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Problem of the Week

Problems and Solutions
2022 - 2023
Problem C (Grade 7/8)

Themes
(Click on a theme name to jump to that section.)

Number Sense (N)

Geometry & Measurement (G)
Algebra (A)
Data Management (D)
Computational Thinking (C)

The problems in this booklet are organized into themes.

A problem often appears in multiple themes.
Number Sense (N)

TAKE ME
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 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Wacky Race

Four students participate as a team in a 1000 m wacky relay race. In a wacky

relay race, the students each run a portion of the 1000 m length, but they do not
run equal lengths. Andrea and Billie run 81 and 15 of the total length, respectively.
Carol runs the average of what Andrea and Billie run. Dana runs the remainder
of the length.
Determine the fraction of the total length that Dana runs.

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Wacky Race
Problem
Four students participate as a team in a 1000 m wacky relay race. In a wacky relay race, the
students each run a portion of the 1000 m length, but they do not run equal lengths. Andrea
and Billie run 18 and 15 of the total length, respectively. Carol runs the average of what Andrea
and Billie run. Dana runs the remainder of the length.
Determine the fraction of the total length that Dana runs.

Solution
In the first solution, we solve the problem by working with the fractions and
without calculating the length that each person runs. In the second solution, we
determine the fraction of the length that Dana runs by calculating the distance
Dana runs and dividing by the total length of the race.
Solution 1
1 1
Carol runs the average of 8 and 5 of the total length of the race.
1 1 8 513
8 + 5
+ 40 4040 13
Therefore, Carol runs = = = of the race.
2 2 2 80
Dana runs the remainder of the race.
Therefore, Dana runs 1 − 18 − 15 − 13
80 = 80
80 − 10
80 − 16
80 − 13
80 = 41
80 of the race. Dana
runs just over half of the race.
Solution 2
1 1
Andrea runs 8 of the race, so she runs 8 × 1000 = 125 m.
1 1
Billie runs 5 of the race, so they run 5 × 1000 = 200 m.
Carol runs the average of what Andrea and Billie run.
125+200 325
Therefore, Carol runs 2 = 2 = 162.5 m.
Dana runs the remainder of the race.
Therefore, Dana runs 1000 − 125 − 200 − 162.50 = 512.5 m.
512.5 5125 41
That is, Dana runs 1000 = 10000 = 80 of the race.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Two Squares

Simone has a rope that is 60 cm long. They cut the rope into two pieces so that
the ratio of the lengths of the two pieces is 7 : 3. Each piece of the rope is then
arranged, with its two ends touching, to form a square.
What is the total area of the two squares?

Themes Geometry & Measurement, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Two Squares
Problem
Simone has a rope that is 60 cm long. They cut the rope into two pieces so that the ratio of
the lengths of the two pieces is 7 : 3. Each piece of the rope is then arranged, with its two ends
touching, to form a square.
What is the total area of the two squares?

Solution
Since the rope is cut in the ratio of 7 : 3, the ratio of the longer piece to the whole
rope will be 7 : (7 + 3) or 7 : 10. This means the length of the longer piece will be
7
10 of the length of the whole rope. Similarly, the length of the shorter piece would
3 7
be 10 of the length of the whole rope. Therefore, the longer piece is 10 of 60 or
7 3 3
10 × 60 = 42 cm long. Also, the shorter piece is 10 of 60 or 10 × 60 = 18 cm long.
Each of the two pieces is then used to form a square. The perimeter of each
square is the length of the rope used to form it. The side length of the longer
square is 42 ÷ 4 = 10.5 cm and the side length of the shorter square is
18 ÷ 4 = 4.5 cm.
To find the area of each square, we multiply the length by the width. In effect, to
find the area of the square, we square the side length. Thus, the area of the
larger square is 10.5 × 10.5 = 10.52 = 110.25 cm2 and the area of the smaller
square is 4.5 × 4.5 = 4.52 = 20.25 cm2 .
Therefore, the total area of the two squares is 110.25 + 20.25 = 130.5 cm2 .

For Further Thought:

The ratio of the area of the larger square to the area of the smaller square is

110.25 : 20.25 = 11 025 : 2025 = 441 : 81 = 49 : 9 = 72 : 32

Notice that the ratio of the perimeter of the larger square to the perimeter of the
smaller square is 7 : 3 and the ratio of their areas is 72 : 32 . In general, if the
ratio of the perimeters of two squares is a : b, is it true that the ratio of the areas
of the two squares is a2 : b2 ?
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Playing with Blocks

Agnes, Evangelina, Isabela, Omar, and Yuri each made a tower using wooden
blocks. Each person used a different number of blocks in their tower, and the
mean (average) number of blocks in each tower was 25. Yuri used the most
blocks in her tower, and Agnes used the fewest blocks in her tower. If Yuri used
32 blocks, determine the minimum possible number of blocks that Agnes could
have used.

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Playing with Blocks
Problem
Agnes, Evangelina, Isabela, Omar, and Yuri each made a tower using wooden blocks. Each
person used a different number of blocks in their tower, and the mean (average) number of
blocks in each tower was 25. Yuri used the most blocks in her tower, and Agnes used the
fewest blocks in her tower. If Yuri used 32 blocks, determine the minimum possible number of
blocks that Agnes could have used.

Solution
To calculate the mean (average) of a set of values, we first calculate the sum of
the values in the set, and then divide that by the number of values in the set. It
follows that the sum of the values in the set is equal to their average multiplied
by the number of values in the set.
Since the average number of blocks in each tower was 25, and there were 5 towers,
it follows that the total number of blocks used was 25 × 5 = 125. Yuri’s tower
used 32 blocks, so the remaining towers used a total of 125 − 32 = 93 blocks.
To find the minimum possible number of blocks in Agnes’ tower, we let the other
three towers use the greatest possible number of blocks. We know Yuri’s tower
used the most blocks, and each tower used a different number of blocks. So the
other three towers could have used at most 31, 30, and 29 blocks, in some order.
The minimum possible number of blocks that Agnes could have used is therefore
93 − 31 − 30 − 29 = 3.
As a side note, if each person could have used the same number of blocks, then
the minimum possible number of blocks that Agnes could have used would have
been 93 − 32 − 32 − 32 = −3. However it’s not possible to use a negative number
of blocks, so Agnes must have used at least 1 block. There would be a few
different options for the number of blocks in each tower in order to make this
possible. For example, the towers could contain 1, 28, 32, 32, and 32 blocks
each, or 1, 30, 30, 32, and 32 blocks each.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Domi Knows

A domino tile is a rectangular tile with a line dividing its face into two square
ends. Each end is marked with a number of dots (also called pips) or is blank.
The first domino shown below is a [3, 5] domino, since there are 3 pips on its left
end and 5 pips on its right end. The second domino shown below is a [0, 3]
domino, since there are 0 pips on its left end and 3 pips on its right end. The
third domino shown below is a [4, 4] domino, since there are 4 pips on its left end
and 4 pips on its right end.

We can also rotate the domino tiles. The first domino shown below is a [5, 3]
domino, since there are 5 pips on its left end and 3 pips on its right end.
However, since this tile can be obtained by rotating the [3, 5] tile, [5, 3] and [3, 5]
represent the same domino. Similarly, the second domino shown below is a [3, 0]
domino. Again, note that [3, 0] and [0, 3] represent the same domino.

A 2-set of dominoes contains all possible tiles with the number of pips on any end
ranging from 0 to 2, with no two dominoes being the same. A 2-set of dominoes
has the following six tiles: [0, 0], [0, 1], [0, 2], [1, 1], [1, 2], [2, 2]. Notice that the
three dominoes [1, 0], [2, 0], and [2, 1] are not listed because they are the same as
the three dominoes [0, 1], [0, 2], and [1, 2].
Similarly, a 12-set of dominoes contains all possible tiles with the number of pips
on any end ranging from 0 to 12, with no two dominoes being the same.
Domi purchased a 12-set of dominoes. How many tiles are in the set?

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Domi Knows
Problem
A domino tile is a rectangular tile with a line dividing its face into two square ends. Each end
is marked with a number of dots (also called pips) or is blank.
The first domino shown below is a [3, 5] domino, since there are 3 pips on its left end and 5
pips on its right end. The second domino shown below is a [0, 3] domino, since there are 0 pips
on its left end and 3 pips on its right end. The third domino shown below is a [4, 4] domino,
since there are 4 pips on its left end and 4 pips on its right end.

We can also rotate the domino tiles. The first domino shown below is a [5, 3] domino, since
there are 5 pips on its left end and 3 pips on its right end. However, since this tile can be
obtained by rotating the [3, 5] tile, [5, 3] and [3, 5] represent the same domino. Similarly, the
second domino shown below is a [3, 0] domino. Again, note that [3, 0] and [0, 3] represent the
same domino.

A 2-set of dominoes contains all possible tiles with the number of pips on any end ranging from
0 to 2, with no two dominoes being the same. A 2-set of dominoes has the following six tiles:
[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, 2], [1, 1], [1, 2], [2, 2]. Notice that the three dominoes [1, 0], [2, 0], and [2, 1] are
not listed because they are the same as the three dominoes [0, 1], [0, 2], and [1, 2].
Similarly, a 12-set of dominoes contains all possible tiles with the number of pips on any end
ranging from 0 to 12, with no two dominoes being the same.
Domi purchased a 12-set of dominoes. How many tiles are in the set?

Solution
Since rotating a domino tile does not change the domino, we will orient each domino so that
the smaller number is always on the left end of the domino. Then, for each possible number on
the left end of the domino, we will examine the possible numbers that can occur on the right
end of the domino, and thus how many dominoes in the set have that number on the left end.
We compile this information in a table.
 Number on Left Possible Numbers on Right End of Total Number
End of Domino Domino of Dominoes
0 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 13
1 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 12
2 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 11
3 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 10
4 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 9
5 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 8
6 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 7
7 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 6
8 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 5
9 9, 10, 11, 12 4
10 10, 11, 12 3
11 11, 12 2
12 12 1

Therefore, the total number of dominoes in a 12-set is

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 = 91

Did you know?

A quick way to calculate the sum

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13

is as
(13)(13 + 1)
2
(13)(13 + 1)
That is, 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 = .
2
Can you convince yourself that this is true?

In general, it can be shown that if n is a positive integer, then the sum of the integers from 1
n × (n + 1)
to n is equal to .
2
In other words,
n(n + 1)
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n =
2
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Gone Shopping

While grocery shopping, Terry has a way to approximate the total cost of his
purchases. He simply approximates that each item will cost $3.00.
One day, Terry purchased 20 items. He purchased items that each had an actual
cost of either $1.00, $3.00, or $7.50. Exactly seven of the purchased items had an
actual cost of $3.00. If the total actual cost of the 20 items was the same as the
total approximated cost, how many items had an actual cost of $7.50?

Themes Algebra, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Gone Shopping
Problem
While grocery shopping, Terry has a way to approximate the total cost of his purchases. He
simply approximates that each item will cost $3.00.
One day, Terry purchased 20 items. He purchased items that each had an actual cost of either
$1.00, $3.00, or $7.50. Exactly seven of the purchased items had an actual cost of $3.00. If the
total actual cost of the 20 items was the same as the total approximated cost, how many items
had an actual cost of $7.50?

Solution
The total approximated cost for the 20 items is 20 × $3 = $60. Since the total
actual cost is the same as the total approximated cost, the total actual cost for
the 20 items is $60. Since 7 of the items cost $3.00, it cost Terry 7 × $3 = $21 to
buy these items. Therefore, the remaining 20 − 7 = 13 items cost
$60 − $21 = $39.
From this point, we will continue with two different solutions.
Solution 1
In this solution, we will use systematic trial-and-error to solve the problem.
Let s represent the number of items Terry bought with an actual cost of $7.50
and d represent the number of items that Terry bought with an actual cost $1.00.
Then the total cost of the $7.50 items would be 7.5s. Also, the total cost of the
$1.00 items would be 1d = d. Since Terry’s total remaining cost was $39, then
7.5s + d = 39. We also know that s + d = 13.
At this point we can systematically pick values for s and d that add to 13 and
substitute into the equation 7.5s + d = 39 to find the combination that works.
(We can observe that s < 6 since 7.5 × 6 = 45 > 39. If this were the case, then d
would have to be a negative number.)
Let’s start with s = 3. Then d = 13 − 3 = 10. The cost of these items would be
7.5 × 3 + 10 = 22.50 + 10 = $32.50, which is less than $39.
So let’s try s = 4. Then d = 13 − 4 = 9. The cost of these items would be
7.5 × 4 + 9 = 30 + 9 = $39, which is the amount we want.
Therefore, Terry purchased 4 items that cost $7.50.
Solution 2
In this solution, we will use algebra to solve the problem.
Let s represent the number of items that cost $7.50. Therefore, (13 − s)
represents the number of items that cost $1.00. Also, the total cost of the $7.50
items would be 7.5s, the total cost of the $1.00 items would be
1 × (13 − s) = 13 − s, and the total of these two is 7.5s + 13 − s = 6.5s + 13.
Since Terry’s total remaining cost was $39.00, we must have

6.5s + 13 = 39
6.5s + 13 − 13 = 39 − 13
6.5s = 26
6.5s 26
=
6.5 6.5
s=4

Therefore, Terry purchased 4 items that cost $7.50.

 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Teacher Road Trip 1

To help pass time on a long bus ride, 35 math teachers created a sequence of
numbers, with each teacher saying one term in the sequence. The first teacher
said the number 2, the second teacher said the number 8, and every teacher after
that said the sum of the two previous terms. Thus,

• the third teacher said the sum of the first and second terms, which is
2 + 8 = 10, and
• the fourth teacher said the sum of the second and third terms, which is
8 + 10 = 18.

Once the final teacher said their number, the 25th teacher announced they had
made a mistake and their number should have been one more than what they
had said. How much larger should the final teacher’s number have been?

Themes Algebra, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Teacher Road Trip 1
Problem
To help pass time on a long bus ride, 35 math teachers created a sequence of numbers, with
each teacher saying one term in the sequence. The first teacher said the number 2, the second
teacher said the number 8, and every teacher after that said the sum of the two previous terms.
Thus,

• the third teacher said the sum of the first and second terms, which is 2 + 8 = 10, and
• the fourth teacher said the sum of the second and third terms, which is 8 + 10 = 18.

Once the final teacher said their number, the 25th teacher announced they had made a mistake
and their number should have been one more than what they had said. How much larger
should the final teacher’s number have been?

Solution
Solution 1
We will write out the sequence of numbers the teachers actually said, and then
the sequence of numbers they should have said, and then find the difference
between the last term in each sequence.
Here are the first 24 numbers that the teachers said:
2, 8, 10, 18, 28, 46, 74, 120, 194, 314, 508, 822, 1330, 2152, 3482, 5634, 9116,
14 750, 23 866, 38 616, 62 482, 101 098, 163 580, 264 678

Here are the correct 25th to 35th numbers that the teachers should have said:
428 258, 692 936, 1 121 194, 1 814 130, 2 935 324, 4 749 454, 7 684 778, 12 434 232,
20 119 010, 32 553 242, 52 672 252

Here are the 25th to 35th numbers that the teachers actually said:
428 257, 692 935, 1 121 192, 1 814 127, 2 935 319, 4 749 446, 7 684 765, 12 434 211,
20 118 976, 32 553 187, 52 672 163

The difference between the correct and incorrect 35th number is

52 672 252 − 52 672 163 = 89. Therefore, the 35th number was off by 89, and so
the final teacher’s number should have been 89 larger than the number they had
said.
Solution 2
In this solution we will solve the problem without actually calculating all the
terms in the sequence.
We know the 25th term is off by 1. Therefore, the next terms will be as follows.

• The 26th term will also be off by 1 since it equals the sum of the 24th term
(which is unchanged) and the 25th term (which is off by 1).
• The 27th term will be off by 2 since it is the sum of the 25th term (which is
off by 1) and the 26th term (which is off by 1).
• The 28th term will be off by 3 since it is the sum of the 26th term (which is
off by 1) and the 27th term (which is off by 2).

This pattern will continue on, so we can summarize it in a table.

Amount Below the

Term Number
Correct Value
24 0
25 1
26 1
27 2
28 3
29 5
30 8
31 13
32 21
33 34
34 55
35 89

Therefore, the 35th term was off by 89, and so the final teacher’s number should
have been 89 larger than the number they had said.
Notice that the terms in the right column of the table follow the same rule as the
original question. That is, each term is the sum of the previous two terms.

For Further Thought: The last 11 numbers in the right column of the
table are the first 11 numbers of a famous sequence known as the Fibonacci
Sequence. You may wish to investigate the Fibonacci Sequence further.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Divisors and Number

Your friend Cael always likes challenging you. One challenge is called “Divisors
and Number ”. Cael will tell you certain facts about the divisors of a number and
then challenge you to find the number. Here is Cael’s challenge.
“I am looking for a positive integer with exactly eight positive divisors, two of
which are 21 and 33.”
Determine Cael’s number.

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Divisors and Number
Problem
Your friend Cael always likes challenging you. One challenge is called “Divisors and Number ”.
Cael will tell you certain facts about the divisors of a number and then challenge you to find
the number. Here is Cael’s challenge.
“I am looking for a positive integer with exactly eight positive divisors, two of which are 21 and
33.”
Determine Cael’s number.

Solution
Let n represent the number we are looking for.
We know that four of the positive divisors of n are 1, 21, 33, and n. In our
solution we will first find the remaining four positive divisors and then determine
n.
Since 21 is a divisor of n and 21 = 3 × 7, then 3 and 7 must also be divisors of n.
Since 33 is a divisor of n and 33 = 3 × 11, then 11 must also be a divisor of n.
Since 7 is a divisor of n and 11 is a divisor of n, and since 7 and 11 have no
common divisors, then 7 × 11 = 77 must also be a divisor of n.
We have found all eight of the positive divisors of the unknown number. The
positive divisors are 1, 3, 7, 11, 21, 33, 77, and n. We now need to determine n.
From the list of divisors, we can see that the prime factors of n are 3, 7, and 11.
It follows that n = 3 × 7 × 11 = 231.
Therefore, Cael’s number is 231.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Two Bricks

Dhvanil has a large number of cards. On the back of each card there is either a
honeycomb pattern (hexagons) or a brick pattern (rectangles). On the front of
each card there is either a 1 or a 2. As Dhvanil went through all the cards, he
found that 30% of the cards have a honeycomb pattern on the back. Of the cards
with a brick pattern on the back, 80% have a 1 on the front.
Determine the percentage of all the cards that have a brick pattern on the back
and a 2 on the front.

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Two Bricks
Problem
Dhvanil has a large number of cards. On the back of each card there is either a honeycomb
pattern (hexagons) or a brick pattern (rectangles). On the front of each card there is either a 1
or a 2. As Dhvanil went through all the cards, he found that 30% of the cards have a
honeycomb pattern on the back. Of the cards with a brick pattern on the back, 80% have a 1
on the front.
Determine the percentage of all the cards that have a brick pattern on the back and a 2 on the
front.

Solution
Solution 1
Let’s suppose that Dhvanil has 100 cards.
If 30% of the cards have a honeycomb pattern on the back, that means that
0.3 × 100 = 30 cards have a honeycomb pattern on the back. Therefore,
100 − 30 = 70 cards have a brick pattern on the back.
Of the cards with a brick pattern on the back, 80% have a 1 on the front.
Therefore, there are 0.8 × 70 = 56 cards with a brick pattern on the back and 1
on the front. Therefore, 70 − 56 = 14 cards have a brick pattern on the back and
a 2 on the front.
Therefore, the percentage of all cards with a brick pattern on the back and a 2 on
14
the front is × 100% = 14%.
100
Solution 2
If 30% of the cards have a honeycomb pattern on the back, that means that 70%
of the cards have a brick pattern on the back.
Of the cards with a brick pattern on the back, 80% have a 1 on the front.
Therefore, of the cards with a brick pattern on the back, 20% have a 2 on the
front. Since 0.2 × 0.70 = 0.14, 14% of all of the cards have a brick pattern on the
back and a 2 on the front.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
What’s the Score?

In gym class, the yellow team and the blue team played soccer. Ali doesn’t
remember the final score of the game, but she does remember the following.

• There were six goals scored in total.

• Neither team scored more than two goals in a row at any point in the game.
• The blue team won the game.

Determine all the possible final scores and the different ways each score could
have been obtained.

Themes Algebra, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
What’s the Score?
Problem
In gym class, the yellow team and the blue team played soccer. Ali doesn’t remember the final
score of the game, but she does remember the following.

• There were six goals scored in total.

• Neither team scored more than two goals in a row at any point in the game.

• The blue team won the game.

Determine all the possible final scores and the different ways each score could have been
obtained.

Solution
In order to win, the blue team must have scored more goals than the yellow
team. Since there were six goals scored in total, the only possibilities for the final
scores are 4 − 2, 5 − 1, or 6 − 0 for the blue team.
Next we need to check which of these scores are possible, given that neither team
scored more than two goals in a row at any point in the game.

• Is a final score of 6 − 0 possible?

We can easily eliminate 6 − 0, since the blue team would have had to score
more than two goals in a row.
• Is a final score of 5 − 1 possible?
This would mean that the blue team scored 5 goals and the yellow team
scored 1 goal. Is there a way to arrange these goals so that the blue team
didn’t score two goals in a row? Let’s look at all the possible arrangements,
where B represents a goal for the blue team, and Y represents a goal for the
yellow team. These are all shown below.

Y BBBBB, BY BBBB, BBY BBB, BBBY BB, BBBBY B, BBBBBY

As we can see, in all of these arrangements, the blue team scored more than
two goals in a row. Thus, a final score of 5 − 1 is not possible.
• Is a final score of 4 − 2 possible?
This would mean that the blue team scored 4 goals and the yellow team
scored 2 goals. Is there a way to arrange these goals so that the blue team
didn’t score two goals in a row? Let’s look at all the possible arrangements,
where B represents a goal for the blue team, and Y represents a goal for the
yellow team.
– Case 1: The yellow team scored their 2 goals in a row. The possible
arrangements are shown below.

Y Y BBBB, BY Y BBB, BBY Y BB, BBBY Y B, BBBBY Y

In this case, there is only 1 arrangement where neither team scored

more than two goals in a row, namely BBY Y BB.
– Case 2: The yellow team did not score their 2 goals in a row. The
possible arrangements are shown below.

Y BY BBB, Y BBY BB, Y BBBY B, Y BBBBY, BY BY BB,

BY BBY B, BY BBBY, BBY BY B, BBY BBY, BBBY BY

In this case, there are 5 arrangements where neither team scored more
than two goals in a row, namely
Y BBY BB, BY BY BB, BY BBY B, BBY BY B, and BBY BBY .
Therefore, the only possible final score is 4 − 2 for the blue team, and it
could be obtained in the following six ways.

BBY Y BB, Y BBY BB, BY BY BB, BY BBY B, BBY BY B, BBY BBY

 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Again and Again
1
The fraction 7 is equal to the repeating decimal 0.142857.
Which digit occurs in the 2023rd place after the decimal point?

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Again and Again
Problem
1
The fraction 7
is equal to the repeating decimal 0.142857.
Which digit occurs in the 2023rd place after the decimal point?

Solution
The digits after the decimal point occur in repeating blocks of the 6 digits 142857.
Since 2023 1 rd
6 = 337.16 = 337 6 , it follows that the 2023 digit after the decimal
point occurs after 337 complete repeating blocks of the 6 digits.
In 337 complete repeating blocks, there are 337 × 6 = 2022 digits in total. The
2023rd digit is then the next digit. This corresponds to the first digit in the
repeating block, which is 1.
Therefore, the digit 1 occurs in the 2023rd place after the decimal point.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Ice Box

A metal box in the form of a rectangular prism has an 18 cm by 22 cm base and

a height of 77 cm. The box is to be filled with water, which will then be frozen.
When water freezes it expands by approximately 10%. Determine the maximum
depth to which the box can be filled with water so that when the water freezes,
the ice does not go above the top of the container.

Themes Geometry & Measurement, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Ice Box
Problem
A metal box in the form of a rectangular prism has an 18 cm by 22 cm base and a height of 77
cm. The box is to be filled with water, which will then be frozen. When water freezes it
expands by approximately 10%. Determine the maximum depth to which the box can be filled
with water so that when the water freezes, the ice does not go above the top of the container.

Solution
Solution 1
To determine the volume of a rectangular prism, we multiply its length, width,
and height together. So, the maximum volume of the metal box is

18 × 22 × 77 = 30 492 cm3

Let the original depth of water in the metal box be h cm.

The water volume before freezing is 18 × 22 × h = (396 × h) cm3 . After the
water freezes, the volume increases by 10% to 110% of its current volume. That
is, after freezing the volume is

110% of 396 × h = 1.1 × 396 × h = (435.6 × h) cm3

But the volume after freezing is the maximum volume, 30 492 cm3 . Therefore,
435.6 × h = 30 492 and it follows that h = 30 492 ÷ 435.6 = 70 cm.
Therefore, the maximum depth to which the box can be filled is 70 cm.

Solution 2
In this solution we note that the length and width remain the same in the volume
calculations before and after the water freezes. We need only concern ourselves
with the change in the depth of the water.
Let the original depth of water in the container be h cm.
After freezing, the depth increases by 10% to 110% of its depth before freezing.
So, after freezing the depth will be 110% of h = 1.1 × h = 77 cm, the maximum
height of the container. Then h = 77 ÷ 1.1 = 70 cm.
Therefore, the maximum depth to which the box can be filled is 70 cm.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Go Back

Gwen has been given the ability to time travel by walking along three different
trails. She can walk on any trail as often as she wishes, but can only walk on one
trail at a time. She must walk on the trails using the following rules.

• When she walks on Trail A, she must take 7 steps forward. This will allow
her to travel 4 months backward in time.
• When she walks on Trail B, she must take 5 steps backward. This will allow
her to travel 7 months backward in time.
• When she walks on Trail C, she must take 2 steps forward. This will allow
her to travel 3 months backward in time.

One day she travels 5 years into the past. She made a total of 25 steps backward
and walked on the three trails a total of 12 times. How many steps forward did
she take?

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Go Back
Problem
Gwen has been given the ability to time travel by walking along three different trails. She can
walk on any trail as often as she wishes, but can only walk on one trail at a time. She must
walk on the trails using the following rules.

• When she walks on Trail A, she must take 7 steps forward. This will allow her to travel 4
months backward in time.
• When she walks on Trail B, she must take 5 steps backward. This will allow her to travel
7 months backward in time.
• When she walks on Trail C, she must take 2 steps forward. This will allow her to travel 3
months backward in time.

One day she travels 5 years into the past. She made a total of 25 steps backward and walked
on the three trails a total of 12 times. How many steps forward did she take?

Solution
Gwen travelled 5 years back in time, which is equivalent to travelling 5 × 12 = 60 months back
in time.
Trail B is the only trail that requires that she step backward. For every 5 steps backward, she
travels 7 months back in time. Therefore, for 25 steps backward, she used Trail B 25 ÷ 5 = 5
times and travelled back in time 5 × 7 = 35 months.
She still needs to travel 60 − 35 = 25 more months back in time. She has used Trail B 5 times,
and since she uses the trails a total of 12 times, she has 12 − 5 = 7 trail uses left. She can now
only use Trail A and Trail C. We will present two solutions from this point.
Solution 1
If Gwen uses Trail A and Trail C one time each, she travels a total of 7 months back in time. If
she uses Trail A and Trail C three times each, this accounts for six uses and she travels a total
of 7 × 3 = 21 months back in time. She has one use left and still needs to travel 4 more months
back in time. This can be accomplished by using Trail A once more.
It follows that Trail A is used 4 times and Trail C is used 3 times. The total number of forward
steps is 4 × 7 + 3 × 2 = 28 + 6 = 34.
Note that we could also have looked at each of the possibilities for using Trail A. Since there
are a total of 7 trail uses for Trails A and C, the minimum number of uses for Trail A would be
0 and the maximum number of uses for Trail A would be 7. Once the number of uses for
Trail A is selected, the number of uses for Trail C can be determined by subtracting the
number of uses for Trail A from 7. For each combination we could determine the number of
months travelled back in time. Once the correct combination is determined the total number of
forward steps can be calculated. This is summarized in a table.
 Uses of Trail A Uses of Trail C Months Travelled Back in Time
0 7 0 × 4 + 7 × 3 = 0 + 21 = 21
1 6 1 × 4 + 6 × 3 = 4 + 18 = 22
2 5 2 × 4 + 5 × 3 = 8 + 15 = 23
3 4 3 × 4 + 4 × 3 = 12 + 12 = 24
4 3 4 × 4 + 3 × 3 = 16 + 9 = 25
5 2 5 × 4 + 2 × 3 = 20 + 6 = 26
6 1 6 × 4 + 1 × 3 = 24 + 3 = 27
7 0 7 × 4 + 0 × 3 = 28 + 0 = 28

Only one combination gives the correct number of trail uses and the correct number of months
travelled back in time. Using only Trail A and Trail C a total of 7 times, if we want to travel
back in time 25 months we need to use Trail A 4 times and Trail C 3 times. The total number
of forward steps is 4 × 7 + 3 × 2 = 28 + 6 = 34.
Solution 2
This solution is presented for you to get a glimpse of what is coming in future mathematics
courses.
Let a be the number of uses of Trail A, b be the number of uses of Trail B, and c be the
number of uses of Trail C. Since the total number of uses is 12, then a + b + c = 12.
The total number of backward steps is 25 and Trail B is the only trail requiring backward
steps. Since each use of Trail B requires 5 backward steps, then we require a total of 5 uses of
Trail B to go back 25 steps. It follows that b = 5 and the equation a + b + c = 12 becomes
a + 5 + c = 12, which simplifies to a + c = 7.
In using Trail B 5 times, Gwen travels a total of 5 × 7 = 35 months back in time. She needs to
travel a total of 5 years or 60 months back in time. Thus, using Trail A and Trail C, she needs
to travel 60 − 35 = 25 more months back in time. Since she travels 4 months backward with
each use of Trail A and 3 months backward with each use of Trail C, we need 4a + 3c = 25.
Rearranging the equation a + c = 7, we obtain c = 7 − a. We can substitute for c in the
equation 4a + 3c = 25.

4a + 3c = 25
4a + 3(7 − a) = 25
4a + 21 − 3a = 25
a + 21 = 25
a=4

We can substitute a = 4 into the equation a + c = 7 to determine that c = 3.

For each use of Trail A, 7 forward steps are required. Therefore, Gwen steps forward 7a steps
using Trail A. For each use of Trail C, 2 forward steps are required. Therefore, Gwen steps
forward 2c steps using Trail C. The total number of steps forward is 7a + 2c. Since a = 4 and
c = 3, the total number of forward steps is 7(4) + 2(3) = 28 + 6 = 34.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Missing the Fives I

Bobbi lists the positive integers, in order, excluding all multiples of 5. Her
resulting list is
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, . . .
How many integers has Bobbi listed just before she leaves out the 2023rd
multiple of 5?

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Missing the Fives I
Problem
Bobbi lists the positive integers, in order, excluding all multiples of 5. Her resulting list is

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, . . .

How many integers has Bobbi listed just before she leaves out the 2023rd multiple of 5?

Solution
Solution 1
In the list of integers beginning at 1, the 2023th multiple of 5 is
2023 × 5 = 10 115. Thus, Bobbi has listed each of the integers from 1 to 10 114
with the exception of the positive multiples of 5 less than 10 115. Since 10 115 is
the 2023rd multiple of 5, Bobbi will not write 2022 multiples of 5.
Therefore, just before Bobbi leaves out the 2023rd multiple of 5, she has listed
10 114 − 2022 = 8092 integers.
Solution 2
Beginning at 1, each group of five integers has one integer that is a multiple of 5.
For example, the first group of five integers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, has one multiple of 5
(namely 5), and the second group of five integers, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, has one multiple
of 5 (namely 10). In Bobbi’s list of integers, she leaves out the integers that are
multiples of 5, and so in every group of five integers, Bobbi lists four of these
integers. Thus, just before Bobbi leaves out the 2023rd multiple of 5, there were
2023 of these groups. Therefore, she has listed 2023 × 4 = 8092 integers.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Dollhouse

The first level of a dollhouse is in the shape of a rectangle. Its floor plan is shown
in the following diagram.

Both the mudroom and the kitchen are square with areas of 400 cm2 and
2500 cm2 , respectively. The living room is rectangular with an area of 3000 cm2 .
Determine the area of the rectangular storage room.

Themes Geometry & Measurement, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Dollhouse
Problem
The first level of a dollhouse is in the shape of a rectangle. Its floor plan is shown in the
following diagram.

Both the mudroom and the kitchen are square with areas of 400 cm2 and 2500 cm2 ,
respectively. The living room is rectangular with an area of 3000 cm2 .
Determine the area of the rectangular storage room.

Solution
Let the width of a room be the vertical length of the room on the diagram. Let the length of a
room be the horizontal length of the room on the diagram.
The kitchen is a square and has an area of 2500 cm2 . Its length and width must both be 50 cm
since 50 × 50 = 2500 cm2 . The living room and kitchen have the same width. So the width of
the living room must also be 50 cm. But the area of the living room is 3000 cm2 , so the length
of the living room is 60 cm since 50 × 60 = 3000 cm2 .
The mudroom is a square and has an area of 400 cm2 . Its length and width must both be 20
cm since 20 × 20 = 400 cm2 . The mudroom and storage room have the same width. So the
width of the storage room must also be 20 cm.
Now the length of the whole house can be calculated in two ways. We will equate these two
expressions to find the length of the storage room.
mudroom length + storage room length = living room length + kitchen length
20 + storage room length = 60 + 50
20 + storage room length = 110
storage room length = 90 cm

Since the width of the storage room is 20 cm and the length of the storage room is 90 cm, the
area of the storage room is 20 × 90 = 1800 cm2 .
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
See You No More

Two boats are travelling away from each other in opposite directions. One boat is
travelling east at the constant speed of 8 km/h and the other boat is travelling
west at a different constant speed.
At one point, the boat travelling east was 200 m east of the boat travelling west,
but 15 minutes later they lose sight of each other.
If the visibility at sea that day was 5 km, determine the constant speed of the
boat travelling west.

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
See You No More
Problem
Two boats are travelling away from each other in opposite directions. One boat is travelling
east at the constant speed of 8 km/h and the other boat is travelling west at a different
constant speed.
At one point, the boat travelling east was 200 m east of the boat travelling west, but 15
minutes later they lose sight of each other.
If the visibility at sea that day was 5 km, determine the constant speed of the boat travelling
west.

Solution
We will call the boat travelling east Boat A, and the boat travelling west Boat B.
Boat A is travelling at a constant speed of 8 km/h.
Using the formula, distance = speed × time, in 15 minutes Boat A will travel
km 15
8 × h = 2 km.
h 60
The visibility at sea is 5 km. Thus, Boat A and Boat B will be in sight of one
another until they are 5 km apart. We are given that Boat A and Boat B are in
sight of one another for 15 minutes. Thus, after 15 minutes Boat A and Boat B
must be 5 km apart.
Since Boat A and Boat B start out 200 m = 0.2 km apart and Boat A travels 2
km in 15 minutes, Boat B must travel 5 − 0.2 − 2 = 2.8 km in 15 minutes.
Since Boat B travelled 2.8 km in 15 minutes, using the formula
speed = distance ÷ time, Boat B must have been travelling at a speed of
15 60
2.8 km ÷ h = 2.8 × = 11.2 km/h.
60 15
Therefore, Boat B was travelling at a speed of 11.2 km/h.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Keep The Average

Jackie is making a sequence of six numbers using the following rules.

1. She choses any two numbers for the first two numbers.
2. The next four numbers are each the average of the previous two numbers.
After she creates the sequence, she tells her friend that the fourth number is 22
and the sixth number is 45. What numbers did Jackie choose for the first two
numbers?

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Keep The Average
Problem
Jackie is making a sequence of six numbers using the following rules.
1. She choses any two numbers for the first two numbers.

2. The next four numbers are each the average of the previous two numbers.
After she creates the sequence, she tells her friend that the fourth number is 22 and the sixth
number is 45. What numbers did Jackie choose for the first two numbers?

Solution
We give two solutions. Both will use the fact that if x is the average of two
numbers y and z, then y+z
2 = x, and it follows that y + z = 2 × x.
Solution 1
In the first solution, we solve the problem by working backwards.
Since the sixth number in the sequence is equal to the average of the two
previous numbers, the sixth number must be the average of the fourth and fifth
numbers. So, the sum of the fourth and fifth numbers must be 2 times the sixth
number, or 2 × 45 = 90. Therefore, the fifth number is 90 − 22 = 68.
We now determine the third number. The fifth number in the sequence is the
average of the third and fourth numbers. So, the sum of the third and fourth
numbers is 2 times the fifth number, or 2 × 68 = 136. Therefore, the third
number is 136 − 22 = 114.
We now determine the second number. The fourth number in the sequence is the
average of the second and third numbers. So, the sum of the second and third
numbers is 2 times the fourth number, or 2 × 22 = 44. Therefore, the second
number is 44 − 114 = −70.
We now determine the first number. The third number in the sequence is the
average of the first and second numbers. So, the sum of the first and second
numbers is 2 times the third number, or 2 × 114 = 228. Therefore, the first
number is 228 − (−70) = 228 + 70 = 298.
Therefore, the first number is 298 and the second number is −70.
Solution 2
We will now present a similar, but more algebraic solution.
Let a represent the first number in the sequence, b represent the second number
in the sequence, c represent the third number in the sequence, and d represent the
fifth number in the sequence. We again solve this problem by working backwards.
Since the sixth number in the sequence is equal to the average of the fourth and
fifth numbers, we have 45 = 22+d
2 . Multiplying both sides by 2, we obtain
22 + d = 45 × 2 = 90. Rearranging, d = 90 − 22 = 68. Therefore, the fifth
number in the sequence is 68.
We now determine the third number. Since the fifth number in the sequence is
equal to the average of the third and fourth numbers, we have 68 = c+22
2 .
Multiplying both sides by 2, we obtain c + 22 = 68 × 2 = 136. Rearranging,
c = 136 − 22 = 114. Therefore, the third number in the sequence is 114.
We now determine the second number. Since the fourth number in the sequence
is equal to the average of the second and third numbers, we have 22 = b+114
2 .
Multiplying both sides by 2, we obtain b + 114 = 22 × 2 = 44. Rearranging,
b = 44 − 114 = −70. Therefore, the second number in the sequence is −70.
We now determine the first number. Since the third number in the sequence is
equal to the average of the first and second numbers, we have 114 = a+(−70)
2 .
Multiplying both sides by 2, we obtain a + (−70) = 114 × 2 = 228. Rearranging,
a = 228 + 70 = 298. Therefore, the first number in the sequence is 298.
Therefore, the first number is 298 and the second number is −70.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Six Zeros

The product of the first seven positive integers is equal to

7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 5040

Mathematicians will write this product as 7!. This is read as “7 factorial”. So,
7! = 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 5040.
This factorial notation can be used with any positive integer. For example,
11! = 11 × 10 × 9 × · · · × 3 × 2 × 1 = 39 916 800. The three dots “· · · ” represent
the product of the integers between 9 and 3.
In general, for a positive integer n, n! is equal to the product of the positive
integers from 1 to n.
Find the smallest positive integer n such that n! ends in exactly six zeros.

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Six Zeros
Problem
The product of the first seven positive integers is equal to

7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 5040

Mathematicians will write this product as 7!. This is read as “7 factorial”. So,
7! = 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 5040.
This factorial notation can be used with any positive integer. For example,
11! = 11 × 10 × 9 × · · · × 3 × 2 × 1 = 39 916 800. The three dots “· · · ” represent the product of
the integers between 9 and 3.
In general, for a positive integer n, n! is equal to the product of the positive integers from 1 to
n.
Find the smallest positive integer n such that n! ends in exactly six zeros.

Solution
We start by examining the first few factorials:

1! = 1
2! = 2 × 1 = 2
3! = 3 × 2 × 1 = 6
4! = 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24
5! = 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120
6! = 6 × (5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1) = 6 × 5! = 6(120) = 720
7! = 7 × (6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1) = 7 × 6! = 7(720) = 5040
8! = 8 × (7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1) = 8 × 7! = 8(5040) = 40 320
9! = 9 × (8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1) = 9 × 8! = 9(40 320) = 362 880
10! = 10 × (9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1) = 10 × 9! = 10(362 880) = 3 628 800

These numbers are getting very large and soon will not fit on the display of a
standard calculator. So, let’s look at what is going on.
We observe that 5! ends in 0 and 10! ends in 00. Notice that the number of zeros
at the end of the number increased by one at each of 5! and at 10!. Why is this?
A zero is added to the end of a positive integer when we multiply by 10.
Multiplying a number by 10 is the same as multiplying a number by 2 and then
by 5, or by 5 and then by 2, since 2 × 5 = 10 and 5 × 2 = 10. We must
determine the next time we multiply by 2 and 5 (in some order), to know the
next time the number of zeros at the end of the number increases again. Every
time we multiply by an even positive integer we are multiplying by at least one
more 2. In the integers from 1 to n, there are less multiples of 5. So, each
multiple of 5 will affect the number of zeros at the end of the product.
Multiplying by 11, 12, 13, and 14 increases the number of 2s we multiply by but
not the number of 5s. So the number of zeros at the end of the product does not
change. The next time we multiply by a 5 is when we multiply by 15 since
15 = 5 × 3. So 15! will end in exactly three zeros, 000.
Multiplying by 16, 17, 18, and 19 increases the number of 2s we multiply by but
not the number of 5s. So the number of zeros at the end of the product does not
change. The next time we multiply by a 5 is when we multiply by 20 since
20 = 4 × 5. So 20! will end in exactly four zeros, 0000.
Multiplying by 21, 22, 23, and 24 increases the number of 2s we multiply by but
not the number of 5s. The next time we multiply by a 5 is when we multiply by
25. In fact, multiplying by 25 is the same as multiplying by 5 twice since
25 = 5 × 5. So when we multiply by 25, we will increase the number of zeros on
the end of the product by two. So 25! will end in exactly six zeros, 000 000.
Therefore, the smallest positive integer n such that n! ends in exactly six zeros is
25. (It could be noted that 26!, 27!, 28!, and 29! also end in six zeros.)
For the curious,
24! = 620 448 401 733 239 439 360 000
and
25! = 15 511 210 043 330 985 984 000 000
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Thelma’s Chips

Thelma has two piles of bingo chips. In each pile there are green and yellow
chips. In one pile, the ratio of the number of green chips to the number of yellow
chips is 1 : 2. In the second pile, the ratio of the number of green chips to the
number of yellow chips is 3 : 5. If Thelma has a total of 20 green chips, then
determine the possibilities for the total number of yellow chips.

Themes Algebra, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Thelma’s Chips
Problem
Thelma has two piles of bingo chips. In each pile there are green and yellow chips. In one pile,
the ratio of the number of green chips to the number of yellow chips is 1 : 2. In the second pile,
the ratio of the number of green chips to the number of yellow chips is 3 : 5. If Thelma has a
total of 20 green chips, then determine the possibilities for the total number of yellow chips.

Solution
Solution 1
In this solution, we first look at all possible combinations of green and yellow
chips in the second pile. Since the ratio of the number of green chips to the
number of yellow chips in the second pile is 3 : 5, we know that the number of
green chips in this second pile must be a positive multiple of 3. We also know
that there are at most 20 green chips in this pile. Thus, the only possible values
for the number of green chips in the second pile are 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18. Then,
using the fact that the ratio of the number of green chips to the number of yellow
chips is 3 : 5, we can determine the number of yellow chips in the second pile for
each case. We can also determine the number of green chips in the first pile by
subtracting the number of green chips in the second pile from 20. Finally, we can
determine the number of yellow chips in the first pile by multiplying the number
of green chips in the first pile by 2. This information for each case is summarized
in the table below.
Number of green Number of yellow Number of green Number of yellow Total number
chips in pile 2 chips in pile 2 chips in pile 1 chips in pile 1 of yellow chips
3 5 20 − 3 = 17 34 5 + 35 = 39
6 10 20 − 6 = 14 28 10 + 28 = 38
9 15 20 − 9 = 11 22 15 + 22 = 37
12 20 20 − 12 = 8 16 20 + 16 = 36
15 25 20 − 15 = 5 10 25 + 10 = 35
18 30 20 − 18 = 2 4 30 + 4 = 34

Therefore, there are six possible values for the total number of yellow chips.
There could be 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, or 39 yellow chips in total.
Solution 2
Let a represent the number of green chips in the first pile, where a is a positive
integer. Since the ratio of green chips to yellow chips in this pile is 1 : 2, then
there are 2a yellow chips in this pile.
Let 3b represent the number of green chips in the second pile, where b is a
positive integer. Since the ratio of green chips to yellow chips in this pile is 3 : 5,
then there are 5b yellow chips in this pile.
In total, there are 20 green chips, so a + 3b = 20. Also, the total number of
yellow chips is equal to 2a + 5b.
We consider all the possible values for positive integers a and b that satisfy the
equation a + 3b = 20. Using these values of a and b, we can then find the
possible values of 2a + 5b, and hence the possible values for the total number of
yellow chips.
The results are summarized in the table below.

a + 3b b a 2a + 5b
20 1 17 39
20 2 14 38
20 3 11 37
20 4 8 36
20 5 5 35
20 6 2 34

Therefore, there are six possible values for the total number of yellow chips.
There could be 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, or 39 yellow chips in total.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
All Equal

Using two cuts, we want to divide the 6 m by 6 m grid shown into three regions
of equal area.

One way to do so is by making a horizontal cut through H and a second

horizontal cut through K. This method of cutting the grid works, but is not very
creative.
To make things a little more interesting, we must still make two straight cuts,
but each cut must start at point P . Each of these two cuts will pass through a
point on the outer perimeter of the grid.
Find the length of each cut. Round your answer to one decimal.

Themes Geometry & Measurement, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
All Equal
Problem
Using two cuts, we want to divide the 6 m by 6 m grid shown into three regions of equal area.
One way to do so is by making a horizontal cut through H and a second horizontal cut
through K. This method of cutting the grid works, but is not very creative.
To make things a little more interesting, we must still make two straight cuts, but each cut
must start at point P . Each of these two cuts will pass through a point on the outer perimeter
of the grid.
Find the length of each cut. Round your answer to one decimal.

Solution
The area of the entire 6 m by 6 m square grid is 6 × 6 = 36 m2 . Since the square is divided into
36
three regions of equal area, the area of each region must be = 12 m2 .
3
Consider the line through P that passes through some point on side QM . Let A be the point
where this line intersects QM .

Since ∠P M Q = 90◦ , 4P M A is a right-angled triangle with base P M = 6 m and height M A.

base × height 6 × MA
Using the formula area = , we have area of 4P M A = = 3 × M A.
2 2
We need the area of 4P M A to be 12 m2 . Therefore, 3 × M A = 12, and so M A = 4 m. Since
H is the point on QM with M H = 4 m, we must have A = H. Therefore, one line passes
through the point H.
Since 4P M A is a right-angled triangle, using the Pythagorean Theorem we have

P A2 = P M 2 + M A 2
= 62 + 42
= 36 + 16
= 52
√
Therefore, P A = 52 ≈ 7.2, since P A > 0.
Consider the line through P that passes through some point on side RQ. Let B be the point
where this line intersects RQ.

Since ∠P RQ = 90◦ , 4P RB is a right-angled triangle with height P R = 6 m and base RB.

base × height RB × 6
Using the formula area = , we have area of 4P RB = = 3 × RB.
2 2
We need the area of 4P RB to be 12 m2 . Therefore, 3 × RB = 12, and so RB = 4 m. Since V
is the point on RQ with RV = 4 m, we must have B = V . Therefore, the other line passes
through the point V .
Therefore, one line passes through point H and the other passes through point V .
Since 4P RB is a right-angled triangle, using the Pythagorean Theorem we have

P B 2 = P R2 + RB 2
= 62 + 42
= 36 + 16
= 52
√
Therefore, P B = 52 ≈ 7.2, since P B > 0.
Therefore, the length of each cut is approximately 7.2 m.

Extension:
Try dividing the grid into three regions of equal area using three cuts. (Each cut does not
necessarily need to be to the outer perimeter of the grid.)
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Two Numbers In

The POTW Input/Output Machine takes a number as input and adds 10 to the
number. The machine then takes this sum and multiplies it by 2. Finally, the
machine takes this product, subtracts 30 from the number, and outputs this new
number.
Anala and Mei each input a positive integer into the machine. If the sum of their
two outputs is 130, how many possibilities are there for the positive integer that
Anala input into the machine?

Theme Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Two Numbers In
Problem
The POTW Input/Output Machine takes a number as input and adds 10 to the number. The
machine then takes this sum and multiplies it by 2. Finally, the machine takes this product,
subtracts 30 from the number, and outputs this new number.
Anala and Mei each input a positive integer into the machine. If the sum of their two outputs
is 130, how many possibilities are there for the positive integer that Anala input into the
machine?

Solution
We will work backward from the final sum, 130, by ‘undoing’ each of the three
operations to determine the sum of their two numbers before any operations were
performed.
The final operation performed by the machine on each number was to subtract
30. Subtracting 30 from each number decreases their sum by 60. Therefore, the
sum of the two numbers immediately before the third operation was performed
was 130 + 60 = 190.
Multiplying each of their numbers by 2 increases the sum of the two numbers by
a factor of 2. Since the second sum of their two numbers was 190, the sum of
their two numbers immediately before the second operation was performed must
have been 180 ÷ 2 = 95.
Finally, the first operation performed by each of Anala and Mei was to add 10 to
their number. Adding 10 to each of their numbers increases the sum by 20, and so
the sum of their numbers before the first operation must have been 95 − 20 = 75.
Each of their original integers are positive and the two integers have a sum of 75.
Therefore, Anala’s original integer could be any integer from 1 to 74, inclusive.
Thus, there are 74 possibilities for Anala’s original integer.
Geometry & Measurement (G)

TAKE ME
TO THE
COVER
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Two Squares

Simone has a rope that is 60 cm long. They cut the rope into two pieces so that
the ratio of the lengths of the two pieces is 7 : 3. Each piece of the rope is then
arranged, with its two ends touching, to form a square.
What is the total area of the two squares?

Themes Geometry & Measurement, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Two Squares
Problem
Simone has a rope that is 60 cm long. They cut the rope into two pieces so that the ratio of
the lengths of the two pieces is 7 : 3. Each piece of the rope is then arranged, with its two ends
touching, to form a square.
What is the total area of the two squares?

Solution
Since the rope is cut in the ratio of 7 : 3, the ratio of the longer piece to the whole
rope will be 7 : (7 + 3) or 7 : 10. This means the length of the longer piece will be
7
10 of the length of the whole rope. Similarly, the length of the shorter piece would
3 7
be 10 of the length of the whole rope. Therefore, the longer piece is 10 of 60 or
7 3 3
10 × 60 = 42 cm long. Also, the shorter piece is 10 of 60 or 10 × 60 = 18 cm long.
Each of the two pieces is then used to form a square. The perimeter of each
square is the length of the rope used to form it. The side length of the longer
square is 42 ÷ 4 = 10.5 cm and the side length of the shorter square is
18 ÷ 4 = 4.5 cm.
To find the area of each square, we multiply the length by the width. In effect, to
find the area of the square, we square the side length. Thus, the area of the
larger square is 10.5 × 10.5 = 10.52 = 110.25 cm2 and the area of the smaller
square is 4.5 × 4.5 = 4.52 = 20.25 cm2 .
Therefore, the total area of the two squares is 110.25 + 20.25 = 130.5 cm2 .

For Further Thought:

The ratio of the area of the larger square to the area of the smaller square is

110.25 : 20.25 = 11 025 : 2025 = 441 : 81 = 49 : 9 = 72 : 32

Notice that the ratio of the perimeter of the larger square to the perimeter of the
smaller square is 7 : 3 and the ratio of their areas is 72 : 32 . In general, if the
ratio of the perimeters of two squares is a : b, is it true that the ratio of the areas
of the two squares is a2 : b2 ?
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Three Perimeters

A median is a line segment drawn from the vertex of a triangle to the midpoint
of the opposite side.
In 4DEF , a median is drawn from vertex D, meeting side EF at point M .

The perimeter of 4DEF is 24. The perimeter of 4DEM is 18. The perimeter
4DF M is 16. Determine the length of the median DM .

Themes Algebra, Geometry & Measurement

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Three Perimeters
Problem
A median is a line segment drawn from the vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite
side.
In 4DEF , a median is drawn from vertex D, meeting side EF at point M . The perimeter of
4DEF is 24. The perimeter of 4DEM is 18. The perimeter 4DF M is 16. Determine the
length of the median DM .

Solution
Solution 1
The perimeter of a triangle is equal to the sum of its three side lengths. Notice
that the length of side EF is equal to the sum of the lengths of sides EM and
M F . It follows that when we combine the perimeters of 4DEM and 4DF M ,
we obtain the perimeter of 4DEF plus two lengths of the median DM .

In other words, since the perimeter of 4DEM is 18, the perimeter of 4DF M is
16, and the perimeter of 4DEF is 24, it follows that 18 + 16 = 24 + 2 × DM .
Then 34 = 24 + 2 × DM , and so 2 × DM = 10. Therefore, the length of the
median DM is 5.

Solution 2
In this solution, we take a more algebraic approach to solving the problem, using
more formal equation solving.
Let DE = t, EM = p, M F = q, DF = r, and DM = m.
Since the perimeter of 4DEM is 18, we can write the following equation.

t + p + m = 18
t + p = 18 − m (1)
Since the perimeter of 4DF M is 16, we can write the following equation.

q + r + m = 16
q + r = 16 − m (2)

Since the perimeter of 4DEF is 24, we can write the following equation.

t + p + q + r = 24 (3)

Adding equations (1) and (2) gives the following.

t + p = 18 − m (1)
q + r = 16 − m (2)
t + p + q + r = 18 − m + 16 − m

However from equation (3), we know that t + p + q + r = 24. So we can write

and solve the following equation.

18 − m + 16 − m = 24
34 − 2m = 24
−2m = 24 − 34
−2m = −10
−2m −10
=
−2 −2
m=5

Therefore, the length of the median DM is 5.

Extension:
In the solution we never used the fact that DM is a median and that
EM = M F . This means that there could be other triangles that satisfy the
conditions of the problem without DM being the median. Indeed there are! Try
creating a few different triangles with DM = 5 that satisfy all the conditions of
the problem except the condition that DM is a median. You can do this using
manipulatives, geometry software, or by hand. However, you may need some high
school mathematics to calculate the precise dimensions.
It turns out that there is only one triangle that satisfies all the conditions of the
problem including the fact that DM is a median.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
The Missing Pieces

The following information is known about 4P QR.

• The point S is on side P R and the point T is on side P Q.

• The distance from P to S is equal to the distance from T to Q.
• The distance from S to R is equal to the distance from P to T .
• ∠P RQ = 40◦ and ∠P T S = 20◦ .

Determine the value of each of the five other interior angles. That is, determine
the values of ∠RP Q, ∠ST Q, ∠T QR, ∠RST , and ∠P ST .

Theme Geometry & Measurement

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
The Missing Pieces
Problem
The following information is known about 4P QR.

• The point S is on side P R and the point T is on side P Q.

• The distance from P to S is equal to the distance from T to Q.
• The distance from S to R is equal to the distance from P to T .
• ∠P RQ = 40◦ and ∠P T S = 20◦ .

Determine the value of each of the five other interior angles. That is, determine the values of
∠RP Q, ∠ST Q, ∠T QR, ∠RST , and ∠P ST .

Solution
First, we let ∠RP Q measure a◦ , ∠ST Q measure b◦ , ∠T QR measure c◦ , ∠RST
measure d◦ , and ∠P ST measure e◦ .

Since ∠P T Q is a straight angle, 20 + b = 180, and so b = 160.

Since P S = T Q and SR = P T , it follows that P S + P R = P T + T Q, and so
P R = P Q and 4P QR is isosceles. Therefore ∠P RQ = ∠P QR, and so c = 40.
Since the angles in a triangle sum to 180◦ , in 4P QR,
a + 40 + c = 180
a + 40 + 40 = 180
a + 80 = 180
a = 100
Similarly, in 4P ST ,

a + e + 20 = 180
100 + e + 20 = 180
120 + e = 180
e = 60

Since ∠P SR is a straight angle,

e + d = 180
60 + d = 180
d = 120

We have determined the value of all the other five interior angles.
∠RP Q = a◦ = 100◦ , ∠ST Q = b◦ = 160◦ , ∠T QR = c◦ = 40◦ ,
∠RST = d◦ = 120◦ , and ∠P ST = e◦ = 60◦ .
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Ice Box

A metal box in the form of a rectangular prism has an 18 cm by 22 cm base and

a height of 77 cm. The box is to be filled with water, which will then be frozen.
When water freezes it expands by approximately 10%. Determine the maximum
depth to which the box can be filled with water so that when the water freezes,
the ice does not go above the top of the container.

Themes Geometry & Measurement, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Ice Box
Problem
A metal box in the form of a rectangular prism has an 18 cm by 22 cm base and a height of 77
cm. The box is to be filled with water, which will then be frozen. When water freezes it
expands by approximately 10%. Determine the maximum depth to which the box can be filled
with water so that when the water freezes, the ice does not go above the top of the container.

Solution
Solution 1
To determine the volume of a rectangular prism, we multiply its length, width,
and height together. So, the maximum volume of the metal box is

18 × 22 × 77 = 30 492 cm3

Let the original depth of water in the metal box be h cm.

The water volume before freezing is 18 × 22 × h = (396 × h) cm3 . After the
water freezes, the volume increases by 10% to 110% of its current volume. That
is, after freezing the volume is

110% of 396 × h = 1.1 × 396 × h = (435.6 × h) cm3

But the volume after freezing is the maximum volume, 30 492 cm3 . Therefore,
435.6 × h = 30 492 and it follows that h = 30 492 ÷ 435.6 = 70 cm.
Therefore, the maximum depth to which the box can be filled is 70 cm.

Solution 2
In this solution we note that the length and width remain the same in the volume
calculations before and after the water freezes. We need only concern ourselves
with the change in the depth of the water.
Let the original depth of water in the container be h cm.
After freezing, the depth increases by 10% to 110% of its depth before freezing.
So, after freezing the depth will be 110% of h = 1.1 × h = 77 cm, the maximum
height of the container. Then h = 77 ÷ 1.1 = 70 cm.
Therefore, the maximum depth to which the box can be filled is 70 cm.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Dollhouse

The first level of a dollhouse is in the shape of a rectangle. Its floor plan is shown
in the following diagram.

Both the mudroom and the kitchen are square with areas of 400 cm2 and
2500 cm2 , respectively. The living room is rectangular with an area of 3000 cm2 .
Determine the area of the rectangular storage room.

Themes Geometry & Measurement, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Dollhouse
Problem
The first level of a dollhouse is in the shape of a rectangle. Its floor plan is shown in the
following diagram.

Both the mudroom and the kitchen are square with areas of 400 cm2 and 2500 cm2 ,
respectively. The living room is rectangular with an area of 3000 cm2 .
Determine the area of the rectangular storage room.

Solution
Let the width of a room be the vertical length of the room on the diagram. Let the length of a
room be the horizontal length of the room on the diagram.
The kitchen is a square and has an area of 2500 cm2 . Its length and width must both be 50 cm
since 50 × 50 = 2500 cm2 . The living room and kitchen have the same width. So the width of
the living room must also be 50 cm. But the area of the living room is 3000 cm2 , so the length
of the living room is 60 cm since 50 × 60 = 3000 cm2 .
The mudroom is a square and has an area of 400 cm2 . Its length and width must both be 20
cm since 20 × 20 = 400 cm2 . The mudroom and storage room have the same width. So the
width of the storage room must also be 20 cm.
Now the length of the whole house can be calculated in two ways. We will equate these two
expressions to find the length of the storage room.
mudroom length + storage room length = living room length + kitchen length
20 + storage room length = 60 + 50
20 + storage room length = 110
storage room length = 90 cm

Since the width of the storage room is 20 cm and the length of the storage room is 90 cm, the
area of the storage room is 20 × 90 = 1800 cm2 .
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
A Bigger Triangle

Naveen drew a right-angled triangle, 4ABC, with an area of 14 cm2 . His

brother Anand drew a bigger right-angled triangle, 4DEF , with side lengths
four times the lengths of the sides in 4ABC. In particular, DE = 4 × AB,
EF = 4 × BC, and DF = 4 × AC.

Calculate the area of 4DEF .

Theme Geometry & Measurement

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
A Bigger Triangle
Problem
Naveen drew a right-angled triangle, 4ABC, with an area of 14 cm2 . His brother Anand drew
a bigger right-angled triangle, 4DEF , with side lengths four times the lengths of the sides in
4ABC. In particular, DE = 4 × AB, EF = 4 × BC, and DF = 4 × AC. Calculate the area
of 4DEF .

Solution
In 4ABC, let b represent the length of the base, BC, and
h represent the length of the height, AB. Then the area of
4ABC is equal to b×h 2
2 . We know this area is equal to 14 cm ,
so it follows that 14 = b×h
2 , or 28 = b × h.

4DEF is formed by multiplying each of the side lengths of

4ABC by 4. So the length of the base of 4DEF is equal to
4 × b and the length of the height is equal to 4 × h. We can
calculate the area of 4DEF as follows.
(4 × b) × (4 × h)
area of 4DEF =
2
16 × b × h
=
2
16 × 28
= , since b × h = 28
2
= 224

Therefore, the area of 4DEF is 224 cm2 .

Extension:
Notice that 4DEF has side lengths that are each 4 times the corresponding side
lengths of 4ABC and that the area of 4DEF ended up being
224 = 16 × 14 = 42 × area of 4ABC.
Show that if 4DEF has side lengths that are each k times the corresponding
side lengths of 4ABC, then the area of 4DEF will be equal to k 2 times the
area of 4ABC.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Just Outside

In square OABC, points A and C lie on the circumference of a circle with centre
O, and B lies outside of the circle. Square OABC has an area of 36 m2 .
Determine the area of the shaded region inside square OABC and outside the
circle with centre O, rounded to two decimal places.

Theme Geometry & Measurement

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Just Outside
Problem
In square OABC, points A and C lie on the circumference of a circle with centre O, and B lies
outside of the circle. Square OABC has an area of 36 m2 .
Determine the area of the shaded region inside square OABC and outside the circle with
centre O, rounded to two decimal places.

Solution
Since OABC is a square with an area of 36 m2 , its side length must be 6 m. That
is, OA = OC = 6 m.
Since A lies on the circumference of the circle with centre O, the radius of the
circle is r = OA = 6 m.
Therefore, the area of the circle is π × r2 = π × 62 = 36π m2 .
Since OABC is a square, ∠AOC = 90◦ .
90◦ 1
Therefore, the area of sector OAC is 360◦ = 4 of the area of the circle.
1
In other words, the area of the sector OAC is 4 × 36π = 9π m2 .
Therefore,

Area of shaded region = Area of square OABC − Area of sector OAC

= 36 − 9π
≈ 7.73 m2

Note: In the problem you were asked to give your answer rounded to two
decimal places. However, many times in mathematics we are actually interested
in the exact answer. In this case, the exact answer would be (36 − 9π) m2 .
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
All Equal

Using two cuts, we want to divide the 6 m by 6 m grid shown into three regions
of equal area.

One way to do so is by making a horizontal cut through H and a second

horizontal cut through K. This method of cutting the grid works, but is not very
creative.
To make things a little more interesting, we must still make two straight cuts,
but each cut must start at point P . Each of these two cuts will pass through a
point on the outer perimeter of the grid.
Find the length of each cut. Round your answer to one decimal.

Themes Geometry & Measurement, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
All Equal
Problem
Using two cuts, we want to divide the 6 m by 6 m grid shown into three regions of equal area.
One way to do so is by making a horizontal cut through H and a second horizontal cut
through K. This method of cutting the grid works, but is not very creative.
To make things a little more interesting, we must still make two straight cuts, but each cut
must start at point P . Each of these two cuts will pass through a point on the outer perimeter
of the grid.
Find the length of each cut. Round your answer to one decimal.

Solution
The area of the entire 6 m by 6 m square grid is 6 × 6 = 36 m2 . Since the square is divided into
36
three regions of equal area, the area of each region must be = 12 m2 .
3
Consider the line through P that passes through some point on side QM . Let A be the point
where this line intersects QM .

Since ∠P M Q = 90◦ , 4P M A is a right-angled triangle with base P M = 6 m and height M A.

base × height 6 × MA
Using the formula area = , we have area of 4P M A = = 3 × M A.
2 2
We need the area of 4P M A to be 12 m2 . Therefore, 3 × M A = 12, and so M A = 4 m. Since
H is the point on QM with M H = 4 m, we must have A = H. Therefore, one line passes
through the point H.
Since 4P M A is a right-angled triangle, using the Pythagorean Theorem we have

P A2 = P M 2 + M A 2
= 62 + 42
= 36 + 16
= 52
√
Therefore, P A = 52 ≈ 7.2, since P A > 0.
Consider the line through P that passes through some point on side RQ. Let B be the point
where this line intersects RQ.

Since ∠P RQ = 90◦ , 4P RB is a right-angled triangle with height P R = 6 m and base RB.

base × height RB × 6
Using the formula area = , we have area of 4P RB = = 3 × RB.
2 2
We need the area of 4P RB to be 12 m2 . Therefore, 3 × RB = 12, and so RB = 4 m. Since V
is the point on RQ with RV = 4 m, we must have B = V . Therefore, the other line passes
through the point V .
Therefore, one line passes through point H and the other passes through point V .
Since 4P RB is a right-angled triangle, using the Pythagorean Theorem we have

P B 2 = P R2 + RB 2
= 62 + 42
= 36 + 16
= 52
√
Therefore, P B = 52 ≈ 7.2, since P B > 0.
Therefore, the length of each cut is approximately 7.2 m.

Extension:
Try dividing the grid into three regions of equal area using three cuts. (Each cut does not
necessarily need to be to the outer perimeter of the grid.)
Algebra (A)

TAKE ME
TO THE
COVER
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Three Perimeters

A median is a line segment drawn from the vertex of a triangle to the midpoint
of the opposite side.
In 4DEF , a median is drawn from vertex D, meeting side EF at point M .

The perimeter of 4DEF is 24. The perimeter of 4DEM is 18. The perimeter
4DF M is 16. Determine the length of the median DM .

Themes Algebra, Geometry & Measurement

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Three Perimeters
Problem
A median is a line segment drawn from the vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite
side.
In 4DEF , a median is drawn from vertex D, meeting side EF at point M . The perimeter of
4DEF is 24. The perimeter of 4DEM is 18. The perimeter 4DF M is 16. Determine the
length of the median DM .

Solution
Solution 1
The perimeter of a triangle is equal to the sum of its three side lengths. Notice
that the length of side EF is equal to the sum of the lengths of sides EM and
M F . It follows that when we combine the perimeters of 4DEM and 4DF M ,
we obtain the perimeter of 4DEF plus two lengths of the median DM .

In other words, since the perimeter of 4DEM is 18, the perimeter of 4DF M is
16, and the perimeter of 4DEF is 24, it follows that 18 + 16 = 24 + 2 × DM .
Then 34 = 24 + 2 × DM , and so 2 × DM = 10. Therefore, the length of the
median DM is 5.

Solution 2
In this solution, we take a more algebraic approach to solving the problem, using
more formal equation solving.
Let DE = t, EM = p, M F = q, DF = r, and DM = m.
Since the perimeter of 4DEM is 18, we can write the following equation.

t + p + m = 18
t + p = 18 − m (1)
Since the perimeter of 4DF M is 16, we can write the following equation.

q + r + m = 16
q + r = 16 − m (2)

Since the perimeter of 4DEF is 24, we can write the following equation.

t + p + q + r = 24 (3)

Adding equations (1) and (2) gives the following.

t + p = 18 − m (1)
q + r = 16 − m (2)
t + p + q + r = 18 − m + 16 − m

However from equation (3), we know that t + p + q + r = 24. So we can write

and solve the following equation.

18 − m + 16 − m = 24
34 − 2m = 24
−2m = 24 − 34
−2m = −10
−2m −10
=
−2 −2
m=5

Therefore, the length of the median DM is 5.

Extension:
In the solution we never used the fact that DM is a median and that
EM = M F . This means that there could be other triangles that satisfy the
conditions of the problem without DM being the median. Indeed there are! Try
creating a few different triangles with DM = 5 that satisfy all the conditions of
the problem except the condition that DM is a median. You can do this using
manipulatives, geometry software, or by hand. However, you may need some high
school mathematics to calculate the precise dimensions.
It turns out that there is only one triangle that satisfies all the conditions of the
problem including the fact that DM is a median.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Gone Shopping

While grocery shopping, Terry has a way to approximate the total cost of his
purchases. He simply approximates that each item will cost $3.00.
One day, Terry purchased 20 items. He purchased items that each had an actual
cost of either $1.00, $3.00, or $7.50. Exactly seven of the purchased items had an
actual cost of $3.00. If the total actual cost of the 20 items was the same as the
total approximated cost, how many items had an actual cost of $7.50?

Themes Algebra, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Gone Shopping
Problem
While grocery shopping, Terry has a way to approximate the total cost of his purchases. He
simply approximates that each item will cost $3.00.
One day, Terry purchased 20 items. He purchased items that each had an actual cost of either
$1.00, $3.00, or $7.50. Exactly seven of the purchased items had an actual cost of $3.00. If the
total actual cost of the 20 items was the same as the total approximated cost, how many items
had an actual cost of $7.50?

Solution
The total approximated cost for the 20 items is 20 × $3 = $60. Since the total
actual cost is the same as the total approximated cost, the total actual cost for
the 20 items is $60. Since 7 of the items cost $3.00, it cost Terry 7 × $3 = $21 to
buy these items. Therefore, the remaining 20 − 7 = 13 items cost
$60 − $21 = $39.
From this point, we will continue with two different solutions.
Solution 1
In this solution, we will use systematic trial-and-error to solve the problem.
Let s represent the number of items Terry bought with an actual cost of $7.50
and d represent the number of items that Terry bought with an actual cost $1.00.
Then the total cost of the $7.50 items would be 7.5s. Also, the total cost of the
$1.00 items would be 1d = d. Since Terry’s total remaining cost was $39, then
7.5s + d = 39. We also know that s + d = 13.
At this point we can systematically pick values for s and d that add to 13 and
substitute into the equation 7.5s + d = 39 to find the combination that works.
(We can observe that s < 6 since 7.5 × 6 = 45 > 39. If this were the case, then d
would have to be a negative number.)
Let’s start with s = 3. Then d = 13 − 3 = 10. The cost of these items would be
7.5 × 3 + 10 = 22.50 + 10 = $32.50, which is less than $39.
So let’s try s = 4. Then d = 13 − 4 = 9. The cost of these items would be
7.5 × 4 + 9 = 30 + 9 = $39, which is the amount we want.
Therefore, Terry purchased 4 items that cost $7.50.
Solution 2
In this solution, we will use algebra to solve the problem.
Let s represent the number of items that cost $7.50. Therefore, (13 − s)
represents the number of items that cost $1.00. Also, the total cost of the $7.50
items would be 7.5s, the total cost of the $1.00 items would be
1 × (13 − s) = 13 − s, and the total of these two is 7.5s + 13 − s = 6.5s + 13.
Since Terry’s total remaining cost was $39.00, we must have

6.5s + 13 = 39
6.5s + 13 − 13 = 39 − 13
6.5s = 26
6.5s 26
=
6.5 6.5
s=4

Therefore, Terry purchased 4 items that cost $7.50.

 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Teacher Road Trip 1

To help pass time on a long bus ride, 35 math teachers created a sequence of
numbers, with each teacher saying one term in the sequence. The first teacher
said the number 2, the second teacher said the number 8, and every teacher after
that said the sum of the two previous terms. Thus,

• the third teacher said the sum of the first and second terms, which is
2 + 8 = 10, and
• the fourth teacher said the sum of the second and third terms, which is
8 + 10 = 18.

Once the final teacher said their number, the 25th teacher announced they had
made a mistake and their number should have been one more than what they
had said. How much larger should the final teacher’s number have been?

Themes Algebra, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Teacher Road Trip 1
Problem
To help pass time on a long bus ride, 35 math teachers created a sequence of numbers, with
each teacher saying one term in the sequence. The first teacher said the number 2, the second
teacher said the number 8, and every teacher after that said the sum of the two previous terms.
Thus,

• the third teacher said the sum of the first and second terms, which is 2 + 8 = 10, and
• the fourth teacher said the sum of the second and third terms, which is 8 + 10 = 18.

Once the final teacher said their number, the 25th teacher announced they had made a mistake
and their number should have been one more than what they had said. How much larger
should the final teacher’s number have been?

Solution
Solution 1
We will write out the sequence of numbers the teachers actually said, and then
the sequence of numbers they should have said, and then find the difference
between the last term in each sequence.
Here are the first 24 numbers that the teachers said:
2, 8, 10, 18, 28, 46, 74, 120, 194, 314, 508, 822, 1330, 2152, 3482, 5634, 9116,
14 750, 23 866, 38 616, 62 482, 101 098, 163 580, 264 678

Here are the correct 25th to 35th numbers that the teachers should have said:
428 258, 692 936, 1 121 194, 1 814 130, 2 935 324, 4 749 454, 7 684 778, 12 434 232,
20 119 010, 32 553 242, 52 672 252

Here are the 25th to 35th numbers that the teachers actually said:
428 257, 692 935, 1 121 192, 1 814 127, 2 935 319, 4 749 446, 7 684 765, 12 434 211,
20 118 976, 32 553 187, 52 672 163

The difference between the correct and incorrect 35th number is

52 672 252 − 52 672 163 = 89. Therefore, the 35th number was off by 89, and so
the final teacher’s number should have been 89 larger than the number they had
said.
Solution 2
In this solution we will solve the problem without actually calculating all the
terms in the sequence.
We know the 25th term is off by 1. Therefore, the next terms will be as follows.

• The 26th term will also be off by 1 since it equals the sum of the 24th term
(which is unchanged) and the 25th term (which is off by 1).
• The 27th term will be off by 2 since it is the sum of the 25th term (which is
off by 1) and the 26th term (which is off by 1).
• The 28th term will be off by 3 since it is the sum of the 26th term (which is
off by 1) and the 27th term (which is off by 2).

This pattern will continue on, so we can summarize it in a table.

Amount Below the

Term Number
Correct Value
24 0
25 1
26 1
27 2
28 3
29 5
30 8
31 13
32 21
33 34
34 55
35 89

Therefore, the 35th term was off by 89, and so the final teacher’s number should
have been 89 larger than the number they had said.
Notice that the terms in the right column of the table follow the same rule as the
original question. That is, each term is the sum of the previous two terms.

For Further Thought: The last 11 numbers in the right column of the
table are the first 11 numbers of a famous sequence known as the Fibonacci
Sequence. You may wish to investigate the Fibonacci Sequence further.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
What’s the Score?

In gym class, the yellow team and the blue team played soccer. Ali doesn’t
remember the final score of the game, but she does remember the following.

• There were six goals scored in total.

• Neither team scored more than two goals in a row at any point in the game.
• The blue team won the game.

Determine all the possible final scores and the different ways each score could
have been obtained.

Themes Algebra, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
What’s the Score?
Problem
In gym class, the yellow team and the blue team played soccer. Ali doesn’t remember the final
score of the game, but she does remember the following.

• There were six goals scored in total.

• Neither team scored more than two goals in a row at any point in the game.

• The blue team won the game.

Determine all the possible final scores and the different ways each score could have been
obtained.

Solution
In order to win, the blue team must have scored more goals than the yellow
team. Since there were six goals scored in total, the only possibilities for the final
scores are 4 − 2, 5 − 1, or 6 − 0 for the blue team.
Next we need to check which of these scores are possible, given that neither team
scored more than two goals in a row at any point in the game.

• Is a final score of 6 − 0 possible?

We can easily eliminate 6 − 0, since the blue team would have had to score
more than two goals in a row.
• Is a final score of 5 − 1 possible?
This would mean that the blue team scored 5 goals and the yellow team
scored 1 goal. Is there a way to arrange these goals so that the blue team
didn’t score two goals in a row? Let’s look at all the possible arrangements,
where B represents a goal for the blue team, and Y represents a goal for the
yellow team. These are all shown below.

Y BBBBB, BY BBBB, BBY BBB, BBBY BB, BBBBY B, BBBBBY

As we can see, in all of these arrangements, the blue team scored more than
two goals in a row. Thus, a final score of 5 − 1 is not possible.
• Is a final score of 4 − 2 possible?
This would mean that the blue team scored 4 goals and the yellow team
scored 2 goals. Is there a way to arrange these goals so that the blue team
didn’t score two goals in a row? Let’s look at all the possible arrangements,
where B represents a goal for the blue team, and Y represents a goal for the
yellow team.
– Case 1: The yellow team scored their 2 goals in a row. The possible
arrangements are shown below.

Y Y BBBB, BY Y BBB, BBY Y BB, BBBY Y B, BBBBY Y

In this case, there is only 1 arrangement where neither team scored

more than two goals in a row, namely BBY Y BB.
– Case 2: The yellow team did not score their 2 goals in a row. The
possible arrangements are shown below.

Y BY BBB, Y BBY BB, Y BBBY B, Y BBBBY, BY BY BB,

BY BBY B, BY BBBY, BBY BY B, BBY BBY, BBBY BY

In this case, there are 5 arrangements where neither team scored more
than two goals in a row, namely
Y BBY BB, BY BY BB, BY BBY B, BBY BY B, and BBY BBY .
Therefore, the only possible final score is 4 − 2 for the blue team, and it
could be obtained in the following six ways.

BBY Y BB, Y BBY BB, BY BY BB, BY BBY B, BBY BY B, BBY BBY

 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Thelma’s Chips

Thelma has two piles of bingo chips. In each pile there are green and yellow
chips. In one pile, the ratio of the number of green chips to the number of yellow
chips is 1 : 2. In the second pile, the ratio of the number of green chips to the
number of yellow chips is 3 : 5. If Thelma has a total of 20 green chips, then
determine the possibilities for the total number of yellow chips.

Themes Algebra, Number Sense

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Thelma’s Chips
Problem
Thelma has two piles of bingo chips. In each pile there are green and yellow chips. In one pile,
the ratio of the number of green chips to the number of yellow chips is 1 : 2. In the second pile,
the ratio of the number of green chips to the number of yellow chips is 3 : 5. If Thelma has a
total of 20 green chips, then determine the possibilities for the total number of yellow chips.

Solution
Solution 1
In this solution, we first look at all possible combinations of green and yellow
chips in the second pile. Since the ratio of the number of green chips to the
number of yellow chips in the second pile is 3 : 5, we know that the number of
green chips in this second pile must be a positive multiple of 3. We also know
that there are at most 20 green chips in this pile. Thus, the only possible values
for the number of green chips in the second pile are 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18. Then,
using the fact that the ratio of the number of green chips to the number of yellow
chips is 3 : 5, we can determine the number of yellow chips in the second pile for
each case. We can also determine the number of green chips in the first pile by
subtracting the number of green chips in the second pile from 20. Finally, we can
determine the number of yellow chips in the first pile by multiplying the number
of green chips in the first pile by 2. This information for each case is summarized
in the table below.
Number of green Number of yellow Number of green Number of yellow Total number
chips in pile 2 chips in pile 2 chips in pile 1 chips in pile 1 of yellow chips
3 5 20 − 3 = 17 34 5 + 35 = 39
6 10 20 − 6 = 14 28 10 + 28 = 38
9 15 20 − 9 = 11 22 15 + 22 = 37
12 20 20 − 12 = 8 16 20 + 16 = 36
15 25 20 − 15 = 5 10 25 + 10 = 35
18 30 20 − 18 = 2 4 30 + 4 = 34

Therefore, there are six possible values for the total number of yellow chips.
There could be 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, or 39 yellow chips in total.
Solution 2
Let a represent the number of green chips in the first pile, where a is a positive
integer. Since the ratio of green chips to yellow chips in this pile is 1 : 2, then
there are 2a yellow chips in this pile.
Let 3b represent the number of green chips in the second pile, where b is a
positive integer. Since the ratio of green chips to yellow chips in this pile is 3 : 5,
then there are 5b yellow chips in this pile.
In total, there are 20 green chips, so a + 3b = 20. Also, the total number of
yellow chips is equal to 2a + 5b.
We consider all the possible values for positive integers a and b that satisfy the
equation a + 3b = 20. Using these values of a and b, we can then find the
possible values of 2a + 5b, and hence the possible values for the total number of
yellow chips.
The results are summarized in the table below.

a + 3b b a 2a + 5b
20 1 17 39
20 2 14 38
20 3 11 37
20 4 8 36
20 5 5 35
20 6 2 34

Therefore, there are six possible values for the total number of yellow chips.
There could be 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, or 39 yellow chips in total.
Data Management (D)

TAKE ME
TO THE
COVER
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Coin Collection

Arya has never travelled to another country, but has a collection of foreign coins
given to him by friends and family who have. In his collection he has 10 coins
from Africa, 6 coins from Asia, 7 coins from South America, and 8 coins from
Europe.
One day Arya’s grandfather added some Australian coins to the collection. After
he did that, he told Arya that if he took a coin at random from the collection,
the probability of it being from either Africa or Asia was 94 .
How many Australian coins did Arya’s grandfather add to the collection?

Theme Data Management

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Coin Collection
Problem
Arya has never travelled to another country, but has a collection of foreign coins given to him
by friends and family who have. In his collection he has 10 coins from Africa, 6 coins from
Asia, 7 coins from South America, and 8 coins from Europe.
One day Arya’s grandfather added some Australian coins to the collection. After he did that,
he told Arya that if he took a coin at random from the collection, the probability of it being
from either Africa or Asia was 49 .
How many Australian coins did Arya’s grandfather add to the collection?

Solution
In order to determine the probability of a randomly selected coin being from either Africa or
Asia, we divide the number of coins from Africa or Asia by the total number of coins in the
collection. In other words,
Number of coins from Africa or Asia
Probability of selecting a coin from Africa or Asia =
Total number of coins

From here we will present two different solutions to this problem.

Solution 1
When Arya’s grandfather adds Australian coins to the collection, this does not change the
number of coins from Africa or Asia. Therefore the number of coins from Africa or Asia in the
collection is 10 + 6 = 16. We are also told that the probability of drawing a coin from Africa or
Asia is 94 . We can substitute these values into our equation.

Number of coins from Africa or Asia

Probability of selecting a coin from Africa or Asia =
Total number of coins
4 16
=
9 Total number of coins
4 16
Since 9
= 36
, it follows that
16 16
=
36 Total number of coins
Therefore, the total number of coins in the collection is 36.
Originally there were 10 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 31 coins in the collection, and then Arya’s grandfather
added some Australian coins. Since there were 36 coins in the collection after the Australian
coins were added, it follows that Arya’s grandfather must have added 36 − 31 = 5 Australian
coins to the collection.
Solution 2
This solution uses algebra, which may be beyond what some students at this level are familiar
with.
Let n represent the number of Australian coins that Arya’s grandfather added to the
collection. Then the number of coins from Africa or Asia in the collection is 10 + 6 = 16, and
the total number of coins in the collection is 10 + 6 + 7 + 8 + n = 31 + n. We are also told that
the probability of drawing a coin from Africa or Asia is 94 . We can substitute these values into
our equation.
Number of coins from Africa or Asia
Probability of selecting a coin from Africa or Asia =
Total number of coins
4 16
=
9 31 + n
Since 4 × 4 = 16, it follows that 9 × 4 = 31 + n. We can simplify and solve this equation to find
the value of n.

9 × 4 = 31 + n
36 = 31 + n
36 − 31 = n
5=n

Therefore, Arya’s grandfather added 5 Australian coins to the collection.

 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Fair Game?
For a school mathematics project, Zesiro and Magomu created a game that uses
two special decks of six cards each. The cards in one deck are labelled with the
even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12, and the cards in the other deck are labelled
with the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.
A turn consists of Zesiro randomly choosing a card from the deck with
even-numbered labels and Magumo randomly choosing a card from the deck with
odd-numbered labels. These two cards make a pair of cards. After a pair of cards
is chosen, they perform the following steps.

1. They determine the sum, S, of the numbers on the cards. For example, if
Zesiro chooses the card labelled with a 6 and Magumo chooses the card
labelled with a 3, then S = 6 + 3 = 9.
2. Using S, they determine, D, the digit sum. If S is a single digit number,
then D is equal to S. If S is a two-digit number, then D is the sum of the
two digits of S. For example, if Zesiro chooses the card labelled with a 6 and
Magumo chooses the card labelled with a 3, then the sum and the digit sum
are both 9. If Zesiro chooses the card labelled with a 10 and Magumo
chooses the card labelled with a 5, then the sum is S = 10 + 5 = 15 and the
digit sum is D = 1 + 5 = 6. If Zesiro chooses the card labelled with a 10 and
Magumo chooses the card labelled with a 9, then the sum is
S = 10 + 9 = 19 and the digit sum is D = 1 + 9 = 10.

Zesiro gets a point if the digit sum, D, is a multiple of 4.

Magomu gets a point if the number on one of the cards is a multiple of the
number on the other card.
Is this game fair? That is, do Zesiro and Magomu have the same probability of
getting a point on any turn? Justify your answer.

Theme Data Management

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Fair Game?
Problem
For a school mathematics project, Zesiro and Magomu created a game that uses two special
decks of six cards each. The cards in one deck are labelled with the even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10,
and 12, and the cards in the other deck are labelled with the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.
A turn consists of Zesiro randomly choosing a card from the deck with even-numbered labels
and Magumo randomly choosing a card from the deck with odd-numbered labels. These two
cards make a pair of cards. After a pair of cards is chosen, they perform the following steps.

1. They determine the sum, S, of the numbers on the cards. For example, if Zesiro chooses
the card labelled with a 6 and Magumo chooses the card labelled with a 3, then
S = 6 + 3 = 9.

2. Using S, they determine, D, the digit sum. If S is a single digit number, then D is equal
to S. If S is a two-digit number, then D is the sum of the two digits of S. For example, if
Zesiro chooses the card labelled with a 6 and Magumo chooses the card labelled with a 3,
then the sum and the digit sum are both 9. If Zesiro chooses the card labelled with a 10
and Magumo chooses the card labelled with a 5, then the sum is S = 10 + 5 = 15 and the
digit sum is D = 1 + 5 = 6. If Zesiro chooses the card labelled with a 10 and Magumo
chooses the card labelled with a 9, then the sum is S = 10 + 9 = 19 and the digit sum is
D = 1 + 9 = 10.

Zesiro gets a point if the digit sum, D, is a multiple of 4.

Magomu gets a point if the number on one of the cards is a multiple of the number on the
other card.
Is this game fair? That is, do Zesiro and Magomu have the same probability of getting a point
on any turn? Justify your answer.
Solution
To solve this problem, we will create a table where the columns show the possible choices for
the even-numbered card, the rows show the possible choices for the odd-numbered card, and
each cell in the body of the table gives the sum of the corresponding pair of cards.

Even Card
2 4 6 8 10 12
1 3 5 7 9 11 13
3 5 7 9 11 13 15
Odd Card

5 7 9 11 13 15 17
7 9 11 13 15 17 19
9 11 13 15 17 19 21
11 13 15 17 19 21 23
From the table, we see that the total number of possible pairs is 6 × 6 = 36.
We create another table where the columns show the possible choices for the even-numbered
card, the rows show the possible choices for the odd-numbered card, and each cell in the body
of the table gives the digit sum of the corresponding pair of cards.

Even Card
2 4 6 8 10 12
1 3 5 7 9 1+1=2 1+3=4
3 5 7 9 1+1=2 1+3=4 1+5=6
Odd Card

5 7 9 1+1=2 1+3=4 1+5=6 1+7=8

7 9 1+1=2 1+3=4 1+5=6 1+7=8 1 + 9 = 10
9 1+1=2 1+3=4 1+5=6 1+7=8 1 + 9 = 10 2+1=3
11 1+3=4 1+5=6 1 + 7 = 8 1 + 9 = 10 2+1=3 2+3=5

If the digit sum is a multiple of 4, then Zesiro gets a point. In the table there are two digit
sums, 4 and 8, that are multiples of 4. The digit sum 4 occurs six times in the table and the
digit sum 8 occurs four times in the table. This totals ten possible outcomes for Zesiro, and so
10
his probability of scoring a point on any pair is 36 .
Magomu has far less work to determine when he gets a point. None of the odd numbers are
multiples of the even numbers. All multiples of even numbers are even and hence will never be
odd.
Whenever a 1 is chosen, Magomu will score a point. That is, each of the six even numbers is a
multiple of 1.
When a 3 is chosen, Magomu will score a point if the number on the face of the even-numbered
card is a 6 or 12. That is, only two of the even numbers are multiples of 3.
When a 5 is chosen, Magomu will score a point if the number on the face of the even-numbered
card is a 10. That is, only one of the even numbers is a multiple of 5.
None of the numbers in the deck containing only even numbers is a multiple of 7, 9, or 11.
So Magomu will score a point on 6 + 2 + 1 = 9 of the 36 possible pairs. Therefore, Magomu’s
9
probability of scoring a point on any pair is 36 .
The game is not fair since Zesiro’s probability of scoring a point on any pair is greater than
Magomu’s probability of scoring a point on any pair.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Same Same

The mean (average), the median, and the only mode of the five numbers
15, 12, 14, 19, and n are all equal. Determine the value of n.

Theme Data Management

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Same Same
Problem
The mean (average), the median, and the only mode of the five numbers 15, 12, 14, 19, and n
are all equal. Determine the value of n.

Solution
For the five numbers 15, 12, 14, 19, and n to have a single mode, n must equal
one of the existing numbers in the list: 15, 12, 14, or 19. It follows that the
mean (average), median, and mode must all equal n.
Since there five numbers, and five is an odd number, the median will be equal to
the number in the middle position when the five numbers are written in
increasing order. When we write the existing numbers in increasing order, we
obtain 12, 14, 15, 19. Since n is equal to the median, and must also equal one of
the existing numbers, the only possibilities are n = 14 or n = 15.
12 + 14 + 14 + 15 + 19
If n = 14, then the mean of the five numbers is = 14.8,
5
which is not equal to 14.
12 + 14 + 15 + 15 + 19
If n = 15, then the mean of the five numbers is = 15.
5
Then the mean, median, and mode are all equal to 15. Therefore, the value of n
is 15.
Computational Thinking (C)

TAKE ME
TO THE
COVER
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Crossing Canals

Koji is rowing his boat on a busy canal system near his home. The following
diagram shows the canal system with a star representing Koji’s current location
and the house representing the location of his home.

From Koji’s extensive canal experience, he knows the following:

1. Rowing straight across an intersection square takes 30 seconds.

2. Rowing straight across a square that is not an intersection takes

20 seconds.

3. Turning right at an intersection takes 15 seconds.

4. Turning left at an intersection takes 270 seconds, due to heavy

traffic.

5. It is not possible make U-turns or reverse direction.

Calculate the shortest amount of time it will take Koji to row home from his
current position, using only the canals shown.

Not printing this page? You can use our interactive worksheet.

This problem was inspired by a past Beaver Computing Challenge (BCC) problem.

Theme Computational Thinking

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Crossing Canals
Problem
Koji is rowing his boat on a busy canal system near his home. The following diagram shows
the canal system with a star representing Koji’s current location and the house representing
the location of his home.

From Koji’s extensive canal experience, he knows the following:

1. Rowing straight across an intersection square takes 30 seconds.

2. Rowing straight across a square that is not an intersection takes 20 seconds.

3. Turning right at an intersection takes 15 seconds.

4. Turning left at an intersection takes 270 seconds, due to heavy traffic.

5. It is not possible make U-turns or reverse direction.

Calculate the shortest amount of time it will take Koji to row home from his current position,
using only the canals shown.

Not printing this page? You can use our interactive worksheet.

Solution
Let R represent a right turn, L represent a left turn, X represent a move straight
across an intersection square, and N represent a move straight across a
non-intersection square.
We will now consider different routes and calculate the rowing time for each.
• The shortest route by distance is shown.
This corresponds to N → L → N → N → R → N .
Using the given times it would take
4 × 20 + 1 × 270 + 1 × 15 = 365 seconds.

• A second route is shown. This corresponds to

N → X → N → N → L → N → N → L → N.
Using the given times it would take
6 × 20 + 2 × 270 + 1 × 30 = 690 seconds. This route
is longer than the first and takes much more time.
• A third route is shown. This corresponds to
N →X →N →N →R→N →N →R→N →
N → R → N → N → X → N → N → R → N.
Using the given times it would take
12 × 20 + 2 × 30 + 4 × 15 = 360 seconds. This route
is longer than the previous two, but takes the least
amount of time, so far.
• A fourth route is shown. This corresponds to
N →R→N →N →L→N →N →L→N →
N → L → N → N → R → N → N → R → N.
Using the given times it would take
12 × 20 + 3 × 15 + 3 × 270 = 1095 seconds. This route
takes much longer than the previous routes, due to all
the left turns.
• A fifth route is shown. This corresponds to
N →R→N →N →L→N →N →L→N →
N → X → N → N → L → N.
Using the given times it would take
10 × 20 + 1 × 15 + 3 × 270 + 1 × 30 = 1055 seconds.
This route also takes more time than the third route.
There are other routes that could be checked out but they include at least one of
the above routes, so would not be the fastest.
Therefore, the shortest amount of time it will take Koji to row home is
360 seconds.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Building Community

An island contains twelve small towns that are connected by roads as shown in
the diagram below. The towns are labelled with the letters A through L and the
roads connecting the towns are indicated by line segments.

The mayor of the island is going to build community centres in some of the towns
so that each town either has its own community centre, or is connected by a
single road to a town that has a community centre.

(a) If the mayor chooses to build five community centres, which five towns could
the mayor choose?
(b) What is the fewest number of community centres the mayor needs to build?

This problem was inspired by a past Beaver Computing Challenge (BCC) problem.

Theme Computational Thinking

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Building Community
Problem
An island contains twelve small towns that are connected by roads as shown in the diagram
below. The towns are labelled with the letters A through L and the roads connecting the
towns are indicated by line segments.

The mayor of the island is going to build community centres in some of the towns so that each
town either has its own community centre, or is connected by a single road to a town that has
a community centre.

(a) If the mayor chooses to build five community centres, which five towns could the mayor
choose?
(b) What is the fewest number of community centres the mayor needs to build?

This problem was inspired by a past Beaver Computing Challenge (BCC) problem.

Solution

(a) There are many possible answers. Two possibilities are shown below, where
the chosen towns are circled.
(b) There are two towns that have only one road leading out of them, namely
towns A and E. Since each town must either have its own community centre
or be connected by a single road to a town that has a community centre, we
need to put one community centre in town A or B, and another community
centre in town E or F . Since towns B and F are connected to other towns as
well, they are the better choices if we want to build the fewest number of
community centres.

After choosing towns B and F , the remaining towns that don’t have their
own community centre and are not connected by a single road to a town that
has a community centre are towns G, H, J, K, and L. None of these five
towns are connected to all the others, and there is no town that is connected
to all five of the towns. So we need at least two more community centres to
cover the remaining five towns. Choosing towns K and H would work.

Therefore, the fewest number of community centres the mayor needs to build
is four.
Note that this is not the only group of four towns that we could have chosen.
There are several other possibilities.
 Problem of the Week
Problem C
Adding Some Colour 1

Martina and Zahra play a game where they take turns shading regions in the
diagram shown.

On their turn, each player shades a region in the diagram that is not bordering
another shaded region. After some number of turns, it won’t be possible to shade
any more regions, and the game will be over. The winner is the player who
shaded the last region.
Suppose Martina is the first player to shade a region. Two of the six regions are
such that if she shades one of them on her first turn, then she can guarantee that
she wins the game, regardless of what Zahra does on her turns. Which two
regions are they?

Theme Computational Thinking

 Problem of the Week
Problem C and Solution
Adding Some Colour 1
Problem
Martina and Zahra play a game where they take turns shading regions in the diagram shown.

On their turn, each player shades a region in the diagram that is not bordering another shaded
region. After some number of turns, it won’t be possible to shade any more regions, and the
game will be over. The winner is the player who shaded the last region.
Suppose Martina is the first player to shade a region. Two of the six regions are such that if
she shades one of them on her first turn, then she can guarantee that she wins the game,
regardless of what Zahra does on her turns. Which two regions are they?

Solution
Shading region 3 or region 4 first will guarantee that Martina wins the game.
First we will show why this is true, and then we will show why shading any of the
other regions first will not guarantee a win for Martina.
Notice that every region in the diagram borders region 3. So if Martina starts by
shading region 3 then it will not be possible to shade any other region and the
game will be over. Zahra will not even have a chance to take a turn and Martina
will win the game.
Now, if Martina starts by shading region 4, then since regions 2, 3, and 6 border
region 4, Zahra will not be able to shade these regions. The only regions that
Zahra will be able to shade are regions 1 or 5. Since these regions are not
bordering each other, Zahra will shade one of these regions, then Martina will
shade the other region and win the game.
Thus, we have shown that shading either region 3 or region 4 first will guarantee
a win for Martina.
If Martina started by shading region 1, then Zahra would not be able to shade
regions 2 or 3, so she would be left to choose between shading region 4, 5, or 6.
Since region 6 borders regions 4 and 5, if Zahra shaded region 6 then Martina
would not be able to shade any regions and Zahra would win the game. Thus,
shading region 1 first does not guarantee a win for Martina.
Similarly, if Martina started by shading region 5, then Zahra would not be able
to shade regions 3 or 6, so she would be left to choose between shading region
1, 2, or 4. Since region 2 borders regions 1 and 4, if Zahra shaded region 2 then
Martina would not be able to shade any regions and Zahra would win the game.
Thus, shading region 5 first does not guarantee a win for Martina.
If Martina started by shading region 2, then Zahra would not be able to shade
regions 1, 3, or 4, so she would be left to choose between shading region 5 or 6.
Since regions 5 and 6 border each other, if Zahra shaded either one of them it
would not be possible for Martina to shade any regions and Zahra would win the
game. Thus, shading region 2 first does not guarantee a win for Martina.
Similarly, if Martina started by shading region 6, then Zahra would not be able
to shade regions 3, 4, or 5, so she would be left to choose between shading region
1 or 2. Since regions 1 and 2 border each other, if Zahra shaded either one of
them it would not be possible for Martina to shade any regions and Zahra would
win the game. Thus, shading region 6 first does not guarantee a win for Martina.
Therefore, regions 3 and 4 are the only regions that Martina can shade first in
order to guarantee that she wins the game, regardless of what Zahra does on her
turns.