SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Primary 6 (Grade 6) – GEP Practice

2020
Contest Problems with Full Solutions

Authors:
Henry Ong, BSc, MBA, CMA
Merlan Nagidulin, BSc

© Singapore International Mastery Contests Centre (SIMCC)

All Rights Reserved
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying and recording, or by any information or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the
publisher.

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Section A (Correct answer – 2 points| No answer – 0 points| Incorrect answer – minus 1 point)

Question 1
Find the value of the following.
2020 × 2020 − 2019 × 2021

A. 2020
B. 4040
C. 1
D. 2
E. None of the above

Question 2
What is the next number in the following pattern?
1,2,6,15,31, 56, …

A. 92
B. 81
C. 105
D. 78
E. None of the above

Question 3
In a supermarket, the chicken nuggets are only available in packs of either 3 or 7
nuggets. For example, you cannot purchase exactly 2, 5 or 8 nuggets. What is the
largest number of chicken nuggets that one cannot purchase?

A. 231
B. 721
C. 23
D. 13
E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 4

In the diagram, the unshaded area is made of 4

semicircles touching at the centre of the large circle. If
the diameter of the large circle is 28 cm, find the area
22
of the shaded region. (Use 𝜋 = )
7

A. 616 cm2
B. 462 cm2
C. 308 cm2
D. 154 cm2
E. None of the above

Question 5

James has tiles of size 3 cm × 7 cm. He wants to put them on the floor of size 23
cm × 10 cm. What is the largest number of tiles that he can put without overlapping
or breaking of any tiles?

A. 10
B. 9
C. 8
D. 7
E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 6

The following bar chart shows the responses made by SASMO Primary 6 students in
a multiple-choice question. All the horizontal lines are equally spaced. Each student
selected one of the possible choices and the correct answer is C. Find the
percentage of students who answered this question correctly.

Primary 6 students' responses

A B C D E

A. 25%
B. 16%
C. 24%
D. 20%
E. None of the above

Question 7

Working alone, Ryan can dig a 5 m by 5 m by 5 m hole in six hours. Castel can dig
a 10 m by 10 m by 5 m hole in twelve hours. How many hours would it take them
to dig a 5 m by 5 m by 5 m hole if they worked together?

A. 4
B. 1
C. 2
D. 3
E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 8

The five-digit number A549B is divisible by 45. Find the value of A + B.

A. 0
B. 9
C. 18
D. 27
E. None of the above

Question 9
Which cube below has a top view same as the clock on the
right?

A B C

D E

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 10

Stacy bought a pack of M&M chips. After she ate some, the ratio of the number of
chips she ate to the number of remaining chips in the pack was 3 : 5. If she eats 50
chips more, then the new ratio will be 7 : 5. How many M&M chips were there in the
pack when Stacy bought it?

A. 10
B. 150
C. 240
D. 140
E. None of the above

Question 11

The minute hand of a certain clock is 3 times as long as the hour hand. In 24 hours,
the tips of hour and minute hands travelled 1036 × 𝜋 cm in total. How long is the
22
hour hand of the clock? (Use 𝜋 = )
7

A. 7 cm
B. 21 cm
C. 14 cm
D. 7.5 cm
E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 12

In Mathematics, the product of the first 𝑛 positive integers is written as 𝑛! =

𝑛 × (𝑛 − 1) × … × 1. For example, 2! = 2 × 1 and 7! = 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1. How
many consecutive digit "0"s at the end of 8! + 9! are there?

A. 0
B. 2
C. 1
D. 3
E. None of the above

Question 13
Four identical rectangles are placed side by side on a 28 cm by 20 cm rectangular
piece of paper in 2 different ways as shown in Figures A and B. What is the
difference in the perimeters of the shaded regions of Figure A and B?

A. 96 cm
B. 80 cm
C. 32 cm
D. 16 cm
E. None of the above

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 14
Hailey, Lydia, Julia, Asher and Charles are Primary 4 or 6 students. They study in
either Bright Primary School or Light Primary School.

• Lydia and Charles are from the same grade.

• Julia and Asher study at different levels.
• Three students study in Primary 4 and the other two students in Primary 6.
• Asher and Charles are from different schools.
• Hailey and Julia go to the same school.
• Three students go to Bright Primary School and the other two are from Light
Primary School.

If one of them is Primary 6 student from Light Primary School, who is that person?

A. Hailey
B. Lydia
C. Julia
D. Asher
E. Charles

Question 15
In which of the following times is the hour hand closest to the minute hand of a
clock?
A. 9:47
B. 9:48
C. 9:49
D. 9:50
E. 9:51

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Section B (Correct answer – 4 points| Incorrect or No answer – 0 points)

When an answer is a 1-digit number, shade “0” for the tens, hundreds and thousands place.
Example: if the answer is 7, then shade 0007
When an answer is a 2-digit number, shade “0” for the hundreds and thousands place.
Example: if the answer is 23, then shade 0023
When an answer is a 3-digit number, shade “0” for the thousands place.
Example: if the answer is 785, then shade 0785
When an answer is a 4-digit number, shade as it is.
Example: if the answer is 4196, then shade 4196

Question 16

Find the last digit of the following product.

2 × 2 × …× 2 × ⏟
⏟ 3 × 3…× 3
20 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 24 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠

Question 17
How many triangles are there in the figure below?

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 18

Find the value of the following.

1 1 1 1
( + + +⋯ ) × 2020
20 × 25 25 × 30 30 × 35 2015 × 2020

Question 19
4
The number of apples in a basket is of the number of oranges. The ratio of the
5

number of pears to the number of apples is 3 : 8. The rest of the fruits are bananas
and 20% of all the fruits in the baskets are oranges. The number of bananas is 48
more than the total number of apples, oranges and pears. How many fruits are there
in the basket?

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 20

The number of digits used to number the pages of a book is twice the number of
pages of the book. If the number of pages of the book is a three-digit number, how
many pages does the book have?

Question 21

The diameter of Candle A is longer than that of Candle B. Candle A can burn
for 24 hours, while Candle B can burn for 16 hours. Both were lit at the same time
and had the same height two hours later. If the original height of Candle A is 168
mm, what is the original height (in mm) of Candle B?

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 22
An election for the school president position consists of 4 candidates: Amelia, Brad,
Chris and Diana. There are 382 voters. In the middle of the manual count, Amelia
got 90 votes, Brad got 45 votes, Chris got 69 votes, and Diana got 78 votes. What is
the smallest number of votes that Amelia needs to get in order to ensure that she
wins the position?

Question 23

In the diagram, ∠𝐴𝐵𝐶 = ∠𝐴𝐷𝐵 = 90°, 𝐴𝐵 = 𝐵𝐶, A

𝐵𝐷 = 4 cm and 𝐴𝐷 = 6 cm. Find the area (in cm2)
of triangle 𝐵𝐷𝐶.

D
B C

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 24

In the following cryptarithm, all the different letters stand for different digits.

P Q R S
x 9
S R Q P

Find the value of the 4-digit number PQRS.

Question 25

Jason randomly placed digits 1, 2, 3, …, 9 around a circle. When he read three

consecutive digits in clockwise order, he got a three-digit whole number. If there are
9 such three-digit numbers, find the sum of the 9 numbers.

END OF PAPER
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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Solutions to SASMO 2020 Primary 6 (Grade 6)

Question 1

2020 × 2020 − 2019 × 2021 = 20202 − (2020 − 1) × (2020 + 1)

= 20202 − 20202 + 1 = 1

Answer: (C)

Question 2
The pattern is as follows:

1+1×1=2

2+2×2=6

6 + 3 × 3 = 15

15 + 4 × 4 = 31

31 + 5 × 5 = 56

56 + 6 × 6 = 𝟗𝟐

Answer: (A)

Question 3
We can purchase exactly 3 × 4 = 12 nuggets, 3 × 2 + 7 = 13 nuggets and 7 × 2 = 14
nuggets. Next three numbers 15, 16 and 17 can be obtained from 12, 13 and 14 by
buying one more pack of 3 nuggets. Thus, all number bigger than 11 can be
purchased by buying additional packs of 3 nuggets, and the largest number of
chicken nuggets that one cannot purchase is 11.
Answer: (E)

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 4
When we combined two of the semicircles, we get a full circle with a radius of 28 ÷
4 = 7 cm. Then the area of the unshaded region is

22
2 × 𝜋 × 72 = 2 × × 72 = 308 𝑐𝑚2 .
7

Thus, the area of the shaded regions is equal to

𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐿𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝐶𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑙𝑒) − 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝑢𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛) =

28 2 22 28 2
= 𝜋 × ( ) − 308 = × ( ) − 308 = 616 − 308 = 𝟑𝟎𝟖 𝒄𝒎𝟐 .
2 7 2

Answer: (C)

Question 5
The area of the floor is 23 × 10 = 230 cm2, and the area of a tile is 3 × 7 = 21 cm2.
Since 230 = 21 × 10 + 20, the greatest number of tiles James can put on the floor
is 10. The figure below is an example of an arrangement of 10 tiles.

3
3
3 7
3

7 7 3 3 3

Answer: (A)

Question 6
Let the number of students who answered C be 4 units.

The total number of Primary 6 students is 6 + 2 + 4 + 5 + 3 = 20 units.

Thus, the percentage of students who answered this question correctly is

4 20
= = 𝟐𝟎%.
20 100

Answer: (D)
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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 7
125
Working alone, Ryan can dig a 5 × 5 × 5 = 125 m3 hole in six hours or m3 per
6
hour.
500 250
Castel can dig a 10 × 10 × 5 = 500 m3 hole in twelve hours or = m3 per hour.
12 6
125 250 375
Working together, they can dig + = m3 per hour. Hence they can dig a
6 6 6
375
5 × 5 × 5 = 125 m3 hole in 125 ÷ = 𝟐 hours.
6

Answer: (C)

Question 8

The five-digit number A549B must be divisible by 5 and 9 since 45 = 5 × 9.

From the divisibility rule of 5, we have 𝐵 = 0 𝑜𝑟 5.

From the divisibility rule of 9, we have 𝐴 + 5 + 4 + 9 + 𝐵 = 𝐴 + 𝐵 + 18 which is

divisible by 9 or 𝐴 + 𝐵 = 9 𝑜𝑟 18.

If 𝐴 + 𝐵 = 18 and 𝐵 = 0 𝑜𝑟 5, then 𝐴 = 18 𝑜𝑟 13 which is impossible since A is a

digit.

Thus, 𝐴 + 𝐵 = 9.

Answer: (B)

Question 9
It is not option A as the second hand in option A is in between V and VI.
It is not option B as the small circle in option B is next to V and VI.
It is not option C as the hour hand in option C points to VI.
It is not option E as the minute hand in option E points to II.
The top view of option D matches with the clock.
Answer: (D)

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 10
After she ate some, the ratio of the number of chips she ate to the number of
remaining chips in the pack was 3 : 5:

The amount she ate Remaining amount Total

Ratio: 3 5 8
If she eats 50 chips more, then the new ratio will be 7 : 5:

The amount she ate Remaining amount Total

Ratio: 7 5 12

Since the total number of chips never changes, then change the ratios in both tables
so that the total number is the same, which is 48.

The amount she ate Remaining amount Total

After 1st 3 × 6 = 18 5 × 6 = 30 8 × 6 = 48
sentence
After 2nd 7 × 4 = 28 5 × 4 = 20 12 × 4 = 48
sentence
Since she ate 50 chips in the second sentence, then 28 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 − 18 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 =
10 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 = 50 𝑜𝑟 1 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 = 5.

The number of chips in the pack was 48 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 = 48 × 5 = 𝟐𝟒𝟎.

Answer: (C)

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 11
Let the length of the hour hand be 𝑟. Then the length of the minute hand is 3𝑟.
The distance travelled by the hour hand in 12 hours is the circumference of a circle
with a radius of 𝑟, which is 2 × 𝜋 × 𝑟.
Similarly, the distance travelled by the minute hand in 1 hour is 2 × 𝜋 × 3𝑟 =
6 × 𝜋 × 𝑟.
The total distance travelled in 24 hours is
1036 × 𝜋 = 2 × (2 × 𝜋 × 𝑟) + 24 × (6 × 𝜋 × 𝑟) = 4 × 𝜋 × 𝑟 + 144 × 𝜋 × 𝑟
= 148 × 𝜋 × 𝑟
Hence 1036 = 148 × 𝑟 or 𝑟 = 1036 ÷ 148 = 7 cm. The hour hand is 7 cm long.
Answer: (A)

Question 12
8! + 9! = 8! × 1 + 8! × 9 = 8! × (1 + 9) = 8! × 10

8! contains only one pair of (2,5) in its product, hence 8! has one consecutive zero at
the end and 10 × 8! has 2 consecutive zeros.
Answer: (B)

Question 13
The perimeter of the shaded region in figure A is 2 × (20 + 28) = 96.
Let the length of each of the four rectangles be 𝑥 and its width be 𝑦.
In figure B, 𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 28.
The perimeter of the shaded region in figure B is
2 × (20 − 2𝑦) + 2 × (20 − 𝑥) + 2 × 28 = 40 − 4𝑦 + 40 − 2𝑥 + 56
= 136 − 2(𝑥 + 2𝑦)
= 136 − 2 × 28 = 80
The difference is 96 − 80 = 𝟏𝟔 cm.
Answer: (D)

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 14
If Hailey and Julia go to Light Primary School, then neither Asher nor Charles goes to
Light Primary School. Hence Asher and Charles go to Bright Primary School, which is
impossible as they are from different schools. Thus, Hailey and Julia go to Bright
Primary School.

If Lydia and Charles are Primary 6 students, then neither Julia nor Asher is a Primary
6 student. Hence Julia and Asher are Primary 4 students, which is impossible as they
study at different levels. Thus, Lydia and Charles are Primary 4 students.
Hailey, Julia, Lydia and Charles cannot be a Primary 6 student from Light Primary
School School. Thus, the answer is Asher.
Answer: (D)

Question 15
The angle of each division is 360° ÷ 12 = 30° 12
11 1
In 1 hour:
• the hour hand moves by 30° 10 2
• the minute hand moves by 360° o
30

In 1 minute:
9 3
• the hour hand moves by 30° ÷ 60 =
0.5°
• the minute hand moves by 360° ÷ 8 4
60 = 6°
Let us assume that 𝑚 minutes after 9:00, the 7 5
angle between the hands is 0°. 6

The minute hand travelled 6° × 𝑚 = 6𝑚 from the 12.

The hour hand travelled 0.5° × 𝑚 = 0.5𝑚 from the 9. Also, the angle between 12
and 9 is 30° × 9 = 270°. Thus, the angle between the 12 and the tip of the hour
hand is 270° + 0.5𝑚.
The angle between the hands of a clock is
6𝑚 − (270 + 0.5𝑚) = 0°.
1
Solving the equation, we get 𝑚 = 49 and the closest time to it is 𝟗: 𝟒𝟗.
11

Answer: (C)

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 16
2 × 2 × …× 2 × ⏟
⏟ 3 × 3 … × 3 = (2
⏟× 3) × (2 × 3) … × (2 × 3) × ⏟
3 × 3…× 3
20 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 24 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 20 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 4 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠

=⏟
6 × 6 × … × 6 × 81
20 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠

The last digit of ⏟

6 × 6 × … × 6 is 6 and the last digit of ⏟
6 × 6 × … × 6 × 81 is also 6.
20 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 20 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠

Answer: 6

Question 17

Count by types of triangle.

Type of triangle Quantity

1-part triangles 11

2-part triangles 12

3-part triangles 6

4-part triangles 6

5-part triangles 3

7-part triangles 4

Total 42

Answer: 42

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 18

We can notice that

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
= × ( − ), = × ( − ),…, =
20 × 25 5 20 25 25 × 30 5 25 30 2015 × 2020
1 1 1
= ×( − ).
5 2015 2020

Hence

1 1 1 1
( + + +⋯ ) × 2020
20 × 25 25 × 30 30 × 35 2015 × 2020
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
= ( × ( − ) + × ( − ) + ⋯+ × ( − )) × 2020
5 20 25 5 25 30 5 2015 2020
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
= × (( − ) + ( − ) + ⋯ + ( − )) × 2020
5 20 25 25 30 2015 2020
1 1 1
= ×( − ) × 2020 = 𝟐𝟎
5 20 2020

Answer: 20

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 19
4
The number of apples in a basket is of the number of oranges:
5
Oranges Apples Pears Bananas
Ratio: 5 4
or
5 × 2 = 10 4×2=8
The ratio of the number of pears to the number of apples is 3 : 8:

Oranges Apples Pears Bananas

Ratio: 10 8 3
The total number of fruits is 10 × 5 = 50 units since the number of oranges, which is
10 units, is 20% of all the fruits. Hence

Oranges Apples Pears Bananas

Ratio: 10 8 3 29
The number of bananas is 48 more than the total number of apples, oranges and
pears:
29 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 − (10 + 8 + 3) 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 = 8 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 = 48 ⇒ 1 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 = 6.

The total number of fruits in the basket is 50 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 = 50 × 6 = 𝟑𝟎𝟎.

Answer: 300

Question 20
Let 𝑥 be the number of pages in the book. Then

Values Number of values Number of digits

1 to 9 9 9×1=9
10 to 99 90 90 × 2 = 180
100 to 𝑥 𝑥 − 99 3 × (𝑥 − 99)
Total: 𝑥 9 + 180 + 3𝑥 − 297 = 3𝑥 − 108
It is given that the number of digits used to number the pages of a book is twice the
number of pages, so

3𝑥 − 108 = 2𝑥 ⇒ 𝑥 = 𝟏𝟎𝟖.

Answer: 108

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 21

The burn rate of Candle A is 168 ÷ 24 = 7 mm per hour. After two hours, the height
of Candle A was 168 − 2 × 7 = 154 mm which was the height of Candle B as well.

2 1 7
Candle B burned = of its height in two hours and left with of its height which
16 8 8

was 154 mm.

7 8
Thus, the original height of Candle B is 154 ÷ = 154 × = 𝟏𝟕𝟔 mm.
8 7

Answer: 176

Question 22

In the middle of the manual count, there are 382 − 90 − 45 − 69 − 78 = 100 votes
which are yet to be counted.
To ensure Amelia wins the position, we consider the worst-case scenario when all
remaining votes are either for Amelia, or for the candidate with the 2nd highest vote
count, Diana.
In this scenario, Diana needs 12 more votes than Amelia (since Amelia is currently
100+12
leading by 12 votes), from the remaining 100 votes to win, or = 56 votes.
2

Hence Amelia needs a minimum of 90 + 100 − 56 + 1 or 135 votes to win.

Answer: 135

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 23
Let 𝐷𝐸 be the height of triangle 𝐵𝐷𝐶. A

Apply Pythagoras Theorem on triangle 𝐴𝐵𝐷:

𝐴𝐵 = √42 + 62 = √52 = 2√13

Triangles 𝐷𝐵𝐴 and 𝐸𝐷𝐵 are similar since ∠𝐷𝐵𝐸 = 90° − D

∠𝐷𝐵𝐴 = ∠𝐷𝐴𝐵 and ∠𝐵𝐷𝐴 = ∠𝐷𝐸𝐵. Hence

B E C
𝐷𝐸 𝐷𝐵 𝐷𝐸 4 8
= ⇔ = ⇒ 𝐷𝐸 =
𝐷𝐵 𝐴𝐵 4 2√13 √13

Thus,

𝐷𝐸 × 𝐵𝐶 𝐷𝐸 × 𝐴𝐵 8 2√13
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎(𝐵𝐷𝐶) = = = × = 𝟖 𝒄𝒎𝟐
2 2 √13 2

Answer: 8

Question 24

P=1, otherwise if P≥2, then 2 _ _ _× 9 is a five-digit number.

In ones place multiplication, S=9 since the ones digit of S×9 is 1.

If Q≥2, then 12_ _ × 9 is a five-digit number. Hence Q=0.

In tens place multiplication, R=8 since the ones digit of (R×9+8) is 0.

Thus, the value of the 4-digit number PQRS is 1089.

Answer: 1089

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SASMO 2020, Primary 6 (Grade 6) Contest Solutions

Question 25

We can notice that each digit appears exactly once in the tens, ones and hundreds
place.

Hence the sum of the 9 numbers can be rewritten as

1 + 10 + 100 + 2 + 20 + 200 + 3 + 30 + 300 + ⋯ + 9 + 90 + 900

= 111 + 222 + 333 + ⋯ + 999 = 111 × (1 + 2 + 3 + ⋯ + 9) = 111 × 45
= 𝟒𝟗𝟗𝟓.

Answer: 4995

25