Math Challenge Reviewer Part 1 Answer Key Grade 8

1. What is the mean of 2020 consecutiv e positive integers starting with 200?
Solution :
The mean of n consecutive integers is equal to their medians. The median of 2020 is at the
2020  1
halfway between 1010th and 1011st numbers   1010.5th . The 1010th number is 1209
 2 
200  1010  1 and the 1011 number is 1210 200  1011  1, and their average is 1209.5 .
st

2. Simplify : 3 4 3  7 3  4 32  1

Solution :
By using PEMDAS rule,
3 4 3  73  432  1  3 64  73  49  1
 192  73  410
 192  73  40
 192  7  37
 192    259
 451 .

1 2
3. Find the slope of the line passing through points  ,1  and  ,9 .
5  3 
Solution :
1 2
Let x 1 , y 1    ,1  and x 2 , y 2    ,9 . The slope of a line passing through points x 1 , y 1  and
5  3 
y 2  y1
x 2 , y 2  is defined as m  . By substituti on,
x2  x1
y  y1
m 2
x2  x1
9    1

2 1

3 5
10

7
15
15
 10 
7 
150
 .
7

Page 1
4. What is the perimeter of quadrilate ral ABCD having sides AB  5 cm, CB  4 cm, CD  0.1 dm
and AD  25 mm?
Solution :
First, convert all lengths to centimeters. AB  5 cm, CB  4 cm, CD  0.1 dm  1 cm and AD 
25 mm  2.5 cm. Then add all the measures. AB  CB  CD  AD  5  4  1  2.5  cm 
12.5 cm .

5. Expand x 2  2x  5 x 2  3x  2 .
Solution :
x 2  2x  5x 2  3x  2  x 2 x 2  3x  2  2x x 2  3x  2  5x 2  3x  2
 x 4  3x 3  2x 2  2x 3  6x 2  4x  5x 2  15x  10
 x 4  x 3  x 2  11x  10 .

6. What is the value of 3xy 2  y x if x  3 and y  2?

Solution :
By substitution, 3xy 2  y x  3  3    2 2    2  3  9  4    8   38  8  46 .

77 3  23 3
7. Find the value of .
77  54  23 2
Solution :
77 3  23 3 77  2377 2  77  23  23 2 

77  54  23 2 77  54  23 2
77  2377  77  23  23 2 

77  54  23 2
77  2377  54  23 2 

77  54  23 2
 77  23
 100 .

8. Factor x 5  243y 5 .
Solution :
x 5  243y 5 is in the form a 5  b 5 where a  x and b  3y. a 5  b 5  a  b a 4  a 3b  a 2b 2  ab 3
 b 4 . By substitution,
x 5  243y 5  x  3y x 4  x 3 3y   x 2 3y 2  x 3y 3  3y 4 
 x  3y x 4  3x 3y  9x 2y 2  27xy 3  81y 4  .

Page 2
9. Which of the numbers 9 100 , 8 200 , 7 300 , 6 400 and 5 500 is the largest?
Solution :
All the numbers listed above can be written in the form x 100. 9100  9100, 8 200  82 
100
,7 -300 
7 3 100, 6-400  64 100 and 5500  55 100. The largest among these numbers is when x is the
100
smallest. It is clearly seen that the smallest among the x ' s is 9. So the largest number is 9 .

10. Find the ratio of an exterior angle of a regular 40 - gon to an interior angle of a regular 18  gon.
Solution :
360 
The measure of the exterior angle of a regular n - gon is given as  . So the measure of an
 n 
360 
exterior angle of a regular 40 - gon is    9. The measure of the interior angle of a regular
 40 
180n  2  
n - gon is equal to  . This leads to the measure of an interior angle of a regular
 n 
180 18  2 
18 - gon equal to    160. So the ratio between two angles is equal to 9 : 160 .

 18 

x 3 x 1
11. Find the surface area of a rectangular prism whose dimension is in. by 2 in. by
2x  1 x  7x  12
x 4
in.
x2 1
Solution :
x 3
The formula for the surface area of a rectangular prism is SA  2lw  2lh  2wh. Let l 
2x  1
x 1 x 4
in. , w  2
in. and h  2 in. By substitution,
x  7x  12 x 1
x  3  x 1   2  x  3  x  4   2  x 1  x  4 
SA  2   2    2   2  
 2x  1  x  7x  12   2x  1  x  1   x  7x  12  x 2  1 
2 x  3 x  1 2x  4 x  3  2x  1x  4 
  
2x  1x  3 x  4  2x  1x  1x  1 x  3x  4 x  1x  1
2x  3 x  12 x  1  x  4 2 x  32  x  1x  4 2x  1

2x  1x  3x  4 x  1x  1
2x 4  2x 3  4x 2  3x  3  x 4  14x 3  61x 2  168x  144  2x 3  5x 2  11x  2

2x  1x  3x  4 x  1x  1
22x 4  10x 3  52x 2  176x  145

2x  1x  3x  4 x  1x  1
4x 4  20x 3  104x 2  352x  290
 .
2x  1x  3x  4 x  1x  1

Page 3
12. Find the value of f x  1  f  x  if f  x   2  7x .
Solution :
Given that f  x   2  7x , and f x  1  2  7x  1  2  7x  7  5  7x . So,
f x  1  f  x   5  7x  2  7x 
  5  7x  2  7x
 7 .

13. The ratio of an angle to its supplement is 3 : 7. Find the measure of its complement.
Solution :
The sum of an angle and its supplement is equal to 180. Let 3x  be the angle and 7x  be its
supplement . So 3x   7x   180  10x   180   x    18  3x   54 and the measure
of the complement is 90  54  36 .

14. How many digits does 1,000,000 2020 have when expanded?
Solution :
1,000,0002020 can be written as 106 
2020
 1012120 which means that the digit 1 is followed by 12120
zeroes when expanded. So the number 1,000,000 2020 has 12121 digits .

p
15. When 8 is added to the numerator and 5 is added to the denominator of the fraction , the result
q
8 1
is . When 5 is subtracted to the numerator and 6 is added to the denominator, the result is .
7 5
p
What is ?
q
Solution :
p8 8 p5 1
The problem can be translated as  and  . The first equation can be written as
q 5 7 q 6 5
7 p  56  8q  40  7 p  8q  16 and the second equation as 5p  25  q  6  5p  q  31.
p 8
Solving this system of equations by substitution, we get p  8 and q  9. So,  .
q 9

16. If two sides of an equilateral triangle are 7x  3  dm and 3x  5  dm, what is its perimeter?
Solution :
Since the sides are sides of an equilateral triangle, they should have the same length. So,
7x  3  3x  5
4x  2
1
x 
2
1 13
By substituti on, 7x  3  7   3  . Since we were tasked to find the perimeter, we will
2 2
13 39
multiply it by 3 obtaining 3  dm  dm  195 cm .
2 2

Page 4
 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1   1 1 1 1 1 1 1
17. Evaluate :                   
 80 85 90 95   85 90 95 100   85 90 95   80 85 90 95
1 
 .
100 
Solution :
1 1 1 1 1   1  x  1 . By using FOIL and
Let x    to obtain   x    x  x  
85 90 95  80   100   80 100 
distibutiv e property, we have
 1  x   x  1   x   1  x  1   x  1  x 2  x  x  x 2  x  1 .
     
 80   100   80 100  80 8000 100 80 100 8000

1
8
18. Simplify x3 .
1
4 2
x
Solution :
1
8 3 3
x 3  x  8x  1
1 3
4x 3  x
4 2 x
x
2x  14x 2  2x  1

x 2x  12x  1
4x 2  2x  1
 .
x 2x  1

19. Solve for x : x  2  2x  2   3x  2     2020x  2   6123630.

Solution :
x  2  2x  2   3x  2     2020x  2   6123630
1  2  3    2020x  2  6123630
 2020  2021 x  2   6123630
 
 2 
2041210x  2   6123630
x 2  3
x 5.

5  10  67  12  69  14  6 2021  2026  6

20. Evaluate .
6  11  68  13  610  15  6 2020  2025  6 
Solution :
All factors were in the form x x  5   6  x 2  5x  6  x  2x  3 . So the expression can be
7  8  9  10  11  12    2023  2024
written as  7  2024  14168 .
8  9  10  11  12  13    2022  2023

Page 5
21. What is the sum of the reciprocals of all positive divisors of 2020? (e.g. For 16, we have 1, 2, 4, 8
1 1 1 1
and 16 as its factors. Their reciprocals are 1, , , and respectively. The sum of those
2 4 8 16
31 465 93 511
numbers is . For 200, it' s  , For 256, it' s .)
16 200 40 256
Solution :
From the examples, we can conclude that their numerators is just the sum of all the positive
divisors of a certain number x and for the denominator, it is just the number x . So, we only need
to find the sum of positive divisors of 2020 which is 1  2  4  5  10  20  101  202  404  505
 1010  2020  4284 and we can get the sum of the reciprocals of all positive divisors of 2020
4284 1071
which is  .
2020 505

22. If a,b, and c are positive real numbers such that a b  c   68,b(c  a )  42 and c a  b   50, what
is the value of abc ?
Solution :
By adding these three equations and dividing it by two, we get ab  bc  ca  80. Subtractin g
the original three equations from the derived equation, we get bc  12, ca  38 and ab  30.
Multiplying these three equations, we get a 2b 2c 2  13680. Take the square root of both sides, we
get abc  13680  12 95 .

1 2 7y  14x  2xy
23. If   7, what is ?
x y 6x  4xy  3y
Solution :
1 2 y  2x 7y  2x   2xy
 7  7  y  2x  7xy. Arranging the 2nd expression, we got .
x y xy  3y  2x   4xy
77xy   2xy 51xy
By substitution, we have   3 .
 37xy   4xy  17xy

24. The points - 3,1 and 1, y  are 41 units apart. Find the value/s of y.
Solution :
By using the distance formula d  x 2  x1 2  y2  y1 2 , we have
41  1    3 2  y  12
41  42  y  12
41  16  y  12
25  y  12
 5  y  1 or 5  y  1
4 y or 6  y .

Page 6
25. Determine the solution set of the equation x  1  x  2  1.
Solution :
The problem shows us 5 possible sets as solutions namely x  1, x  1, 1  x  2, x  2, and x  2.
Now, where going to substitute a number from each set to the equation. For x  1, we let x  0,
01  0 2  1
1  2  1
12  1
3  1 False.
For x  1,
11  12  1
0  1  1
01  1
1  1 True.
For 1  x  2, we let x  1.5,
1. 5  1  1. 5  2  1
0. 5   0. 5  1
0. 5  0. 5  1
1  1 True.
For x  2,
2 1  22  1
1 0 1
1 0  1
1  1 True.
For x  2, we let x  3,
31  3 2  1
2 1 1
21  1
3  1 False.
Only 3 out of 5 sets satisfy the equation x  1, 1  x  2, and x  2 . So the solution set of the
equation is x | x  1  1  x  2   x  2  or x | 1  x  2 or 1  x  2 or 1,2 .

26. Express the product of 0.006, 0.05 and 0.0001 in scientific notation.
Solution :
First express each number n scientifc notation. 0.006  6  103, 0.05  5  102 and 0.0001
 1  104. Then multiply, 6  103  5  102  1  104  30  109  3  108 .

Page 7
27. Factor completely : p 4  4q 4 .
Solution :
p 4  4q 4  p 4  4p 2q 2  4q 4  4p 2q 2

 p 2  2q 2   2pq 2
2

 p 2  2q 2  2pq p 2  2q 2  2pq  .

28. What is the domain of the function f (x )  x  1 ?

Solution :
The function f (x )  x  1 is defined if the radicand (the number inside the square root symbol)
is greater than or equal to 0. So the domain D  x | x  1  0 or x | x  1 or 1,  .

1 1 1 1
29. If x , y and z are positive real numbers such that x  y  z  14 and    , what
x y y z x z 3
z x y
is   ?
x y y z x z
Solution :
x  y  z  14 can be expressed as x  14  (y  z ), y  14  (x  z ) and z  14  (x  y ). By
substitution,
z x y 14  x  y  14  y  z  14   x  z 
    
x y y z x z x y y z x z
14 x y 14 y z 14 x z
     
x y x y y z y z x z x z
 1 1 1 
 14   3
x y y  z x  z 
1 1 1 1  1 1 1  1 14 5
But    . So 14     3  14   3  3  .
x y y z x z 3 x  y y  z x  z  3 3 3

1 1 1 1
30. Let a,b and c be positive numbers such that a   4,b   5 and c   6. Find abc  .
b c a abc
Solution :
1 1 1
The first three equations can be formulate as a  4  ,b  5  and c  6  .Multiplying these
b c a
three equations, we get
24 30 6 20 4 5 1
abc  120       
c b bc a ac ab abc
5 1 6 1 4 1 1
 120   4     5     6   
a b b  c c  a  abc
5 6 4 1
 120   a   b    c  
a b c abc
1
 120  5  6  4 
abc
1
By APE, we get abc   135 .
abc

Page 8
31. Write the equation of the line in the form Ax  By  C  0 that is perpendicu lar to the line
3x  5y  1 and having the same y  intercept as 2x  3y  1.
Solution :
2 1 1 3
2x  3y  1  y   x  crosses the y  axis at  0,  . The slope of the line 3x  5y  1 is .
3 3  3 5
5 5 1
The slope of a line perpendicular to 3x  5y  1 is  . By substitution, we have y   x  or
3 3 3
5x  3y  1  0 .

2
x  1  x  1   4  0.
32. Solve :    5 
 x   x 
Solution :
x 1
Let u  to obtain
x
u 2  5u  4  0
u  4 u  1  0
u4 0 or u  1  0
u  4 or u  1
Back substitute , we get
x 1 x 1
4  or  1 
x x
 4x  x  1 or  x  x  1
 5x  1 or  2x  1
1 1
x  or x  .
5 2

33. Find the equation of the line in slope - intercept form that is parallel to the line 5x  4y  4  0
and passes through the intersection of 3x  2y  5  0 and 2x  3y  1  0.
Solution :
3x  2y  5
Solving the system of linear equation  , we have
2x  3y  1

33x  2y  5  9x  6y  15
22x  3y  1  4x  6y  2  13x  13  x  1  y  1
 
5
The slope of a line parallel to 5x  4y  4  0 is . By slope - point formula y  y1  m x  x 1 ,
4
5
y  1  x  1
4
5 5
y  x  1
4 4
5 9
y x .
4 4

Page 9
34. Find the area bounded by the line 4x  3y  17 and the coordinate axes.
Solution :
17 17
Finding the x - and y - intercept of the linear equation, we have a  and b   . The shape
4 3
formed by the boundaries is a right triangle having legs congruent to the absolute value of x -
1 1 17 17 289
and y - intercepts. So the area bounded by three lines is A  bh      .
2 2 4 3  24

 2a  b  c  10

35. Solve for a,b, and c : 3a  2b  2c  1 .
  a  3b  c  1

Solution :
 2a  b  c  10  a  3b  c  1
 
3a  2b  2c  1 (e.1)  (e.3),  (e.3)  (e.1) 3a  2b  2c  1  3(e.1)  (e.2)  (e.2)
  a  3b  c  1  2a  b  c  10
 
a  3b  c  1 a  3b  c  1
 
 7b  c  4  2(e.1)  (e.3)  (e.3)  7b  c  4  (e.2)  (e.3)  (e.3)
2a  b  c  10  7b  3c  12
 
a  3b  c  1

 7b  c  4
 2c  8


Using MPE and back - subtitutio n, we get c  4, b  0 and a  3 .

36. An exoplanet Kepler - 452b is 1,400 light years away from earth. What is the volume, in cubic
meters, of the planet if its radius is 1.02  104 km, assuming it is a perfect sphere?
Solution :
Convert 1.02  104 km to m to obtain 1.02  107 m. The volume of a sphere is given by V  r 3 .
By substitution, V   1.02  107 m   1.061208  10 m .
3 21 3

37. Find the slope of the line if its x - intercept is twice the y - intercept and passes through the point
 3 , 2 .
 
2 7
Solution :
Let a be the y - intercept and 2a be the x - intercept. Then the line passes through 0, a  and 2a,0 .
y  y1 y2  y1
By two - point formula  , we have
x  x1 x 2  x1
y a 0 a y a a y a 1 x x
       y a    y   a
x 2a  0 x 2a x 2 2 2
1
in slope - intercept form where m   and b  a .
2

Page 10
38. Find the area of an equilateral triangle that has the perimeter of 30 m.
Solution :
Since the triangle is equilateral, the measure of each side of the figure is 10 m. By using the
s2 3
formula for the area of an equilateral triangle A  where s is the side of the triangle,
4
10 m 2 3 100 3 m2
A   25 3 m2 .
4 4

39. A silversmith wants to combine two alloys, one containing 40% silver and the other 60% silver.
How many grams of each should he combine to obtain 120 grams of an alloy containing 50%
silver?
Solution :
Let x be the mass of the first alloy and 120  x be the mass of the second alloy being mixed. The
percentage of silver on the first alloy is 0.4x while 0.6120  x  on the second alloy. So,
0.4x  0.6120  x   0.5120
0.4x  72  0.6x  60
 0.2x  12
x  60
.
120  x  60

40. Solve for y : x  y  xy  1, x  1.

Solution :
x  y  xy  1
y  xy  1  x
y 1  x   1  x
y 1.

41. A conference table in the shape of a rectangle with two semicircle s at the
ends, as shown in the figure, has a perimeter of 10 meters. The area of the
rectangular shape is equal to twice the sum of the two ends. What are the
dimensions of the rectangular shape?
Solution :
Let r be the radius of each semicircle or half the width of the rectangle and l be the length of
the rectangle. So, 2r  2l  10 meters and 2rl  2r 2 . We can see that
2rl  2r 2   rl  r 2  l  r
By substituti on, we have
5 5
2r  2r  10  4r  10  r  l 
2 2
5 5 5 5
So, the dimension of the rectangle is l m  2r m  m  2  m  m  m .
2  2  2 

Page 11
42. If 27x  92 y and 49y  343x 2, what is the value of 2xy ?
Solution :
27 x  92 y  33x  34 2y  3x  4  2y  3x  2y  4 eq.1 and 49y  343x 2  7 2y  7 3x  6 
5 5
2y  3x  6  3x  2y  6 eq.2 . Adding eq.1 to eq.2, we have 6x  10  x  . Substitute x 
3 3
1 5 1 5
from any equations above, we get y   . Then 2xy  2      .
2  3  2  3

43. For what values of x is the graph of 5x  3y  5 above the x - axis?

Solution :
The graph of the line 5x  3y  5 above the x - axis when y  0. Equating the equation to y, we
5 5
get y  x .
3 3
5 5
x y
3 3
5 5
x 0
3 3
5x  5  0
5x  5
x  1 .

44. The sum of three consecutive positive integers is 3/35 of the product of the same three integers.
Find the median of the three integers.
Solution :
Let x  1, x and x  1 be three consecutive positive integers. Then
3
x 1x x 1  x  1x x  1
35
105x  3x 3  x 
0  3x 3  108x
0  3x x  6 x  6 
x  0 or x  6 or x  6
Since the three integers are positive, we get x  6 and the 3 integers are 5, 6 and 7. Their median
is 6 .

45. What is the largest positive intiger x such that 316  1 is divisble by 2x ?
Solution :
316  1 can be factored out as 38  134  132  13  13  1  6562  82  10  4  2  2  3281
 2  41  2  5  22  2. So the largest positive integer x is 1  1  1  2  1  6 .

Page 12
46. What is the area of the shaded region on the right? (Each box has an area
of 4 sq. unit.)
Solution :
We can see that the figure has an shaded area equal to 4 boxes. Now we are given the fact that
each box has an area of 4 sq. units. So the area of the shaded region is 4  4  16 sq. units .

47. A fair die is rolled twice. What is the probability that the outcome of the second roll is greater
than or equal to the outcome of the first roll?
Solution :
The set of outcomes where the event took place is 1,1, 1,2, 1,3, 1,4 , 1,5 , 1,6 , 2,2 , 2,3 , 2,4 ,
2,5, 2,6, 3,3, 3,4 , 3,5, 3,6, 4,4 , 4,5, 4,6, 5,5, 5,6, 6,6 which has 21 elements. So the
21 7
probability that the second roll is greater than or equal to the first roll is  .
36 12

48. What is the measure of the smaller angle between the hands of the clock at 5 : 15 p.m.?
Solution :
The angular distance of the hour hand between noon through 5 : 15 p.m. is equal to 150
15
 30  157.5 while the angular distance of the minute hand between 5 : 00 p.m. through
60
5 : 15 p.m. is 90. So the measure of the smaller angle between the hands of the clock at 5 : 15
p.m. is 157.5 - 90  67.5 .

49. Let f  x  be a second degree polynomial with leading coefficient 1 such that f 1  f 2   0.
What is the remainder when f 2020  is divided by 10?
Solution :
We can write f  x    x  r   x  s  where r and s are the zeroes or solution of the function when
f  x   0. But f 1  0 and f 2   0. So, f  x   x  1x  2 . Substitute 2020 to x become f 2020
 2020  12020  2   2019  2018. When a number is divided by 10, we only get the last digit
of that number. So the remainder of f 2020  when divided by 10 is 2 .

50. Consider the set of positive integral divisors of 2020. Find the probability that a divisor chosen
at random is a perfect square.
Solution :
We have a list of positive divisors of 2020 in number 21 : 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 101, 202, 404, 505, 1010,
and 2020. Out of those 12 numbers, only 2 of them are perfect squares namely 1 and 4. So the
2 1
probability that a divisor of 2020 is a perfect square is  .
12 6

Page 13