2003 Gauss Contest - Grade 8 Solutions

Part A

1. Performing the calculation,

1.000 + 0.101 + 0.011 + 0.001 = 1.113 ANSWER: (B)

2. We group the terms and start with addition, and then do subtraction:
1 + 2 + 3 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 12
= 6 4 + 18 8 + 30 12
= 2 + 10 + 18
= 30
ANSWER: (A)
3. The amount that each charity received was the total amount raised divided by the number of chari-
ties, or $3109 25 = $124.36 . ANSWER: (E)

4. The square of the square root of 17 is ( 17 )2, which equals 17. The operations of squaring and taking
a square root are inverses of each other. ANSWER: (C)

5. Since triangle ABC is isosceles, ACB = ABC = 50o . A

o
Since the sum of the angles in triangle ACD is 180 , then 60
o o o o
x + 60 + 50 = 180
x = 70
50 x 50
B D C
ANSWER: (A)

6. Solution 1
If we undo the operations, we would get back to the original number by first subtracting 13 and
then dividing by 2, to obtain 1
2
(89 13) = 38 .

Solution 2
Let the number be x. Then 2 x + 13 = 89 or 2 x = 76 or x = 38 . ANSWER: (D)

7. The range of temperature is the difference between the high temperature and the low temperature.
We can complete the chart to determine the largest range.

Day Temperature Range ( o C )

Monday 5 ( 3) = 8
Tuesday 0 (10) = 10
Wednesday 2 (11) = 9
Thursday 8 (13) = 5
Friday 7 (9) = 2

We see that the temperature range was greatest on Tuesday. ANSWER: (B)
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 Solutions 2003 Gauss Contest - Grade 8

8. We write each of the five numbers as a decimal in order to be able to arrange them in order from smallest
to largest:

5 = 2.236...
2.1 = 2.1
7
3
= 2.333...
2.05 = 2.055...
2 15 = 2.2

1 1
So in order from smallest to largest, we have 2.05 , 2.1, 2 5 , 5 , 7 . The number in the middle is 2 5 .
3
ANSWER: (E)

9. Since one-third of the 30 students in the class are girls, then 10 of the students are girls. This means
that 20 of the students are boys. Three-quarters of the 20 boys play basketball, which means that 15
of the boys play basketball. ANSWER: (E)

10. We rewrite the addition in columns, and write each number to three decimals:
15.200
1.520
0.15 
+ .128
20.000
Since the sum of the digits in the last column ends in a 0, then the box in the thousandths column
must represent a 2.
We can insert the 2 to get

15.200
1.520
0.152
+ .128
20.000

If we then perform the addition of the last three columns, we will get a carry of 1 into the units column.
Since the sum of the units column plus the carry ends in a 0, then the box in the units column must
represent a 3. Therefore, the sum of the digits inserted into the two boxes is 5. (We also check that
15.2 + 1.52 + 0.152 + 3.128 = 20 .) ANSWER: (A)

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 2003 Gauss Contest - Grade 8 Solutions

Part B

11. Reading the data from the graph the numbers of female students in the five classes in order are 10,
10 + 14 + 7 + 9 + 13 53
14, 7, 9, and 13. The average number of female students is = = 10.6 .
5 5
ANSWER: (E)

12. The area of the original photo is 20 25 = 500 cm2 and the area of the enlarged photo is
25 30 = 750 cm2 . The percentage increase in area is
Final Area Initial Area 750 500 250
100% = 100% = 100% = 50%
Initial Area 500 500
ANSWER: (B)

13. Since the angles are in the ratio 2 : 3 : 4, then we can represent the angles as 2x, 3x, and 4x (in
degrees) for some number x. Since these three angles are the angles of a triangle then

2 x + 3 x + 4 x = 180o
9 x = 180o
x = 20o
Thus the largest angle is 4x, or 80. ANSWER: (C)
or
14. Solution 1
Since George recorded his highest mark higher than it was, then if he writes his seven marks in order
from lowest to highest, the order will not be affected.
So the minimum test mark is not affected, nor is the median test mark (which is the middle of the seven
different marks).
Is either of the range or mean affected?
The range is difference between the highest mark and the lowest mark, so by recording the highest mark
higher, the range has become larger.
The mean is the sum of the seven marks divided by 7, so since the highest mark is higher, the sum of
the 7 marks will be higher, and so the mean will be higher.
So only the mean and range are affected.

Solution 2
Suppose that Georges marks were 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, and 86, but that he wistfully recorded the
86 as 100.
Originally, with marks 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, the statistics are
80 + 81 + 82 + 83 + 84 + 85 + 86
Mean = 83
7
Median 83
Minimum test score 80
Range 86 80 = 6

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 Solutions 2003 Gauss Contest - Grade 8

With marks 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 100, the statistics are
80 + 81 + 82 + 83 + 84 + 85 + 100
Mean = 85
7
Median 83
Minimum test score 80
Range 100 80 = 20
So the mean and range are the only statistics altered. ANSWER: (C)

15. The volume of the entire pit is

(10 m) (50 cm) (2 m) = (10 m) (0.5 m) (2 m) = 10 m3
Since the pit starts with 5 m3 in it, an additional 5 m3 of sand is required to fill it.
ANSWER: (B)

16. We evaluate this continued fraction step by step

1 1 1 1 3
= = = 5 =
1+
1
1+
1 1+ 3
2
() 5
()
1 3
3
1+ 2 2

ANSWER: (A)

17. The perimeter of the triangle is the sum of the lengths of the sides. y
We make a sketch of the triangle to help us with our calculations. C(21, 21)
Since side AB is along the x-axis and side BC is parallel to the y-axis,
then the triangle is right-angled, and we can use Pythagoras
Theorem to calculate the length of AC.
The length of AB is 20 and the length of BC is 21.
Calculating AC,
x
O A(1, 0) B(21, 0)
AC 2 = AB 2 + BC 2
AC 2 = 20 2 + 212
AC 2 = 400 + 441
AC 2 = 841
AC = 29
Therefore, the perimeter is 20 + 21 + 29 = 70 . ANSWER: (A)

18. Solution 1
If 3 x 2 < 14 , then 3 x 2 > 14 or x 2 > 14
3 = 4 23 .
Since we are only looking at x being a whole number, then x 2 is also a whole number. Since x 2 is
a whole number and x 2 is greater than 4 23 , then x 2 must be at least 5.
Of the numbers in the set, the ones which satisfy this condition are 5 , 4 , 3 , and 3.

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 2003 Gauss Contest - Grade 8 Solutions

Solution 2
For each number in the set, we substitute the number for x and calculate 3 x 2 :

x 3 x 2
5 75
4 48
3 27
2 12
1 3
0 3
0 12

As before, the four numbers 5 , 4 , 3 , and 3 satisfy the inequality. ANSWER: (D)

19. Since three circles touch each other and touch the vertical and
horizontal sides of the rectangle, then the width of the rectangle is
three times the diameter of the circle, and the height of the rectangle
is equal to the diameter of the circle. 24 cm
Since the width of the rectangle is 24 cm, then the diameter of each circle is 8 cm.
Since the diameter of each circle is 8 cm, then the height of the rectangle is 8 cm, and the radius of
each circle is 4 cm.
Therefore, the area of the shaded region is

Area of shaded region

= Area of rectangle Area of three circles

[
= (24 8) 3 ( 4 )
2
]
= 192 48
192 150.80 (using 3.14)
= 41.20

Thus, the area of the shaded region is closest to 41 cm2 . ANSWER: (A)

20. This question is made more difficult by the fact that there are 2 letters that are the same. To overcome
this problem, let us change the second S to a T, so that the letters on the tiles are now G, A, U, S, and
T, and we want to calculate the probability that Amy chooses the S and the T when she chooses two
tiles.
Let us say that Amy chooses the tiles one at a time. How many choices does she have for the first tile
she chooses? Since there are 5 tiles, she has 5 choices. How many choices does Amy have for the
second tile? There are 4 tiles left, so she has 4 choices. Now for each of the 5 ways of choosing the
first tile, she has 4 ways of choosing the second tile, for a total of 20 possibilities. (Try writing out the
20 possibilities and convince yourself that it is 5 4 and not 5 + 4 .)
In these 20 pairs, there are two pairs that contain an S and T. If the T was changed back to an S, there
would be two pairs out of 20 containing 2 Ss so the probability would be 2
20
= 1
10 of selecting the
2 Ss. ANSWER: (D)
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 Solutions 2003 Gauss Contest - Grade 8

Part C

21. Lets look at a couple of examples of four consecutive whole numbers that add to a multiple of 5, and
see what possibilities we can eliminate.
First, we can look at 1, 2, 3, 4 (whose sum is 10).
Using this example, we can eliminate choice (A) (since the sum ends in a 0) and choice (B) (since the
largest number ends in a 4).
With a bit more work, we can see that 6, 7, 8, 9 (whose sum is 30) is another example.
Using this second example, we can eliminate choice (C) (since the smallest number is even) and choice
(E) (since none of the numbers ends in a 3).
Therefore, the only remaining choice is (D).

Why is (D) always true? This is a bit more tricky to figure out, and requires some algebra.
Let the smallest of the numbers be n. Then the other three numbers are n + 1, n + 2 , and n + 3 , and
their sum is n + n + 1 + n + 2 + n + 3 = 4 n + 6 .
We know that their sum is a multiple of 5. Since the sum is also 4 n + 6 , this sum is even and so must
end in a 0 if it is also to be a multiple of 5.
Since 4 n + 6 ends in a 0, then 4n ends in a 4. What can the units digit of n be? The only possibilities
for the units digit of n are 1 and 6, and so the four numbers either end with 1, 2, 3, and 4, or 6, 7, 8, and
9, and none of these four numbers is a multiple of 5. ANSWER: (D)

22. Solution 1
When Carmina trades her nickels for dimes and her dimes for nickels, she gains $1.80. Since trading
a dime for a nickel results in a loss of 5 cents, and trading a nickel for a dime results in a gain of 5 cents,
then by doing her trade she gains 5 cents in 180
5
= 36 more cases than she loses 5 cents. Thus, she must
have 36 more nickels than dimes.
These extra 36 nickels account for $1.80. So her initial coins are worth $1.80 and she has an equal
number of nickels and dimes. A nickel and dime together are worth 15 cents, so she must have 180
15
= 12
sets of a nickel and dime, or 12 nickels and 12 dimes.
So in total, Carmina has 48 nickels and 12 dimes, or 60 coins.

Solution 2
Suppose that Carmina has n nickels and d dimes.
Then looking at the total number of cents Carmina has, 5 n + 10 d = 360 .
If we reverse the nickels and dimes and again look at the total number of cents that Carmina has,
we see that 10 n + 5 d = 540 .
If we add these two equations together, we get
5 n + 10 d + 10 n + 5 d = 360 + 540
15 n + 15 d = 900
n + d = 60
So the total number of coins is 60. (Notice that we didnt in fact have to calculate the number of nickels
or the number of dimes!)

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 2003 Gauss Contest - Grade 8 Solutions

Solution 3
Suppose that Carmina has n nickels and d dimes.
Then looking at the total number of cents Carmina has, 5 n + 10 d = 360 or n + 2 d = 72 or
n = 72 2 d .
If we reverse the number of nickels and the number of dimes and look at the number of cents,
5 d + 10 n = 540
5 d + 10( 72 2 d ) = 540
5 d + 720 20 d = 540
180 = 15 d
d = 12
Since d = 12 , then n = 72 2 d = 48 .
Therefore, the total number of nickels and dimes that Carmina has is 60. ANSWER: (D)

23. Suppose that Gabriellas twelve plants had 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 tomatoes. How many
tomatoes would she have in total? Adding these numbers up, she would have 78 tomatoes.
But we know that she has 186 tomatoes, so there are 108 tomatoes unaccounted for.
Since the number of tomatoes on her plants are twelve consecutive whole numbers, then her plants must
each have the same number of extra tomatoes more than our initial assumption. How many extra
tomatoes should each plant have? 108 tomatoes spread over 12 plants gives 9 extra tomatoes each.
Therefore, the plants have 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 tomatoes, and the last one
has 21 tomatoes. (We can check that there are indeed 186 tomatoes by adding 10 + 11 + K + 21.)
ANSWER: (D)

24. Since ABCD is a square and has an area of 25 cm 2 , then the A 5 B

square has a side length of 5 cm. Since PQCD is a rhombus, P Z
X Q
then it is a parallelogram, so its area is equal to the product of
its base and its height.
4 4
Join point P to X on AD so that PX makes a right angle with AD, 5
and to Y on DC so that PY makes a right angle with DC.

D Y C
Then the area of the shaded region is the area of rectangle ABZX plus the area of triangle PXD.
Since the area of PQCD is 20 cm2 and its base has length 5 cm, then its height, PY, must have
length 4 cm.
Therefore, we can now label DX = 4 , DP = 5 (since PQCD is a rhombus), AX = 1, and AB = 5 .
So ABZX is a 1 by 5 rectangle, and so has area 5 cm2 .
Triangle PXD is right-angled at D, and has DP = 5 and DX = 4 , so by Pythagoras Theorem,
PX = 3 . Therefore, the area of triangle PXD is 1
2
(3)(4) = 6 cm2 .
So, in total, the area of the shaded region is 11 cm2 . ANSWER: (C)

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 Solutions 2003 Gauss Contest - Grade 8

25. Since all three numbers on the main diagonal are filled in, we can immediately determine what the
product of the entries in any row, column or diagonal is, namely 6 12 24 = 1728 .
We can immediately start to fill in the square by filling in the top-centre, left-centre and bottom-right
entries, since we have two entries in each of these rows, columns or diagonals, so the remaining entry
is the overall product divided by the two entries already present.
Thus, we obtain 1728
N 24 N 24
1728
6N 12
1728
6 12 N

Simplifying, we get 72
N N 24
288
N 12
144
6 N

In a similar way, we can fill in the two remaining entries to get 72

N N 24
288 1
N 12 2
N
144
6 2N N

1
Now we are told that each of the nine entries is a positive integer, so each of N, 2N, 2
N , 72
N
, 144
N
,
288
and N is a positive integer.
Do we need to check each of these conditions?
Well, if N is an integer, then 2N is an integer, so we dont need to check this second condition.
1
The fact that 2
N is an integer tells us that N has to be an even integer.
72
The fact that N
is an integer tells us that N is a factor of 72.
144
The fact that N is an integer tells us that N is a factor of 144, but since N is already a factor of 72
and 144 = 2 72 , then N being a factor of 72 tells us that N is a factor of 144.
288
Similarly, N being a factor of 72 tells us that N is a factor of 288, so N is an integer.
In summary, we are looking for positive integers N which are even and factors of 72.
Writing out the positive factors of 72, we get 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 72, of which nine are
even. ANSWER: (C)