Problem Solving

PROBLEM SOLVING EXERCISES PREPARED BY: Mark Lao
1. The favorite colors of Ann, Lita, Alvin, and Johnny are red, blue, green, and orange, but not necessarily in that
order. No person’s name contains the same number of letters as his or her favorite color. Alvin and the boy who
likes blue live in different parts of town. Red is the favorite color of one of the girls. What is each person’s
favorite color?
2. How many gifts in all did the “true love” send to his lover in the song Twelve Days of Christmas?
3. In a math contest, every participant shook hands with every other participant. How many handshakes took place
if there were 25 participants?
4. I am thinking of a two-digit number. It is odd. Its tens digit is even. It is prime. The sum of its digit is 11. The
product of its digits is 24. What number am I thinking of?
5. During the University Week, the Sports Club organized a dart competition. It was announced that each dart that
lands in a region of the target may score 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 points. Each competitor is allowed to throw five darts at
the target. Which of the following total scores are not possible: 6, 14, 17, 38, 42, 57? Justify your answer.
6. Natural numbers are arranged in a triangular shape as shown below. If the pattern continues, what is the tenth
number in the 50th row?
1
2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9
...
7. “I was very unlucky today. I entered three casinos; each has an entrance fee and an exit fee of ₱100 each. Inside
each casino, I won a lot and doubled the current amount that I have. Surprisingly, after exiting the last casino, I
was left with nothing. How much money did I start with?”
8. Find the difference when the sum of the first 2018 positive odd integers is subtracted from the sum of the first
2018 positive even integers.
9. Find two whole numbers 𝑎 and 𝑏 such that 𝑎𝑏 = 1,000,000, and neither 𝑎 nor 𝑏 has a zero digit.
10. A spider is at the bottom of a 20-foot well. It climbs 3 meters every morning, but falls down 1 meter every night.
How many days will it take the spider to climb out of the well?
11. In Carenderia Tomasino, a combo meal consists of a cup of rice, a bowl of soup, a serving of viand, and a dessert.
If there are 3 choices for the soup, 5 for the viand, and 2 for the dessert, how many combo meals in all can be
made?
12. Alice and Bob are in separate rooms. If Alice transfers to Bob’s room, there will be an equal number of persons
in each room. If Bob transfers to Alice’s room, there will be twice as many people in Alice’s room as in the other
room. How many persons are in each room?
13. Place the numbers 1 to 9, one in each circle, so that the sum of the four numbers along any of the three sides of
a triangle is 20. There are 9 circles and 9 numbers to place in the circles. Each circle must contain a different
number.
14. Dog A barks every 12 minutes while Dog B barks every 16 minutes. If they bark together at midnight, how many
times will they bark together in the next 24 hours?
15. Two men and two boys wish to cross a river. Their small boat will carry the weight of only one man or two boys.
Find the minimum number of times the boat must cross the river to get all four persons on the opposite shore.
16. “It’s 2018. Two days ago, I was 15. Next year, I’ll be 18,” said Charlie. For this claim to be true, (a) when is
Charlie’s birthday, and (b) on what date did he say this?
17. What is the maximum number of regions that can be formed if six lines are drawn to cut a circle?
18. Write each whole number from 1 to 20 using only four 4’s and any basic operations (+, −,×,÷, 𝑛!, √𝑥, 𝑏 𝑚 ).
19. You are given eight identical gold nuggets, only one of which is genuine. All seven counterfeit nuggets are of
equal weight while the genuine nugget is heavier. What is the minimum number of times that you have to use a
balance scale to determine which of the eight is the genuine one?
20. How do you get exactly 1 liter of water if you only have the following containers?
a. 3-liter and 8-liter jugs
b. 5-liter and 8-liter jugs
c. 2-liter and 8-liter jugs
REFERENCE: Camarista, G. G. (2016). The art of problem solving. Cubao, Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
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PROBLEM SOLVING EXERCISES PREPARED BY: Mark Lao

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