SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Secondary 4 (Grade 10) – GEP Practice

2019 & 2020

Contest Problems with Full Solutions

Authors:
Henry Ong, BSc, MBA, CMA
Merlan Nagidulin, BSc

© Singapore International Mastery Contests Centre (SIMCC)

All Rights Reserved
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying and recording, or by any information or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the
publisher.

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Section A (Correct answer – 2 points| No answer – 0 points| Incorrect answer – minus 1 point)

Question 1
Find the value of the following.

2020 × 999 − 9999 × 202 + 9999

A. 8181
B. 2020
C. –1818
D. 4047777
E. None of the above

Question 2
How many digits are there in 52020 × 41008 ?
A. 2020
B. 1008
C. 2016
D. 2019
E. None of the above

Question 3
A standard 6-sided dice is rolled twice. Which of the following events has the highest
probability of occurrence?
A. The second number is twice the first.
B. The second number is not greater than the first.
C. At least one number is greater than 3.
D. The sum of two numbers is a prime number.
E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Question 4
Each of six countries brought a team of 5 players to a tennis tournament. Each pair
of players from different countries played once. How many games were there in the
tournament?
A. 250
B. 360
C. 375
D. 480
E. None of the above

Question 5
A “Nicely Seven” is a two-digit positive integer such that it has only two factors and
the sum of the factors is a multiple of 7. How many Nicely Seven numbers are
there?
A. 8
B. 13
C. 3
D. 4
E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Question 6
1 1
3−𝑎 6
Given that 𝑎 = 43 − 23 + 1, what is the value of ( ) ?
𝑎

A. 4
B. 2
C. 64
1 1 2
D. (43 − 23 )
E. None of the above

Question 7
Find the greatest prime number 𝑥 which satisfies the following inequality.
1 5
| |< 2
57 − 𝑥 𝑥
A. 13
B. 11
C. 59
D. 61
E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Question 8
The number 4 can be expressed as the sum of the digits 1 or 2 in five different ways
as shown below.
4=1+1+1+1
4=1+1+2
4=1+2+1
4=2+1+1
4=2+2
How many ways can the number 9 be expressed as the sum of the digits 1 or 2?
A. 60
B. 55
C. 45
D. 40
E. None of the above

Question 9
In the diagram, points 𝐸 and 𝐷 are on the sides 𝐴𝐶 A
1 1
and 𝐵𝐶 such that 𝐴𝐸 = 𝐴𝐶 and 𝐵𝐷 = 𝐵𝐶. What
3 3
is the ratio of the area of triangle 𝐴𝐸𝐹 to the area E
of triangle 𝐴𝐵𝐶?
F
2
A.
7
2
B.
9
2 B C
C. D
13
2
D.
15
E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Question 10
Dennis wrote down all the 3-digit numbers in increasing order on a piece of paper.
He used a red pen to write down the even numbers and a blue pen to write down
the odd numbers. How many red digits ‘6’ are there on the piece of paper?
A. 185
B. 195
C. 280
D. 900
E. None of the above

Question 11
It is given that 𝑎, 𝑏, and 𝑐 are real numbers that satisfy the following equations.
𝑎𝑏
=4
𝑎+𝑏
𝑏𝑐
=6
𝑏+𝑐
𝑎𝑐
{𝑎 + 𝑐 = 12
𝑎𝑏𝑐
What is the value of ?
𝑎𝑏+𝑏𝑐+𝑎𝑐

A. 20
B. 2
C. 4
1
D.
4
E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Question 12
How many pairs of two-digit positive integers 𝑎 and 𝑏 are there such that 𝑎2 + 𝑏 2 =
2020?
A. 0
B. 1
C. 2
D. 4
E. None of the above

Question 13
In the figure below, the circle is centred at 𝐴. The segments 𝐵𝐸 and 𝐵𝐹 are
tangents to the circle. Point 𝐶 is on 𝐴𝐵 and on the circumference of the circle as
shown. Point 𝐷 is a point on 𝐵𝐸 such that 𝐶𝐷 is perpendicular to 𝐵𝐸. If 𝐵𝐸 = 12 and
𝐵𝐶 = 8, find the length of 𝐶𝐷.
E
D

A B
C

25
A.
13
24
B.
13
40
C.
13
12
D.
5

E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Question 14
Diana, Alexa, Jason, Tom and Michael are Secondary 2 or 4 students. They study in
either Silver Oak Secondary School or Grand Mountain Secondary School. It is also
given that:

• Tom and Michael are from different schools.

• Diana and Jason go to the same school.
• Three students go to Silver Oak Secondary School and the other two are from
Grand Mountain Secondary School.
• Alexa and Michael are from the same grade.
• Jason and Tom study at different levels.
• Three students study in Secondary 2 and the other two students in Secondary
4.

If one of them is Secondary 4 student from Grand Mountain Secondary School, who
is that person?

A. Diana
B. Alexa
C. Jason
D. Tom
E. Michael

Question 15
Thirty identical marbles are to be distributed to 6 boys. Each boy gets at least 3
marbles. How many ways are there to distribute the marbles to the boys?
A. 6188
B. 15625
C. 118755
30!
D.
6

E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Section B (Correct answer – 4 points| Incorrect or No answer – 0 points)

When an answer is a 1-digit number, shade “0” for the tens, hundreds and thousands place.
Example: if the answer is 7, then shade 0007
When an answer is a 2-digit number, shade “0” for the hundreds and thousands place.
Example: if the answer is 23, then shade 0023
When an answer is a 3-digit number, shade “0” for the thousands place.
Example: if the answer is 785, then shade 0785
When an answer is a 4-digit number, shade as it is.
Example: if the answer is 4196, then shade 4196

Question 16
Find the largest 4-digit multiple of 25 whose sum and product of its digits are both
multiples of 25.

Question 17
What is the value of the following expression?
3 × 111.111 3 × 222.222 3 × 333.333 3 × 666.666
+ + + ⋯+
6 × 1.001 6 × 2.002 6 × 3.003 6 × 6.006

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Question 18
The six-digit number 21A3B8 is divisible by 33. Find the value of A + B.

Question 19
In the diagram, ∠𝐴𝐵𝐶 = 90° and 𝐷𝐸𝐹𝐺 is
a square. If 𝐴𝐸 = 8 and 𝐸𝐹 = 12, find the
area of quadrilateral 𝐴𝐶𝐺𝐷.

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Question 20
What is the greatest 2-digit number that can be written as the sum of 2 different
prime numbers in exactly 2 different ways?

Question 21
What is the smallest positive integer that has exactly six odd divisors and 12 even
divisors?

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Question 22
If (𝑥 2 + 1)(𝑦 2 + 1) + 9 = 6(𝑥 + 𝑦), find the value of 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 .

Question 23
What is the least number of weights required to weigh any objects of integer
number of grams from 1 to 35 grams? The weights must be in integer number of
grams.

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Questions

Question 24
In the following cryptarithm, all the different letters stand for different digits.

C I R C L E
C I R C L E
+ C I R C L E
S P H E R E

Find the value of the sum C + I + R + C + L + E.

Question 25
Peter has seven different books of different subjects to be placed on a single-decked
shelf. He does not want to place the Physics book next to the Biology one and the
Geometry book next to the Chemistry one. In how many ways can he place all his
books?

END OF PAPER

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Solutions

Solutions to SASMO 2020 Secondary 4 (Grade 10)

Question 1

2020 × 999 − 9999 × 202 + 9999 = 202 × (9990 − 9999) + 9999 = 9999 − 202 × 9
= 𝟖𝟏𝟖𝟏

Answer: (A)

Question 2
52020 × 41008 = 52020 × (22 )1008 = 52020 × 22016 = 54 × (5 × 2)2016 = 625 × 102016
625 × 102016 has 3 + 2016 = 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗 digits.

Answer: (D)

Question 3
Probability(an event) = (# of ways an event can happen) / (Total number of
outcomes)
The total number of outcomes when a standard 6-sided dice is rolled twice is
6 × 6 = 36.
Find the probability for options A to D:
A. The number of ways option A can happen is 3: (1, 2), (2, 4) and (3, 6).
P(A)=3/36.
B. The number of ways option B can happen is 21: (1, 1), (2, 1), (2, 2), (3, 1),
…, (6, 6). P(B)=21/36.
C. The number of ways when both numbers are less than 4 is 9: (1, 1), (1, 2),
9 27
(1, 3), (2, 1), …, (3, 3). P(C)=1 − = .
36 36
D. The number of ways option D can happen is 15: (1, 1), (1, 2), (1, 4), (1, 6),
…, (6, 5). P(D)=15/36.
Option C has the highest probability of occurrence.
Answer: (C)

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Solutions

Question 4
There are 6 × 5 = 30 players in total. If all 30 players played with each other, then
the total number of games would be 30 × 29 ÷ 2 = 435. However, the number of
games between players from the same country is 5 × 4 ÷ 2 = 10. Thus, the number
of games in the tournament was 435 − 6 × 10 = 𝟑𝟕𝟓.
Answer: (C)

Question 5
A Nicely Seven number must be a prime number. Let 𝑎 be a Nicely Seven number,
then 𝑎 and 1 are its factors and 𝑎 + 1 is a multiple of 7.
List down all two-digit multiples of 7, then subtract 1 from them and check whether
the results are prime numbers:

14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 77 84 91 98
13 20 27 even 41 even 55 even 69 even 83 even 97
Thus, there are 4 Nicely Seven numbers.
Answer: (D)

Question 6
1 3 1 1 1 1
(23 ) + 13 = (23 + 1) × (43 − 23 + 1) ⇔ 3 = (23 + 1) × 𝑎 ⇔

3 1 3−𝑎 1 3−𝑎 6 1 6
− 1 = 23 ⇔ = 23 ⇔ ( ) = (23 ) = 𝟒
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
Answer: (A)

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Solutions

Question 7
Case 1: 𝑥 > 57
1 5 1 5
| |< 2 ⇔ < 2 ⇔ 𝑥 2 − 5𝑥 + 285 < 0
57 − 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 − 57 𝑥
The inequality 𝑥 2 − 5𝑥 + 285 < 0 does not have any solutions.
Case 2: 𝑥 < 57
1 5 1 5
| |< 2 ⇔ < 2 ⇔ 𝑥 2 + 5𝑥 − 285 < 0
57 − 𝑥 𝑥 57 − 𝑥 𝑥
The solution of the inequality 𝑥 2 + 5𝑥 − 285 < 0 is
1 1
(−5 − √1165) < 𝑥 < (√1165 − 5).
2 2
The largest possible value of 𝑥 is 13.
Answer: (A)

Question 8

Count by the number of 2s in the sum as shown in the table below.

Number of 2s Number of 1s Number of ways

4 1 5
3 3 20
2 5 21
1 7 8
0 9 1
The total number of ways: 55

Answer: (B)

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Solutions

Question 9
Since 𝐴𝐸: 𝐸𝐶 = 1: 2, then 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐴𝐸𝐹): 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐶𝐸𝐹) = 1: 2 and
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐴𝐸𝐵): 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐶𝐸𝐵) = 1: 2.
Similarly, 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐵𝐷𝐴): 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐶𝐷𝐴) = 1: 2 and 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐵𝐷𝐹): 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐶𝐷𝐹) = 1: 2.
Let 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐴𝐸𝐹) = 𝑎 and 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐵𝐷𝐹) = 𝑏, then 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐶𝐸𝐹) = 2𝑎 and 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐶𝐷𝐹) =
2𝑏.
From 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐴𝐸𝐵): 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐶𝐸𝐵) = 1: 2, we get 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐴𝐹𝐵) = 1.5𝑎
From 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐵𝐷𝐴): 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐶𝐷𝐴) = 1: 2, we get 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐴𝐹𝐵) = 1.5𝑏. Hence 𝑎 = 𝑏,
𝟐
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐴𝐵𝐶) = 7.5𝑎 and 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐴𝐸𝐹): 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐴𝐵𝐶) = 𝑎: 7.5𝑎 = .
𝟏𝟓

Answer: (D)

Question 10
Count the number of ‘6’s in hundreds place:
When the hundreds place is 6, there are 10 options (0, 1, 2, …, 9) for tens place and
5 options (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) for ones place. There are 10 × 5 = 50 sixes in hundreds
place.
Count the number of ‘6’s in tens place:
When the tens place is 6, there are 9 options (1, 2, …, 9) for hundreds place and 5
options (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) for ones place. There are 9 × 5 = 45 sixes in tens place.
Count the number of ‘6’s in ones place:
When the ones place is 6, there are 9 options (1, 2, …, 9) for hundreds place and 10
options (0, 1, 2, …, 9) for tens place. There are 9 × 10 = 90 sixes in tens place.
There are 50 + 45 + 90 = 𝟏𝟖𝟓 red digits ‘6’ on the piece of paper.
Answer: (A)

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Solutions

Question 11
From the first equation:
𝑎𝑏 1 (𝑎 + 𝑏) 1 1
=4 ⇔ = = +
𝑎+𝑏 4 𝑎𝑏 𝑏 𝑎
1 1 1 1 1 1
Similarly, we get = + and = +
6 𝑏 𝑐 12 𝑐 𝑎

Adding the 3 equations, we get

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
+ + = ×( + + )=
𝑎 𝑏 𝑐 2 4 6 12 4
Then
𝑎𝑏𝑐 1 1 1
= = = =𝟒
𝑎𝑏 + 𝑏𝑐 + 𝑎𝑐 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑏𝑐 + 𝑎𝑐 1 + 1 + 1 1
𝑎𝑏𝑐 𝑎 𝑏 𝑐 4
Answer: (C)

Question 12
If 𝑎 and 𝑏 are odd numbers, then 𝑎2 and 𝑏 2 give remainder 1 on division by 4 and
the sum 𝑎2 + 𝑏 2 gives remainder 2 on division by 4. However, 2020 gives remainder
0 on division by 4. Hence 𝑎 and 𝑏 are even numbers.
Let 𝑎 = 2𝑥 and 𝑏 = 2𝑦 and rewrite the original equation:
(2𝑥)2 + (2𝑦)2 = 2020 ⇔ 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 505 (1)

Obviously, 𝑥 and 𝑦 must have different parities.

If 𝑥 is an even number, then only 𝑥 = 8 and 𝑥 = 12 satisfy the equation (1). Since
the equation (1) is symmetric, then there are 4 solution pairs of (𝑥, 𝑦) or 4 pairs of
(𝑎, 𝑏): (42, 16), (38, 24), (24, 38) and (16, 42).
Answer: (D)

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Solutions

Question 13
Since the segment 𝐵𝐸 is tangent to the circle, then 𝐴𝐸 is perpendicular to 𝐵𝐸 and
𝐴𝐸𝐵 and 𝐶𝐷𝐵 are similar triangles.
Let 𝐴𝐸 = 𝐴𝐶 = 𝑟, then by Pythagoras Theorem in triangle 𝐴𝐸𝐵:
𝐴𝐸 2 + 𝐵𝐸 2 = 𝐴𝐵2 ⇔ 𝑟 2 + 122 = (𝑟 + 8)2

Solving the equation, we get 𝑟 = 5 and 𝐴𝐵 = 13.

From similar triangles 𝐴𝐸𝐵 and 𝐶𝐷𝐵:
𝐴𝐸 𝐶𝐷 5 𝐶𝐷 𝟒𝟎
= ⇔ = ⇔ 𝐶𝐷 =
𝐴𝐵 𝐵𝐶 13 8 𝟏𝟑
Answer: (C)

Question 14
If Diana and Jason go to Grand Mountain Secondary School, then neither Tom nor
Michael goes to Grand Mountain Secondary School. Hence Tom and Michael go to
Silver Oak Secondary School which is impossible. Thus, Diana and Jason go to Silver
Oak Secondary School.

If Alexa and Michael are Secondary 4 students, then neither Tom nor Jason is a
Secondary 4 student. Hence Jason and Tom are Secondary 2 students which is
impossible. Thus, Alexa and Michael are Secondary 2 students.
Diana, Jason, Alexa and Michael cannot be Secondary 4 student from Grand
Mountain Secondary School. Thus, the answer is Tom.
Answer: (D)

Question 15
Let 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , … , 𝑎6 be the number of marbles given to each of the 6 boys. Then 𝑎1 ≥
3, 𝑎2 ≥ 3, … , 𝑎6 ≥ 3 and rewrite 𝑎1 = 𝑏1 + 2, 𝑎2 = 𝑏2 + 2, … , 𝑎6 = 𝑏6 + 2 where 𝑏1 ≥
1, 𝑏2 ≥ 1, … , 𝑏6 ≥ 1.
It is given that
(𝑏1 + 2) + (𝑏2 + 2) + ⋯ (𝑏6 + 2) = 30 ⇔ 𝑏1 + 𝑏2 + ⋯ 𝑏6 = 18

17 17!
The number of solutions for the above equation is 𝐶(17,5) = ( ) = =
5 5!×(17−5)!
𝟔𝟏𝟖𝟖.
Answer: (A)

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Solutions

Question 16
The largest possible sum of the digits of a 4-digit number is 9 × 4 = 36. Since the
sum of digits is a multiple of 25, then the sum of the digits must be 25. The last 2
digits must be 00, 25, 50 or 75.
Case 1:
If the last 2 digits are 00, then the sum of the digits is at most 18 which is
impossible.
Case 2:
If the last 2 digits are 25, then the sum of the hundreds and thousands digits is 18.
However, 9 × 9 × 2 × 5 is not a multiple of 25.
Case 3:
If the last 2 digits are 50, then the sum of the digits is at most 23 which is
impossible.
Case 4:
If the last 2 digits are 75, then the sum of the hundreds and thousands digits is 13.
For the product to be a multiple of 25, the hundreds or thousands digit must be 5.
Thus, the largest possible 4-digit number is 8575.
Answer: 8575

Question 17

3 × 111.111 3 × 222.222 3 × 666.666

+ + ⋯+ =
6 × 1.001 6 × 2.002 6 × 6.006
3 × 111 × 1.001 3 × 222 × 1.001 3 × 666 × 1.001
+ +⋯+ =
2 × 3 × 1.001 2 × 3 × 2.002 2 × 3 × 6.006
111 111 111 666
+ + ⋯+ = = 𝟑𝟑𝟑
2 2 2 2
Answer: 333

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Solutions

Question 18

The six-digit number 21A3B8 is divisible by 3 and 11.

From the Divisibility Rule of 11:
|(2 + 𝐴 + 𝐵) − (1 + 3 + 8)| = |𝐴 + 𝐵 − 10| must be divisible by 11. Hence 𝐴 + 𝐵 =
𝟏𝟎.
Answer: 10

Question 19
∠𝐴𝐷𝐸 = 90° − ∠𝐸𝐴𝐷 = 90° − ∠𝐶𝐴𝐵 = ∠𝐵𝐶𝐴 = ∠𝐺𝐶𝐹
∠𝐸𝐴𝐷 = 90° − ∠𝐴𝐷𝐸 = 90° − ∠𝐺𝐶𝐹 = ∠𝐹𝐺𝐶
Thus, triangles 𝐴𝐸𝐷 and 𝐺𝐹𝐶 are similar and
𝐴𝐸 𝐺𝐹 8 12
= ⇔ = ⇔ 𝐹𝐶 = 18.
𝐷𝐸 𝐹𝐶 12 𝐹𝐶
Quadrilateral 𝐴𝐶𝐺𝐷 is trapezium and its area is
(𝐺𝐷 + 𝐴𝐶) (12 + 38)
𝐷𝐸 × = 12 × = 𝟑𝟎𝟎.
2 2
Answer: 300

Question 20
Clearly, the desired 2-digit number must be an even number. The numbers 98, 96,
94, …, 72, 70 can be written as the sum of 2 different prime numbers in more than
2 different ways. For example,
𝟗𝟖 79 + 19 31 + 67 37 + 61
𝟗𝟔 7 + 89 13 + 83 17 + 79
𝟗𝟒 5 + 89 11 + 83 23 + 71
…

The greatest 2-digit number that can be written as the sum of 2 different prime
numbers in exactly 2 different ways is 𝟔𝟖 = 31 + 37 = 7 + 61.
Answer: 68

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Solutions

Question 21

The number must have 6 + 12 = 18 divisors. Then its prime factorisation must be
𝑝2 × 𝑞 2 × 𝑟, 𝑝 × 𝑞 8 , 𝑝2 × 𝑞 5 or 𝑝17 . Since the number has exactly 6 odd divisors, then
its prime factorisation must be 𝑝2 × 𝑞 2 × 𝑟 or 𝑝2 × 𝑞 5 . The smallest such number is
22 × 32 × 5 = 𝟏𝟖𝟎.
Answer: 180

Question 22

𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 + 𝑥 2 𝑦 2 + 10 − 6𝑥 − 6𝑦 = 0 ⇔

𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 + 𝑥 2 𝑦 2 + 10 − 6𝑥 − 6𝑦 + 2𝑥𝑦 − 2𝑥𝑦 = 0 ⇔

𝑥 2 𝑦 2 − 2𝑥𝑦 + 1 + 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦 2 − 6(𝑥 + 𝑦) + 9 = 0 ⇔

(𝑥𝑦 − 1)2 + (𝑥 + 𝑦)2 − 6(𝑥 + 𝑦) + 9 = 0 ⇔

(𝑥𝑦 − 1)2 + [(𝑥 + 𝑦) − 3]2 = 0

Hence 𝑥𝑦 = 1, 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 3 and
32 − 2 × 1 = (𝑥 + 𝑦)2 − 2𝑥𝑦 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 𝟕.
Answer: 7

Question 23
To get the least number of weights, we need to put the weights on both sides of a
scale.
To weigh 1 g object, we need 1 g weights.
To weigh 2 g object, we need 2 or 3 g weights.
To weigh 5 g and 14 g objects, we need at least 2 more weights. Thus, the least
number of weights is 4 and the weights are 1 g, 3 g, 9 g and 27 g. For example,
5 g = 9 g – 3 g – 1 g, 14 g = 27 g – 9 g – 3 g – 1 g and 35 g = 27 g + 9 g – 1 g.
Answer: 4

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SASMO 2020, Secondary 4 (Grade 10) Contest Solutions

Question 24

Rewrite the sum as the product:

C I R C L E
× 3
S P H E R E

In ones place, the letter E must be 5. (E=0 can be checked similarly, and it doesn’t
lead to any solution.)
The six-digit number CIRCLE times 3 results in a 6-digit number, therefore C=1, 2 or
3.
If C=3, then in hundreds place product 𝐶 × 3, there must be a carry over of 6 from
tens place product which is impossible.
If C=2, then in hundreds place product 𝐶 × 3, there must be a carry over of 9 from
tens place product which is impossible. Hence C=1.
In hundreds place product 𝐶 × 3, there must be a carry over of 2 from tens place
product which implies that L=8 or 9.
If L=8, then R=5=E which is impossible. Hence L=9, R=8 and H=4.
In hundred thousands place product, S cannot be 4 and 5 since H=4 and E=5.
Hence S=3 and the only one-digit number left for I is 0.
The value of the sum C + I + R + C + L + E is 1 + 0 + 8 + 1 + 9 + 5 = 𝟐𝟒.
Answer: 24

Question 25

The total number of ways to place all his books without any restrictions is 7! = 5040.
The number of ways when the Physics book is next to the Biology book and
Geometry is next to the Chemistry one is 5! × 2 × 2 = 480.
Hence, the number of ways when the Physics book is not next to the Biology book
and Geometry is not next to the Chemistry one is 5040 − 480 = 𝟒𝟓𝟔𝟎.
Answer: 4560

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