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Problem Solving Questions-Ire
Problem Solving Questions-Ire
1. In this question (including all five answers) the letters ‘o’ and ‘f’ each
appear
(a) once (b) twice (c) three times (d) four times (f) five times
2. John is 12 cm taller than Fred. Pat is 15 cm shorter than John. Fred is 123
cm tall. How tall is Pat?
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3. A calculator displays 6 as 0.166666, how would 60 be displayed?
4. How many numbers between 1 and 100 have the figure 3 in them?
5. Mary can run three times as fast as Roisin. If they set off in opposite
directions around the track shown below, where will they meet for the
first time? Show your answer on the track itself
7. Roughly how many euro coins, laid edge to edge would be required to
cover the floor of your mathematics room? What fraction of the floor is
still visible through the array of coins?
8. The diagram below shows two scales. In the first, three ovals weigh the
same as one cube and one pyramid while in the second one cube weighs
as much as two ovals and one pyramid. How many pyramids will balance
one oval?
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9. How many pairs of numbers of the form 𝑥 and 2𝑥 + 1 are there in which
both numbers are prime numbers less than 100?
11. A person starts counting at 19 and continues to 89, taking one second to
say each number. How long does it take altogether?
12. The names of the whole numbers are written in the order in which they
appear in the dictionary. Which one comes fifth?
13. Which of the numbers 28,30,26,37, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 29 is the average (or mean) of
the other four?
14. The date May 7 1935 is strange in that when it is written in the form 7-5-
35 we can see that 5 × 7 = 35. How many such dates are there in 2015?
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15. If the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 are arranged in five squares , shown below, so
that the horizontal and vertical both add to 8. Which number must be
placed in the middle square?
17. In a rugby match the final score line was Ireland 23 England 17. Find:
a. the maximum possible number of tries that could have been scored
in the game.
b. the minimum possible number of tries scored
18. Two positive integers add to give 20. How many pairs of numbers can you
find? Which pair gives the maximum number when multiplied?
19. Write the number 101 as the sum of positive whole numbers whose product
is as large as possible (http://www.math.toronto.edu/).
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20. Pat bought a size 5 match day sliotar at a sports day. He paid for it using 9
coins. Find:
a. the maximum and
b. minimum possible cost of the sliotar.
2. A boy cycled 100 kilometres in five days. Each day he cycled 8 kilometres
more than the day before. How many kilometres did he cycle on the first
day?
4. What is the smallest positive number with exactly five positive whole
number divisors?
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Problem solving questions relating to Shape & Space
2. A farmer wants to build a new area for his sheep. The farmer decides that the
enclosure must be square or rectangular with an area of 100 square metres
and have sides with whole-number lengths.
(i) What could be the possible side-lengths of the enclosure?
(ii) How many metres of fencing will be needed for each possible design?
(iii) Use your copy or some graph paper to draw all the possible
rectangular or square designs.
(iv) Include a key to tell how much each unit on the grid paper equals.
(v) Which fence would you advise the farmer to build? Why?
(Adapted by Dr Sean Delaney from NCTM website)
2. Joe and Rachel each roll a standard die obtaining a number at random from 1
to 6. What is the chance that Joe’s number is larger than Rachel’s number?