Junior Division

International Math Contest Practice Set 1

1. The aardvarks and the bandicoots hold an annual weta-eating competition. This year there were four
aardvarks and four bandicoots in the top eight places, with an aardvark coming first, a bandicoot
coming second, another aardvark third, and another bandicoot fourth. The top eight places in the
competition are awarded a set number of non-zero points each, with first being worth the most
number of points and progressively down to eighth, which is the least. None of the top placings were
tied by any of the competitors. In the team competition (best four places count for each species), the
bandicoots (total 23) beat the aardvarks (total 21).
(a) If bandicoots come in fifth and sixth while aardvarks come in seventh and eighth, find all
possible ways that points can be distributed so that the bandicoots have a team total of 23 and the
aardvarks have a team total of 21.
(b) Show that bandicoots must come in fifth and sixth, and aardvarks must come in seventh and
eighth.

2. Warren’s lampshade has an interesting design. Within a regular hexagon (six sides) are two
intersecting equilateral triangles, and within them is a circle which just touches the sides of the
triangles. (See the diagram.) The points of the triangles are at the midpoints of the sides of the
hexagons.
If each side of the hexagon is 20 cm long, find
(a) The area of the hexagon
(b) The area of each large equilateral triangle
(c) The area of the circle.

3. Pania and Rangi exercise weekly by running around two paddocks on their father's farm near
Kakanui from A to B to C to D then back to A (see diagram). In a direct line from A to C, the
distance is 6250 m. AB is shorter than BC.

(a) If triangle ABC is a right triangle in the ratio of 3:4:5, with B at the right angle, find the lengths of
the sides.

(b) If triangle ABC is a right angled triangle in the ratio of 3:4:5, with B at the right angle, find the
size of angle CAB to one decimal place.
 (c) Angle B is in fact a right angle, and AB and BC are whole meters in length, but the sides are not in
the ratio of 3:4:5. Find possible lengths for AB and BC.
(d) Angle D is not a right angle but is 40°, and CD is 600 m. Use this information to find the length
of AD, marked m in the diagram.

4. A racing track consists of two 100 m straights and two semicircles of 100 m each at each end.
For the purpose of this question regard it as a line with no width.

a. How many full laps of the track are needed for the 10 000 m race?
b. Show that the diameter of the circular sections (i.e. from A to C) must be 64 m, to the nearest meter.
If you cannot work this value out, then use it (if necessary) in the rest of the question. (A, B, C, and
D are the corners of the rectangular part of the field inside the track.)
c. Find the total area of the enclosed track. Give your answer in hectares. (A hectare is 100m by
100m).
d. How far is it from corner to corner i.e. diagonally from A to D? Give your answer to the nearest
meter.

5. A fair chocolate wheel at a school fund-raiser has 20 numbers from 1 to 20. Each number has an equal
chance of occurring when the wheel is spun.
a. On one draw, the wheel is spun once. You have bought one ticket; the ticket has one number on it in
the range 1 to 20, and that the ticket wins if the wheel stops on that number.
What is the probability of your winning?
b. Later the wheel is spun three times. You have one ticket that is valid each time the wheel is spun, i.e.
it can win on each and every spin. What is the probability of
(i) zero wins,
(ii) exactly one win,
(iii) exactly three wins?
c. At the end of the day, the wheel is spun eight times. You have one ticket, valid each time the wheel is
spun. On draws one, three, five, and seven, the prize is a large soft toy. On the other four draws, the
prize is a small soft toy.
(i) In how many ways can you win exactly one large toy and exactly one small toy?
(ii) What is the probability of your winning exactly one large toy and exactly one small toy?

6. When we finally landed on Mars, we discovered that Martians love to play a game called Hit Ball. In
this game two teams of players try to hit a ball between poles placed at each end of a field. The team
that scores the most points within one Martian hour is the winner.
There are three ways to score points. An Inner scores 7 points, an Outer scores 4 points, while a
Wide scores 2 points.
The first match report sent back to Earth was not very clear because of static, so not all the details are
certain. However, we did hear that the Red Team won. They scored “something-seven” points
altogether (only the last number could be clearly heard). We also learned that they had exactly 16
successful scoring shots.
(a)Write down in a list (from smallest to largest) the possible numbers of Inners which the Red Team
could have scored according to this first match report.
(b) A later report added the information that the Red Team scored the same number of Inners and
Outers. Using this extra information, write down how many points the Red Team scored altogether.
(c) Explain why your answer to (b) is the only possible solution. As part of your explanation, make
sure you include how many Inners, Outers, and Wides the Red Team scored.
 Junior Division
International Math Contest Practice Set 1 (Answer Key)

1. The aardvarks and the bandicoots hold an annual weta-eating competition. This year there were four
aardvarks and four bandicoots in the top eight places, with an aardvark coming first, a bandicoot
coming second, another aardvark third, and another bandicoot fourth. The top eight places in the
competition are awarded a set number of non-zero points each, with first being worth the most
number of points and progressively down to eighth, which is the least. None of the top placings were
tied by any of the competitors. In the team competition (best four places count for each species), the
bandicoots (total 23) beat the aardvarks (total 21).
(a) If bandicoots come in fifth and sixth while aardvarks come in seventh and eighth, find all
possible ways that points can be distributed so that the bandicoots have a team total of 23 and the
aardvarks have a team total of 21.
(b) Show that bandicoots must come in fifth and sixth, and aardvarks must come in seventh and
eighth.

Solution:
(a) If bandicoots come in fifth and sixth while aardvarks come in seventh and eighth, find all possible
ways that points can be distributed so that the bandicoots have a team total of 23 and the aardvarks
have a team total of 21.
There are eight ways altogether:
9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2
10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 1
10, 9, 8, 7, 4, 3, 2, 1
10, 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1
11, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2, 1
11, 9, 7, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1
11, 10, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1
12, 11, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
(b) Let the first aardvark be a1, the second a2, the third a3, and the fourth a4. Let the first bandicoot be
b1, the second b2, the third b3, and the fourth b4. Similarly, let first overall be p1, second overall p2,
and so on to eighth overall being p8.
Now p1 > p2 > p3 > p4, thus p1 ≥ p2 + 1 and p3 ≥ p4 + 1, so p1 + p3 ≥ p2 + p4 + 2. Since a1 = p1, a2 =
p3, b1 = p2, b2 = p4, we have a1 + a2 ≥ b1 + b2 + 2. Since ∑an + 2 = ∑bn, to satisfy this inequality
we must have b3 + b4 ≥ a3 + a4 + 4.
If a3 = p5, then a3 > b3, so a3 ≥ b3 + 1. Thus b4 ≥ a4 + 5. Since a4 > 0, b4 ≥ 1 + 5, so b4 is at smallest
6. Then the total would be 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 = 76. A contradiction. Thus a3 ≠ p5.
and so b3 > a3.
If a4 > b4, then a4 ≥ b4 + 1. Thus b3 ≥ a3 + 5. Since a3 > a4 > b4 > 0, a3 ≥ 3, so b3 ≥ 8. Then at its
smallest the total would have to be 1 + 2 + 3 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 = 56. A contradiction. Thus
b4 > a4.
If a3 > b4, then a3 ≥ b4 + 1. Thus b3 ≥ a4 + 5. Since a4 > 0, b3 ≥ 6, so b2 ≥ 7, b1 ≥ 8. Because 9 + 7 + 6
= 22, b4 must be 1. But b4 > a4, so a4 would be 0. A contradiction. Thus b4 > a3.
Since b3 > a3, and b4 > a3, the order must be a1, b1, a2, b2, b3, b4, a3, a4.
 2. Warren’s lampshade has an interesting design. Within a regular hexagon (six sides) are two
intersecting equilateral triangles, and within them is a circle which just touches the sides of the
triangles. (See the diagram.) The points of the triangles are at the midpoints of the sides of the
hexagons.

If each side of the hexagon is 20 cm long, find (with full working) (a) The area of the hexagon (b)
The area of each large equilateral triangle (c) The area of the circle.
Solution:
(a) We show here methods which depend only on the Theorem of Pythagoras.
The hexagon can be made from six equilateral triangles, each of side length 20 cm. The height of
each triangle can be found by Pythagoras i.e. cm.
So the total area is 6 × ½ × 20 cm × 10√3 cm = 600√3 cm or 1039.23 cm2 (2 d.p.).
2

(b) Observe that one side of the equilateral triangle forms an isosceles trapezoid with one side of the
hexagon and two half sides of the hexagon. We know the two sets of angles are 60° (next to the
longer parallel side) and 120° (next to the shorter parallel side). We can extend out the shorter side
to make a rectangle, comprised of the isosceles trapezium and two triangles. Since the
hypotenuse of one of the triangles is 10 cm long (half the length of the hexagon's side),
the smallest side must be 5 cm long. Hence 2 × 5 cm + 20 cm = 30 cm. is the longer side of the
rectangle, which is also the length of each side of the equilateral triangle.
From this (and Pythagoras) we can work out the height as
So Area = cm = cm2 or 389.71 cm2 (2 d.p.).
(c ) Once we know the height of the hexagon (from a) and the height of the large equilateral triangles
(from b), we can easily get the height of the small equilateral triangles, and from this we can get
the diameter of the circle. So so This gives us
Then Area = or 235.62 cm (2 d.p.).
2

3. Pania and Rangi exercise weekly by running around two paddocks on their father's farm near
Kakanui from A to B to C to D then back to A (see diagram). In a direct line from A to C, the
distance is 6250 m. AB is shorter than BC.
 (a) If triangle ABC is a right triangle in the ratio of 3:4:5, with B at the right angle, find the lengths of
the sides.

(b) If triangle ABC is a right angled triangle in the ratio of 3:4:5, with B at the right angle, find the
size of angle CAB to one decimal place.
(c) Angle B is in fact a right angle, and AB and BC are whole meters in length, but the sides are not in
the ratio of 3:4:5. Find possible lengths for AB and BC.
(d) Angle D is not a right angle but is 40°, and CD is 600 m. Use this information to find the length
of AD, marked m in the diagram.

Solution:
(a)

So

and .

(b)

Angle 53.1º

(c) Another Pythagorean triple that works is 7-24-25

This gives

and .

(d) Hint: In any triangle XYZ, the following rules apply:

Sine Rule:
Cosine Rule:
where side x is opposite to angle X, side y is opposite to angle Y, and side z is opposite to angle Z.

One method (there were others) is to use

the sine rule twice.

Then the other angle in the triangle

is
Apply sine rule again:

4. A racing track consists of two 100 m straights and two semicircles of 100 m each at each end.
For the purpose of this question regard it as a line with no width.
 a. How many full laps of the track are needed for the 10 000 m race?
Answer:

b. Show that the diameter of the circular sections (i.e. from A to C) must be 64 m, to the nearest meter.
If you cannot work this value out, then use it (if necessary) in the rest of the question. (A, B, C, and
D are the corners of the rectangular part of the field inside the track.)

Answer:
c. Find the total area of the enclosed track. Give your answer in hectares. (A hectare is 100m by
100m).
Answer: Area = 64 × 100 + π × 32 × 32 = 6400 + 3217 = 9617 m2 = 0.9617 ha

d. How far is it from corner to corner i.e. diagonally from A to D? Give your answer to the nearest
meter.
Answer: m.

5. A fair chocolate wheel at a school fund-raiser has 20 numbers from 1 to 20. Each number has an equal
chance of occurring when the wheel is spun.

a. On one draw, the wheel is spun once. You have bought one ticket; the ticket has one number on it in the
range 1 to 20, and that the ticket wins if the wheel stops on that number.
What is the probability of your winning?
Answer: 0.05.
b. Later the wheel is spun three times. You have one ticket that is valid each time the wheel is spun, i.e. it
can win on each and every spin. What is the probability of
(i) zero wins,
(ii) exactly one win,
(iii) exactly three wins?
Answer:
(i) zero wins, 0.953 = 0.857375.
(ii) exactly one win, 3 × 0.952 × 0.05 = 0.135375
(iii) exactly three wins? 0.053 = 0.000125
c. At the end of the day, the wheel is spun eight times. You have one ticket, valid each time the wheel is
spun. On draws one, three, five, and seven, the prize is a large soft toy. On the other four draws, the
prize is a small soft toy.
(i) In how many ways can you win exactly one large toy and exactly one small toy?
Answer: 4 × 4 = 16 Often a list (e.g. WWLLLLLL etc.) was used.
(ii) What is the probability of your winning exactly one large toy and exactly one small toy?
Answer: 16 × 0.052 × 0.956 = 0.029404

6. When we finally landed on Mars, we discovered that Martians love to play a game called Hit Ball. In
this game two teams of players try to hit a ball between poles placed at each end of a field. The team
that scores the most points within one Martian hour is the winner.
There are three ways to score points. An Inner scores 7 points, an Outer scores 4 points, while a
Wide scores 2 points.
The first match report sent back to Earth was not very clear because of static, so not all the details are
certain. However, we did hear that the Red Team won. They scored “something-seven” points
altogether (only the last number could be clearly heard). We also learned that they had exactly 16
 successful scoring shots.
(b) Write down in a list (from smallest to largest) the possible numbers of Inners which the Red Team
could have scored according to this first match report.
(c) A later report added the information that the Red Team scored the same number of Inners and Outers.
Using this extra information, write down how many points the Red Team scored altogether.

(d) Explain why your answer to (b) is the only possible solution. As part of your explanation, make sure
you include how many Inners, Outers, and Wides the Red Team scored.

Solution:
When we finally landed on Mars, we discovered that Martians love to play a game called HitBall. In
this game two teams of players try to hit a ball between poles placed at each end of a field. The team
that scores the most points within one Martian hour is the winner.
There are three ways to score points. An Inner scores 7 points, an Outer scores 4 points, while a
Wide scores 2 points.
The first match report sent back to Earth was not very clear because of static, so not all the details are
certain. However, we did hear that the Red Team won. They scored “something-seven” points
altogether (only the last number could be clearly heard). We also learned that they had exactly 16
successful scoring shots.
(a) Write down in a list (from smallest to largest) the possible numbers of Inners which the Red Team
could have scored according to this first match report.
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
To work this answer out, note that the final score is odd, and so there must be an odd number
of Inners, since Outers and Wides both give an even score. Also, there is a maximum of 16
scoring shots. (This part of the question was answered well, although several candidates missed
out the number 15!)
(b) A later report added the information that the Red Team scored the same number of Inners and
Outers. Using this extra information, write down how many points the Red Team scored
altogether.
67. The working is shown in part (c). Note that, as in previous years, no marks were allocated
in part
(c) if the correct answer was not given in part (b). (This part did not turn out to be too tricky
for many candidates.)
(c) Explain why your answer to (b) is the only possible solution. As part of your explanation, make sure
you include how many Inners, Outers, and Wides the Red Team scored.
There were two steps required here. The first was to show that 67 does indeed work. This was
answered well. The markers were looking for the combination 5 Inners, 5 Outers and 6 Wides,
with some indication of how the answer was reached. Many students were able to show these
values.
However, showing that there was no other solution was not well answered. Stating something
like “Checking on a calculator shows no other possible answer” earned no credit. The markers
had to see some evidence written down in the Answer Booklet.
Some candidates gave a table showing all the possible combinations of Inners, Outers, and
Wides. This could earn full marks as long as an explanation was also given.
However, the most elegant answers used an algebraic approach. Here is an example copied
almost exactly from one paper:
Let the number of Inners be x. The number of Outers must also be x. Let the number of Wides
be y. Then
Therefore where S means
“something”. This can be tidied to become
 7x = “something”5
The only possible value for x from the list in (a) is 5. (Note that 15 is impossible because it
would mean 15 Inners and 15 Outers, which totals more than 16 shots.)So there must be 5
Inners, 5 Outers and 6 Wides.