MATHEMATICS PROBLEM SET 1

INSTRUCTION: Select the best answer for each of the following questions. Mark only one
answer for each item by shading the box corresponding to the letter of your choice on
the answer sheet provided. STRICTLY NO ERASURES ALLOWED. Use pencil no. 2 only.

1. The sum of the digits of a 3 digit number is 17, the hundreds digit is twice
the unit digit. If 396 is subtracted from the number, the order of the
digits will be reversed. Find the units digit.
a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 d. 5

2. 2000 kg of steel containing 8% nickel is to be made by mixing a steel

containing 14% nickel with another containing 6% nickel. How much of
the 14% nickel is needed?
a. 1000 b. 700 c. 500 d. 400

3. A chemist of a distillery experimented on two alcohol solutions of

different strength , 35% alcohol and 50% alcohol respectively. How many
cubic meters of 35% strength must he use in order to produce a mixture of
60 cubic meters that contain 40% alcohol.
a. 40 b. 30 c. 35 d. 20

4. How many liters of water must be added to 80 liters of a 40% salt solution
to produce a solution that is 25% salt?
a. 48 b. 45 c. 44 d. 40

5. One number is 5 less than the other. If their sum is 135, what is the
product of the numbers?
a. 4550 b. 4135 c. 2140 d. 7150

6. The sum of two numbers is 21 and one number is twice the other. Determine
product of the numbers.
a. 100 b. 112 c. 98 d. 94

7. The denominator of a certain fraction is 3 more than twice the numerator. If

7 is added to both terms of the fraction, the resulting fraction is 3/5.
Find the original fraction
a. 4/13 b. 5/13 c. 6/13 d. 7/13

8. The sum of the digits of a 3 digit number is 14. The hundreds digit being 4
times the unit digit. If 594 is subtracted from the number, the order of the
digits will be reversed. Find the ten’s digit of the number.
a. 4 b. 6 c. 8 d. 2

9. Six years ago, Jun was 4 times as old as John. In 4 years, he would be
twice as old as John. How is Jun now?
a. 12 b. 13 c. 21 d. 26
10. In 5 years, Jose would be twice the age of Ana. Five years ago, Jose was 4
times as old as Ana. Find the sum of their present ages.
a. 35 b. 45 c. 40 d. 50

11. Jun can finish an accounting work in 8 hrs. Leo can finish the same work in
6 hrs. After 2 hours of working together, Jun left Leo for lunch and Leo
finished the job. How long does it take Leo to finish the job?
a. 3 hrs b. 2.5 hrs c. 3.5 hours d. 4 hrs

12. A can do a piece of work in 10 days. After he has worked 2 days, B came to
help him and together, they finish the job in 3 days. In how many days
could B alone do the work?
a. 5 days b. 6days c. 7days d. 8days
13. A and B can do a piece of work in 42 days, B and C in 31 days and A and C
in 20 days. Working together, how many days can all of them finish the
work?
a. 19.23days b. 18.87days c. 15.34days d.13.56 days

14. A, B and C can finish the same job is 7, 9 and 12 days respectively. All
of them worked for 2 days after which C was left to finish the job? How
long did C work?
a. 5.9 days b. 6.2 days c. 6.3 days d. 5.5 days

15. In how many minutes after 2 PM will the hands of the clock be at extend
in opposite direction for the first time?
a. 45.6 min b. 43.6 min c. 47.8 min d. 44.3 min

16. At what time a between 3 PM to 4 PM will the hands of the clock be at

right angle ?
a. 3 32 8/11 PM b. 3: 33 7/11 c. 3:32 5/11 d.3:33 5/11

17. In how many minutes after 3 PM will the hands of the clock be together
for the first time.
a. 16.45 min b. 16.36min c. 16.21 min d.16.66 min

18. In how many minutes after 7 PM will the hands of the clock be together for
the first time?
a. 38.22 min b. 38.18 c. 39.22 min d.39.44 min

19. At what time after 12 noon will the hour hand and minute hand of the clock
form an angle of 1200?
a. 21.818 min b. 22.34 min c. 32.342 min d.41.23 min

20. Find the quotient and remainder when 4y3+18y2+8y–4 is divided by 2y+3?.
a. 2y2 + 6y – 5 rem11 b.2y2-6y–5 rem12
c. 2y2+6y+5 rem11 d.2y2+3y–5 rem12

21. What is the remainder when 3x4 + 2x3 – 5x2 + x + 7 is divided by x – 3?

a. 234 b. 262 c. 311 d. 312

22. A polynomial has an equation x5–5x4+5x3+15x2+36x+20. How many rational roots

does it have?
a. 0 b. 1 c. 2 d. 3 25.

23. How many real roots are there for a polynomial 7x7+5x5+3x3+x?
a. 0 b. 1 c. 2 d. 3

24. Find the least possible number of positive real zeros of the polynomial
P(x) = 3x6+4x5+3x3–x-3.
a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4

25. Given P(x) = 3x6+4x5+3x3–x-3, what is the maximum

possible number of real zeros in P(x)?
a. 3 b. 4 c. 5 d. 6

26. Find the value of k so that k–3 is a factor of

x4–k2x2–kx–39 = 0
a. -7/3 b. 3 c. 5/3 d. -3

27. Find the remainder when x3+3x2–5x+7 is divided by

x + 1 – 3i?
a. 14-31i b. 14+ 51i c. 18-51i d. 14-51i
28. An alloy of silver and gold weigh 15 oz in air and 14 oz in water. Assume
that silver loses 1/10 of its weight in water and gold loses 1/18 of its
weight, how many gold is in the alloy?
a. 11.25 oz b.10.35 oz c.12.50 oz d.10.25 oz

29. It is now between 9 and 10 o’clock. In 4 minutes, the hour hand will be
directly opposite the position occupied by the minute hand 3 minutes ago.
What time is it?
a. 9:19 b. 9:20 c. 9:21 d. 9:22

30. At what time after 2 o’clock will the angle between the hands of the clock
be bisected by the line connecting the center of the clock and the 3
o’clock mark?
a. 2: 18.33 b. 2:18.56 c.2:18.46 d. 2:18.23

31. The time is past 2 PM. In 10 minutes, the minute hand will be as much as
the hr hand as it is now behind it. What time is it?
a. 2:05.909 b. 2:05.809 c.2:05.709 d. 2:05.701

32. Find the 30th term of an A.P. 4, 7, 10 ….

a. 88 b. 75 c. 91 d. 95

33. Find the 100th term of the sequence 1.01, 1.00, 0.99
a. 0.05 b. 0.03 c. 0.04 d. 0.02

34. Find the 4th term of the progression 1/2, 0.2, 0.125
a. 0.102 b. 1/11 c. 1/10 d. 0.099

35. The 5th term of an A.P is 123 and the 30th term is 245. What is the 12th
term?
a. 3929/25 b. 3412/25 c. 3372/25 d. 3312/25

36. The 3rd term of a harmonic progression is 15 and the 9th term is 6. Find the
11th term
a. 4 b. 5 c. 6 d. 7

37. How many terms of the sequence -9, -6, -3 … must be taken so that the sum
is 66?
a. 13 b. 11 c. 12 d. 16

38. A besiege fortress is held by 5700 men who have provisions for 66 days. If
the garrison loses 20 men each day, how many days can the provision hold
out?
a. 60 b. 76 c. 82 d. 72

39. In the Bosnia conflict, the NATO forces captured 6400 soldiers. The
provisions on hand will last for 216 meals while feeding 3 meals a day. The
provisions lasted 9 more days because of daily deaths. At an average, how
many died per day?
a. 15.2 b. 18.3 c. 17.8 d. 19.4 9.

40. What is the 11th term of the harmonic progression if the 1st and the 3rd
term are 1/2 and 1/6 respectively?
a. 1/20 b. 1/4 c. 1/12 d. 1/22 10.

41. A company sells 80 units and makes P80 profit. It sells 110 units and makes
P 140 profit. If the profit is a linear function of the number of units
sold, what is the average profit per unit if the company sells 250 units?
a. P 1.76 b. P 1.68 c. P 1.66 d. P 1.86
42. To build a dam, 60 men must work 72 days. If all 60 men are employed at the
start but the number is decreased by 5 men at the end of each 12 day period.
How long will it take to complete the dam?
a. 108 days b. 94 days c. 100 days d. 122 days

43. The sum of 3 numbers in AP is 45. If 2 is added to the 1st number, 3 to the
second and 7 to the 3rd, the new numbers will be in a geometric progression.
Find the common difference in AP.
a. -5 b. 10 c. 6 d. 5 16.

44. A merchant has 3 items on sale, namely item A for P 50, an item B for P 30
and item C for P 1.00. At the end of the day, he has sold a total of 100
items and has taken exactly P 1000 on the total sales. How many item A did
he sell?
a. 16 b. 18 c. 20 d. 22 17.

45. A stack of bricks has 61 bricks in the bottom layer, 58 bricks in the
second layer, 55 bricks in the 3rd layer and so on until there are 10 bricks
in the last layer. How many bricks are there together?
a. 638 b. 640 c. 637 d. 639 18.

46. Gravity causes a body to fall 16.1 ft in the 1st sec, 48.3 in the 2nd, 80.5
in the 3rd sec and so on. How far did the body fall during the 10th sec?
a. 243.1 ft b. 305.9 ft c. 133.4 d. 412.1 ft

47. Four positive integers form an arithmetic progression. If the product of the
1st and the last term is 70 and the 2nd and the 3rd term is 88, find the 1st
term.
a. 6 b. 7 c. 5 d. 8

48. What is the sum of all even integers from 10 to 500?

a. 87,950 b. 124,950 c. 62,370 d. 65,955

49. What is the sum of all odd integers between 10 and 500?
a. 87,950 b. 124,950 c. 62,475 d. 65,955

50. The total amount collected from the contributions of 50 people was P 1,630.
If each man contributed P 50.00 , each woman P 25.00 and each child P 3.00,
how many women are there?
a. 20 b. 23 c. 16 d. 18

51. If you divide 136 into two parts, one of which when divided by 5 leaves a
remainder 2 and the other divided by 8 leaves a remainder 3, then the
product of the two parts is
a. 2223 b. 3412 c. 4561 d. 9822

52. Determine the sum of the infinite series 1/3 + 1/9 + 1/27 +… a. 4/5 b.
3/4 c. 2/3 d. ½

53. The numbers 28, x + 2, 112 form a geometric progression. What is the
10th term?
a. 14536 b. 13463 c. 14336 d. 16344

54. If 1/3 of the air in the tank is removed by each stroke of an air pump, what
fractional part of the total air is removed in 6 strokes?
a. 0.7122 b. 0.9122 c. 0.6122 d. 0.8122

55. In a benefit show, a number of wealthy men agreed that the 1st one to arrive
would pay 10 centavos to enter and each succeeding arrival will pay twice
as much as the preceding man. The total amount collected is P 104, 857.50.
How many wealthy men paid?
a. 18 b. 19 c. 20 d. 21
56. Two engineering students are solving a problem leading to a quadratic
equation. One student made a mistake in the coefficient of the first degree
term and got roots of 2 and -3. The other student made a mistake in the
coefficient of the constant term and got roots of – 1 and 4. What is the
correct equation?
a. x2+3x -6 = 0 b. x2 – 3x - 9 = 0
2
c. x –3x -7 = 0 d. x2 – 3x - 6 = 0

57. Determine k so that the equation 4x2 + kx + 1 = 0 will have just one real
solution.
a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 d. 5

58. With a wind velocity of 40 kph, it takes an airplane as long to travel 1,200
km with the wind as 900 km against it. How fast can the airplane travel in
still air?
a. 240 kph b. 290 kph c. 280 kph d. 300 kph

59. A boat travels downstream in 2/3 of the time as it goes going upstream. If
the velocity of the rivers current is 8 kph, determine the velocity of the
boat in still water.
a. 50 kph b. 40 kph c. 45 kph d. 50 kph

60. A man leaves his house at 8:00 AM and traveling at an average speed of 2
kph, arrives at his office 3 min ahead of the expected time. Had he left
his house at 8:30 am and traveled at an average speed of 3 kph, he will
arrive 6 min late of the expected time. Find the distance that he had
traveled.
a. 2.4 km b. 1.8 km c. 2.1 km d. 2.4 km

61. A ball is dropped from a height of 120 ft and continuously rebounds to

2/3 of the distance it falls. What is the total distance traversed by the
ball when it comes to rest?
a. 1000 ft b. 600 ft c. 800 ft d. 750 ft

62. Find the value of x in the equation (x+yi)(1-2i)=7–4i

a. 1 b. 3 c.5 d. 2

63. The geometric mean of 2 numbers is 8 while the arithmetic mean is 4. The
cube of the harmonic mean is
a. 4123 b. 4096 c. 5122 d. 5132

64. In a pile of log, each layer contains one more log than the layer above and
the top contains just one log. If there are 105 logs in the pile, how many
layers are there.
a. 12 b. 13 c. 14 d. 15

65. A man left his home at past 3:00 PM as indicated in his wall clock. Between
2 to 3 hrs after, he returned home and noticed the hands of the clock
interchanged. At what time did he leave his home?
a. 3:32.17 b. 3:31.47 c. 3:21.33 d. 3:31.88

66. Two runners A and B complete for a race of 1000 m long. It took 130 sec for
A to reach the finish line and for B 138 sec. How far was B behind A when
A reaches the finish line?
a. 58.78 m b. 58.02 m c. 59.21 m d. 53.43 m

67. A boatman rows to a place 48 km distant and back in 14 hrs. He finds that
he can row 4 km with the stream in the same time as 3 km against the stream.
Find the rate of the stream.
a. 0.8 km /hr b. 0.9 km/hr c. 1 km/hr d. 1.1 km/hr
68. The sum of 4 integers in an arithmetic progression is 24 and their product
is 945. Find the smallest possible integer.
a. 4 b. 3 c. 5 d. 10

69. A cask containing 20 liters of wine was emptied 1/5 of its contents and then
filled with water. If this is done 6 times, how many liters of wine will
remain in the cask?
a. 5.242 li b. 5.811 li c. 6.242 li d.6.134 li

70. There are 4 geometric means between 3 and 729. Find the 4th term of the
geometric progression.
a. 27 b. 81 c. 143 d. 229

71. An audience of 540 person is seated in rows having the same number of
persons in each row. If 3 more persons sit in each row, it would require 2
rows less to seat the audience. How many persons were in each row
originally?
a. 28 b. 29 c. 27 d. 30

72. From the equation 7x2 + (2k-1)x – 3k + 2 = 0, determine the value of k so

that the sum and product of the roots are equal. a. 2 b. 4 c. 1 d. 2

73. The arithmetic mean and geometric mean of 2 numbers are 10 and 8
respectively. Find the harmonic mean.
a. 6.4 b. 5.7 c. 7.4 d. 3.9

74. An earthquake emits a primary and secondary wave. Near the surface of the
earth, the primary wave travels at about 5 miles per second, and the
secondary wave travels at about 3 miles per second. Suppose a station
measures a time difference of 12 seconds between the arrival of the two
waves. How far is the earthquake from the station?
a. 80 miles b. 90 miles c. 70 miles d. 60 miles

75. A boat takes 1.5 times as long to go 360 miles up a river than to return. If
the boat cruises at 15 miles per hr in still water, what is the rate of the
current?
a. 2 mph b. 3 mph c. 4 mph d. 5 mph

76. A cat is now 50 of her own leaps ahead of a dog which is pursuing her. How
many more leaps will the cat take before it is overtaken if she takes 5
leaps while the dog takes 4, but 2 of the dogs leap are equivalent to 3 of
the cats leap.
a. 200 b. 220 c. 230 d. 250

77. One pipe can fill the tank in 6 hrs and another can fill the same tank in 3
hrs. Another pipe can drain the tank in 7 hrs. With all the 3 pipes open,
how long will it take to fill the pipe?
a. 2.7 hrs b. 2.8 hrs c. 2.9 hrs d. 3.1 hrs

78. Twenty eight (28 men) can finish the job in 60 days. At the start of the
16th day 5 men were laid off and after the 45th day 10 more men were hired.
How many days were they delayed in finishing the job?
a. 2.27 b. 2.45 c. 3.67 d. 1.25

79. A pump can pump out water from a tank in 11 hrs. Another pump can pump out
water from the same tank in 20 hrs. How long will it take both pumps to pump
out water in the tank?
a. 7.1 hrs b. 6. 1 hrs c 7.5 hrs d. 6.5 hrs

80. Pedro can paint the fence 50% faster that Juan and 20% faster than Pilar
and together they can paint a given fence in 4 hrs. How long will it take to
paint the same fence if he had to work alone?
 a. 6 b. 8 c. 10 d. 12

81. The time required for an elevator to lift a weight varies directly with the
weight and the distance trough which it is lifted and inversely as the power
of the motor. It takes 30 sec for a 10 HP motor to lift 100 lbs trough 50
ft. What size of the motor is required to lift 800 lbs in 40 sec trough 40
ft?
a. 42 b. 44 c. 46 d. 48

82. Find the 1987th digit in the decimal equivalent of 1785/9999

a. 1 b. 2 c. 8 d. 5

83. A bookstore purchased a book at P 200 per copy. At what price should this
book be sold so that giving a 20% discount, the profit is 30%.
a. 357.14 b. 334.56 c. 322.34 d. 356.67

84. Peter bought a second hand cellphone and then sold it to John at a profit of
40%. John sold the cellphone to Noel at a profit of 20%. If Noel paid P
2,856 more than it cost to Peter, how much did Peter paid for the unit?
a. 4,200 b. 4,300 c. 4,400 d. 4,500

85. The logarithm of the quotient of 2 numbers is 0.255272505 and the

logarithm of product of these two numbers is 1.653212514, what is the value
of one of the numbers?
a. 7 b. 8 c. 9 d. 10

86. Mass A moves at 20 kph in the direction N 400 E while Mass B moves at
30 kph in the direction of S 300 W. What is the relative velocity of B
with respect to A ?
a. 49.12 kph b. 48.12 kph c. 49.82 kph d. 34.23 kph

87. If a circle of radius 4 cm has a chord of length 3 cm, find the central
angle that is opposite the chord.
a. 420 b. 430 c. 440 d. 450
88. 2200 mils is how many gradians?
a. 137.5 grad b. 127.5 grad c.221.5 grad d.175.75 grad

89. A swimming pool is shaped from 2 intersecting circles 9 m in radius with

their centers 9 m apart. What is the area common to the two circles?
a.99.1 sq.m b.99.3 sq.m c.99.5 sq.m d.99.7 sq.m

90. A 20 m high mast is placed on the top of the cliff whose height above sea
level is unknown. An observer at sea sees the top the mast at an
elevation of 46042’ , the foot at 38023’. The height of the cliff is
closest to:
a. 57 m b. 54 m c. 51 m d. 59 m

91. For triangle ABC, angle C = 700 , angle A = 450 and

AB = 40 m. Find the length of the median from A to BC.
a. 36.3 b. 35.4 c. 31.2 d. 37.8

92. The sides of a triangle are 18 cm, 24 cm and 34 cm respectively. Find the
length of the median to the 24 cm side in cm.
a. 24.4 cm b. 23.4 cm c. 21.9 cm d. 20.4 cm
93. Three circles are mutually tangent to one another externally. Connecting the
3 centers form a triangle whose sides are 16 cm, 20 cm and 24 cm. What is
the area of the smallest circle in cm2.
a. 100 π b. 144π c. 36π d. 49π

94. The diagonals of a parallelogram are 87.2 m and 100.4 m respectively and
they intersect at an angle of 48018’.
Find the perimeter of the parallelogram.
 a. 234.97 b. 248.96 c. 251.23 d. 311.45

95. A plane travels N 30 deg W at an air speed of 600 kph. If the wind has a
speed of 80 kph on a direction of N 40 deg E. What is the ground speed of the
plane?
a. 456.67 b. 631.85 c. 667.89 d. 811.23

96. A parcel of land in the form of a triangle has sides 312 m long and 485 m
long. The included angle is 81 030’. Find the perimeter and area of the
triangle.
a. 1, 233.60, 76,334.55 b. 1,333.50, 74, 828.94
c. 1,444.43, 80, 222.33 d. 1,333.67, 79, 447.22

97. What the angle between the hands of the clock at 2:34:12 in radians?
a. 2.236 rad b.2.122 rad c. 2.411 rad d.1.977 rad

98. If the sides of a parallelogram and an included angle are 6, 10 and 1000
respectively, Find the length of the shorter diagonal.
a. 10.23 b. 10. 73 c. 11.21 d. 11.34

99. In the triangle ABC, tan A + tan B + tan C = 5.67, Find tan A tan B tan C
a. 12.33 b. 6.67 b. 5.67 d. 4.33

100. If a circle of radius 4 cm has a chord of length 3 cm, find the central
angle that is opposite the chord.
a. 420 b. 430 c. 440 d. 450

- NOTHING FOLLOWS –
- PREPARED BY: MARK ALLEN G. ARMENION -