Old Mutual South African Mathematics Olympiad
Old Mutual South African Mathematics Olympiad
Old Mutual South African Mathematics Olympiad
SOUTH AFRICAN
MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
Organised by the
SOUTH AFRICAN MATHEMATICS FOUNDATION
Instructions
1. This is a multiple choice question paper. Each question is followed by five answers marked A, B,
C, D and E. Only one of these is correct.
2. Scoring rules:
2.1. Each correct answer is worth 5 marks.
2.2. There is no penalty for an incorrect answer or any unanswered question.
3. You must use an HB pencil. Rough work paper, a ruler and an eraser are permitted. Calculators
and geometry instruments are not permitted.
4. Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.
5. Indicate your answers on the sheet provided.
6. Start when the invigilator tells you to do so.
7. Answers and solutions will be available at www.samf.ac.za
(A) 122 (B) 211 (C) 111 (D) 221 (E) 411
2. The difference between the squares of two numbers is 80. The sum of the two
numbers is 16. What is the positive difference between the two numbers?
√ √ √ √ √ √
3. What is the value of a if 3 3 + 2 11 − (3 11 − 3) = 4 3 + a 11?
250
5. For how many integer values of n is a positive integer?
n
6. A toy shop has one bag that contains 50% red and 50% yellow marbles, another
bag contains 25% red and 75% yellow marbles and a third bag contains 21%
red, 40% blue and 39% yellow marbles. All the bags have the same number
of marbles. What percentage of the marbles will be red if all the marbles are
put in one bag?
7. A fish has a mass of 75 kg plus one quarter of its mass while the fisherman
has a mass of 100 kg plus one fifth of his mass. What is the positive difference
between their masses, in kg?
5 5 5
A) π + 2 (B) 2π (C) π (D) π+2 (E) π+2
3 6 3
13 24
A) 2 (B) (C) 3 (D) 4 (E)
5 5
r q
3 √
12. Let p > 1. What is the value of p 3 p 3 p ?
13 1 1 13
A) p 81 (B) p 3 (C) p 9 (D) p 27 (E) p
13. A sequence is formed by repeatedly multiplying by a constant factor. The
sequence starts as follows: 54, 36, 24, 16, . . . . The tenth term of this sequence
2a
can be written in the form b . Find the difference between a and b.
3
14. The sketch below represents a section of a regular polygon with side lengths
1. The size of 6 BDC is 10◦ . What is the perimeter of the polygon?
15. Abbey and Zoliswa are running to get fit for a road race. Abbey starts running
two minutes before Zoliswa. Abbey runs at 11 km/h and Zoliswa runs at 13
km/h. How many minutes will it take Zoliswa to catch up with Abbey?
17. Three balls marked 1, 2 and 3, are put in a bag. A ball is drawn at random,
its number is recorded, and then the ball is returned into the bag. This is
done three times, and each ball is equally likely to be drawn on each occasion.
What is the probability that the sum of the numbers on the three balls drawn,
is 6?
1 1 7 2 1
A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
27 3 27 9 9
18. Quadrilateral P QRS with P Q k SR and
P Q = 5 was created by joining two similar
triangles. What is the perimeter of the
quadrilateral?
77 122 129
A) (B) 22 (C) 25 (D) (E)
5 5 5
19. A country uses the alphabet {A, B, C, D, E, ..., Z} and the digits {0, 1, 2, ..., 9}.
Its current licence plate system consists of two letters followed by four digits.
The country wants to change to a licence plate system that will consist of four
letters followed by three digits. In both cases the letters and digits may be
repeated. By what factor will the number of possible licence plate numbers
increase?