SOUTH AFRICAN MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD

Grade NINE First Round 2023

Solutions

1. A 6 − 12 ÷ (12 − 6) = 6 − 12 ÷ 6 = 6 − 2 = 4

2. E �2 + √4 + �3 + √36 = √2 + 2 + √3 + 6 = √4 + √9 = 2 + 3 = 5

3. D 24 ÷ 2 = 16 ÷ 2 = 8
202+3 205 200
4. B 20+23
= 43
~ 40
~5

5. C The next occurrence of all four digits will be at 04:26, which is one hour and 40
minutes after 02:46.

6. D Writing all five fractions with a common denominator of 24 gives:

12 6 4 3 2
24
; 24
; 24
; 24
; 24
The only combination of four of these numerators that gives a sum of 24 is 12 + 6
1
+ 4 + 2. Thus 8 must be removed.

7. A 𝑎𝑎 + 1 + 6 = 12 ∴ 𝑎𝑎 = 5
1 + 9 + 𝑏𝑏 + 4 = 17 ∴ 𝑏𝑏 = 3
1 + 7 + 4 + 𝑐𝑐 = 20 ∴ 𝑐𝑐 = 8 and ∴ 𝑑𝑑 = 2
5 + 3 + 8 + 2 = 18

8. A The shaded regions can be rearranged to form six complete squares.

The shaded area is thus (2 × 2) × 6 = 24.

9. D If we let the smallest number be 𝑥𝑥, then 𝑥𝑥 + (𝑥𝑥 + 2) + (𝑥𝑥 + 4) + (𝑥𝑥 + 6) = 𝑃𝑃

𝑃𝑃 𝑃𝑃
Thus 4𝑥𝑥 + 12 = 𝑃𝑃 ∴ 4(𝑥𝑥 + 3) = 𝑃𝑃 ∴ 𝑥𝑥 + 3 = 4 ∴ 𝑥𝑥 + 6 = 4 + 3.
More intuitively, since there are four equally spaced consecutive even numbers, the
mean will be halfway between the middle two data points. The largest number will
thus be 3 more than the mean.

10. A Since 20 minutes is one third of an hour, the wheel will travel 4 km (i.e. 4 000 m)
in 20 minutes. 4000 ÷ 2 = 2000.

11. B (25 × 55 ) × 25 × 66 × 77 × 88 × 99 = 105 × (25 × 66 × 77 × 88 × 99 )

There are thus five zeros at the end of 𝐴𝐴 when it is written out in full.

12. C The inside of the shape forms a

regular pentagon which has an interior
angle of 108°. It thus follows that 𝑥𝑥 = 36°.
13. E

14. C The average of the first four numbers is (35 + 𝑥𝑥)/4. The average of the last three
35 + 𝑥𝑥 22 + 𝑥𝑥
numbers is (22 + 𝑥𝑥)/3. We thus have 4 = 3 ⇒ 3(35 + 𝑥𝑥) = 4(22 + 𝑥𝑥).
Solving for 𝑥𝑥 gives 𝑥𝑥 = 17.

15. B If we let each circle have an area of 4𝑥𝑥, then the shaded region is 3𝑥𝑥 and the
unshaded region of each circle is 𝑥𝑥. The fraction of the total shape that is shaded is
3𝑥𝑥
thus 5𝑥𝑥 , i.e. 60%.

16. E 𝑥𝑥 + 𝑦𝑦 = 6 and 𝑥𝑥 + 𝑧𝑧 = 9,
thus 2𝑥𝑥 + 𝑦𝑦 + 𝑧𝑧 = 15.
But perimeter = 4𝑥𝑥 + 2𝑦𝑦 + 2𝑧𝑧
= 2(2𝑥𝑥 + 𝑦𝑦 + 𝑧𝑧)
= 2 × 15 = 30

17. C If learner 19 is opposite learner 4, then learner 18 is opposite learner 3, 17 opposite

2, and 16 opposite 1. This means there are 14 learners between numbers 1 and 16
on each side of the circle. Including learners 1 and 16 this makes a total of 30
learners.

18. B Pump A empties one third of the tank per hour. Pump B empties one sixth of the
1 1 1
tank per hour. Together they would thus empty 3
+ 6 = 2 of the tank per hour. It
would thus take 2 hours to empty the tank with the pumps working together.

19. E

20. D The total number of games played is 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 10. We can thus immediately
rule out option A. Since each team plays each of the other four teams, it is not
possible for a team to win 5 games. We can thus rule out option B. We can also
rule out option E since it is not possible for two teams to win each of their 4 games.
We can also rule out option C since the two teams that won 3 games each both beat
the two teams that won no games, but there could have been only one winner when
these two teams played against each other. Let us finally consider option D. Let’s
call the 5 teams A, B, C, D and E. Suppose A, B, C and D beat E. And A, B and C
beat D. Then if A beat B, B beat C, and C beat A. The number of games won by
the teams would have been 3,3,3,1,0. Hence, option D is possible.