money into which 9 divides evenly and which is less than $89.99 is
$89.91 = 9 $9.99 . Thus the maximum possible price of each T-shirt is
$9.99.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
Summing Up Savings
Harry saves $5 on January 1, $10 on February 1, $15 on March 1, and so on,
saving $5 more each month. Melinda saves $2 on January 1, $4 on February 1, $8
on March 1, and so on, saving twice as much each month. At the end of a year,
who will have saved the greater amount?

$ Saved

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Harry

10

15

Melinda

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Strand: Number Sense,
Pattern/Algebra

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
Summing Up Savings
Problem
Harry saves $5 on January 1, $10 on February 1, $15 on March 1, and so on,
saving $5 more each month. Melinda saves $2 on January 1, $4 on February 1, $8
on March 1, and so on, saving twice as much each month. At the end of a year,
who will have saved the greater amount?
Solution
Lets see what happens as the year progresses. Completing the table to the end
of June, we have:
$ Saved

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Harry

10

15

20

25

30

Melinda

16

32

64

Thus, after 6 months, Harry will have saved

$5 + $10 + $15 + $20 + $30 + $25 = $105 ,
while Melinda will have saved
$2 + $4 + $8 + $16 + $32 + $64 = $126 .
Since Melinda is already saving more than Harry per month, and her savings
double each month while Harrys only go up by $5.00, she will continue to save
more each month than Harry, and to have a greater total than Harry from June
onward. Thus Melinda will save the greater amount over 12 months.
In total, Harry saves $ 390.00, while Melinda saves $ 8 190.00 over the year.
Something to Think About
How much would Harry have to save on January 1 in order to save more in a year
than Melinda, assuming he saves $5 more each month?

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
I Prefer PI
A palindrome is a number which is the same if its
digits are reversed, e.g., 77, 232, 1331. The digit 0 is
not used at the beginning or end of a palindrome, but
can be used in the middle, e.g., 0110 is not allowed,
but 1001, 303 are.
The nine single-digit numbers 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9 are the simplest palindromes.
Similarly, there are nine 2-digit palindromes, 11, 22, 33, . . . , 99. How many
3-digit palindromes are there?
Note: The title of this problem is related to the concept in this problem
. . . guess how!

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Strand: Pattern, Number Sense

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
I Prefer PI
Problem
A palindrome is a number which is the same if its digits are reversed, e.g., 77,
232, 1331. The digit 0 is not used at the beginning or end of a palindrome, but
can be used in the middle, e.g., 0110 is not allowed, but 1001, 303 are. The nine
single-digit numbers 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9 are the simplest palindromes. Similarly, there
are nine 2-digit palindromes, 11, 22, 33, . . . , 99. How many 3-digit palindromes
are there?
Solution
Between 100 and 200, there are ten palindromes,
101, 111, 121, 131, 141, 151, 161, 171, 181, 191 .
Similarly, there are ten palindromes between 201 and 300, between 301 and 400,
. . . , between 901 and 999.
Thus between 100 and 999 (i.e., among all 3-digit numbers), there are nine sets of
ten palindromes, so there are 10 9 = 90 palindromes.
Note: The title is also a palindrome! But it is constructed with letters rather
than numbers.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
I Prefer PI Too!
Last week, we looked at palindromes and found that
there are 90 3-digit palindromes. Can you determine
the number of 4-digit palindromes without having to
write them all down?

Extension
What do you think would be the number of 5-digit palindromes? Why?
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Strand: Pattern, Number Sense

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
I Prefer PI Too!
Problem
Last week, we looked at palindromes and found that there are 90 3-digit
palindromes. Can you determine the number of 4-digit palindromes without
having to write them all down?
Solution
A 3-digit palindrome has the form XY X, where X is one of the digits
1, 2, 3, . . . , 9 and Y is one of the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9 .
A 4-digit palindrome must have the form XY Y X, since the hundreds digit and
the tens digit cannot be different if the number is to be the same when its digits
are reversed (e.g., 2562 is not a palindrome).
Thus there are exactly the same number of 4-digit palindromes as 3-digit
palindromes, i.e., ten between 1000 and 1999,
1001, 1111, 1221, 1331, . . . , 1991 ,
ten between 2001 and 2999, etcetera, giving 90 4-digit palindromes.
Solution to Extension
A 5-digit palindrome will have the form XY ZY X, where X and Y are as above,
and Z is one of the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9 . Since there are 10 choices of Z which
can be inserted in the middle of each 4-digit palindrome XY Y X, there will be
10 90 = 900 5-digit palindromes (and the same number of 6-digit XY ZZY X).
Something to Think About
Make a conjecture about the number of 9 and 10 digit palindromes, based on
your results for the problems I Prefer PI and I Prefer PI Too.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
The Estate of Mr. Welltodo
Mr. Welltodo has left a total estate of $650 000, to be
divided among his five grandchildren, all of whom are
different ages from one another.
The money is to be divided in order of age, with each child
receiving $25 000 more than the next youngest child.
What inheritance will the youngest child receive?

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
The Estate of Mr. Welltodo
Problem
Mr. Welltodo has left a total estate of $650 000, to be divided
among his five grandchildren, all of whom are different ages from
one another.
The money is to be divided in order of age, with each child receiving
$25 000 more than the next youngest child.
What inheritance will the youngest child receive?
Solution 1 (Guess and Check)
If the youngest child inherited $100 000, then the next youngest would inherit $25 000 more (or
$125 000), the next would inherit another $25 000 more (or $150 000), and the oldest two would
inherit $175 000 and $200 000. This would give a total of
$100 000 + $125 000 + $150 000 + $175 000 + $200 000 = $750 000 .
This total is too high by $750 000 $650 000 = $100 000.
Lets try dividing this excess into five equal pieces of $100 000 5 = $20 000 and removing this
amount from each of the five children.
This would give amounts of $80 000, $105 000, $130 000, $155 000, and $180 000. These add to
$80 000 + $105 000 + $130 000 + $155 000 + $180 000 = $650 000
which is the correct amount. Therefore, the youngest child receives $80 000.
Solution 2 (Using Average Value)
Another way to solve this problem is to use the fact that, if five numbers are equally-spaced on
the number line (i.e., the difference between successive pairs is the same), then their average
will always be the middle number. For example, the average of 2, 5, 8, 11, and 14 is
40
2 + 5 + 8 + 11 + 14
=
= 8.
5
5
1
of $650 000 = $130 000, the middle (third youngest)
5
child will inherit this amount. Thus the second youngest will inherit $25 000 less than this,
and the youngest $50 000 less, i.e., $80 000, as above.
Since the average inheritance will be

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
An Odd Outcome
Given the digits 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, many 2-digit numbers can be
made by using one digit for the tens digit, and a different digit
for the ones digit. Kim makes such a number by randomly
choosing one digit for the tens digit and a different digit for
the ones digit.
What is the theoretical probability that her number will be odd?

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
An Odd Outcome
Problem
Given the digits 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, many 2-digit numbers can be
made by using one digit for the tens digit, and a different digit
for the ones digit. Kim makes such a number by randomly
choosing one digit for the tens digit and a different digit for
the ones digit.
What is the theoretical probability that her number will be odd?
Solution
The theoretical probability is the ratio of the number of desired outcomes
possible (i.e., the number of odd numbers that can be formed from the five
digits), to the total possible outcomes (i.e., the total number of 2-digit numbers
that can be formed from the five digits).
The total number of 2-digit numbers is 5 4 = 20, since any of the five digits can
be used for the tens digit, and any of the remaining four digits for the ones digit.
The ten such numbers with a smaller tens digit are 34, 35, 36, 37, 45, 46, 47, 56,
57, and 67; reverse the order of the digits to get the remaining ten.
Since an odd number formed from the digits 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 must have a ones digit 3
or 5 or 7, and a tens digit one of the remaining four digits, there are 3 4 = 12
possible odd numbers. They are 35, 37, 43, 45, 47, 53, 57, 63, 65, 67, 73, and 75.
Thus the theoretical probability of Kim making an odd number with different
12
3
tens and ones digits is
, or .
20
5
Something to Think About
What would be the probability of Kim making an even 2-digit number in the
same manner from these five digits? Is it the same as the probability of making
an odd number? Why, or why not?
What would happen if both digits could be any of the five given digits? Do these
probablilities change?

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
Ferry Me Over...
A trip across the river by the Pictou Ferryboat is full
if there are either 10 cars on board, or 6 trucks (it
never carries cars and trucks at the same time).
One day, the ferryboat made five trips, and was full
on each trip. If it carried a total of 42 vehicles across
the river, how many cars were transported?

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
Ferry Me Over...
Problem
A trip across the river by the Pictou Ferryboat is full
if there are either 10 cars on board, or 6 trucks (it
never carries cars and trucks at the same time).
One day, the ferryboat made five trips, and was full
on each trip. If it carried a total of 42 vehicles across
the river, how many cars were transported?
Solution
The ferryboat was always full, so it carried either 10 cars or 6 trucks on each trip.
Since a total of 42 vehicles were transported that day, it must be true that
42 = 10 the number of cars only trips + 6 the number of trucks only trips.
Thus we wish to find whole numbers C and T such that 42 = 10 C + 6 T , i.e.,
we wish to discover how to break down 42 into a multiple of 10 plus something
left over which is a multiple of 6. Listing the possible combinations, we have
42 = 10 + 32 = 20 + 22 = 30 + 12 = 40 + 2 .
This reveals that the leftovers are 32, 22, 12, and 2, of which only 12 is divisible
by 6. So the only combination that works is 42 = 10 3 + 6 2, i.e., there must
have been 3 trips with cars only, and 2 trips with trucks only.
Thus a total of 10 3 = 30 cars were transported.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
Summing Up Savings
Harry saves $5 on January 1, $10 on February 1, $15 on March 1, and so on,
saving $5 more each month. Melinda saves $2 on January 1, $4 on February 1, $8
on March 1, and so on, saving twice as much each month. At the end of a year,
who will have saved the greater amount?

$ Saved

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Harry

10

15

Melinda

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Strand: Number Sense,
Pattern/Algebra

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
Summing Up Savings
Problem
Harry saves $5 on January 1, $10 on February 1, $15 on March 1, and so on,
saving $5 more each month. Melinda saves $2 on January 1, $4 on February 1, $8
on March 1, and so on, saving twice as much each month. At the end of a year,
who will have saved the greater amount?
Solution
Lets see what happens as the year progresses. Completing the table to the end
of June, we have:
$ Saved

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Harry

10

15

20

25

30

Melinda

16

32

64

Thus, after 6 months, Harry will have saved

$5 + $10 + $15 + $20 + $30 + $25 = $105 ,
while Melinda will have saved
$2 + $4 + $8 + $16 + $32 + $64 = $126 .
Since Melinda is already saving more than Harry per month, and her savings
double each month while Harrys only go up by $5.00, she will continue to save
more each month than Harry, and to have a greater total than Harry from June
onward. Thus Melinda will save the greater amount over 12 months.
In total, Harry saves $ 390.00, while Melinda saves $ 8 190.00 over the year.
Something to Think About
How much would Harry have to save on January 1 in order to save more in a year
than Melinda, assuming he saves $5 more each month?

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
I Prefer PI
A palindrome is a number which is the same if its
digits are reversed, e.g., 77, 232, 1331. The digit 0 is
not used at the beginning or end of a palindrome, but
can be used in the middle, e.g., 0110 is not allowed,
but 1001, 303 are.
The nine single-digit numbers 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9 are the simplest palindromes.
Similarly, there are nine 2-digit palindromes, 11, 22, 33, . . . , 99. How many
3-digit palindromes are there?
Note: The title of this problem is related to the concept in this problem
. . . guess how!

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Strand: Pattern, Number Sense

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
I Prefer PI
Problem
A palindrome is a number which is the same if its digits are reversed, e.g., 77,
232, 1331. The digit 0 is not used at the beginning or end of a palindrome, but
can be used in the middle, e.g., 0110 is not allowed, but 1001, 303 are. The nine
single-digit numbers 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9 are the simplest palindromes. Similarly, there
are nine 2-digit palindromes, 11, 22, 33, . . . , 99. How many 3-digit palindromes
are there?
Solution
Between 100 and 200, there are ten palindromes,
101, 111, 121, 131, 141, 151, 161, 171, 181, 191 .
Similarly, there are ten palindromes between 201 and 300, between 301 and 400,
. . . , between 901 and 999.
Thus between 100 and 999 (i.e., among all 3-digit numbers), there are nine sets of
ten palindromes, so there are 10 9 = 90 palindromes.
Note: The title is also a palindrome! But it is constructed with letters rather
than numbers.

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Problem of the Week

Problem B
I Prefer PI Too!
Last week, we looked at palindromes and found that
there are 90 3-digit palindromes. Can you determine
the number of 4-digit palindromes without having to
write them all down?

Extension
What do you think would be the number of 5-digit palindromes? Why?
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Strand: Pattern, Number Sense

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Problem of the Week

Problem B and Solution
I Prefer PI Too!
Problem
Last week, we looked at palindromes and found that there are 90 3-digit
palindromes. Can you determine the number of 4-digit palindromes without
having to write them all down?
Solution
A 3-digit palindrome has the form XY X, where X is one of the digits
1, 2, 3, . . . , 9 and Y is one of the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9 .
A 4-digit palindrome must have the form XY Y X, since the hundreds digit and
the tens digit cannot be different if the number is to be the same when its digits
are reversed (e.g., 2562 is not a palindrome).
Thus there are exactly the same number of 4-digit palindromes as 3-digit
palindromes, i.e., ten between 1000 and 1999,
1001, 1111, 1221, 1331, . . . , 1991 ,
ten between 2001 and 2999, etcetera, giving 90 4-digit palindromes.
Solution to Extension
A 5-digit palindrome will have the form XY ZY X, where X and Y are as above,
and Z is one of the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9 . Since there are 10 choices of Z which
can be inserted in the middle of each 4-digit palindrome XY Y X, there will be
10 90 = 900 5-digit palindromes (and the same number of 6-digit XY ZZY X).
Something to Think About
Make a conjecture about the number of 9 and 10 digit palindromes, based on
your results for the problems I Prefer PI and I Prefer PI Too.