Curiosities and Contest Practice
2025 Fall Math Contest Sample Question 1:
Edward's pet gerbil weighs 4092 pounds. Edward puts the gerbil on a diet where he will lose 67.5 pounds a day. How many pounds will the gerbil weigh after 22 days?
2025 Fall Math Contest Sample Question 2:
Four students compare their heights. Haohan is taller than Silvana. Silvana is shorter than Aurelia. Khloe is shorter than Silvana. Haohan is taller than Aurelia. List the students from tallest to shortest.
2025 Fall Math Contest Sample Question 3:
A store sells mystery bundles of Shinobu merch and mystery bundles of Giyu merch from the Kimetsu No Yaiba (Demon Slayer) Anime. Shinobu merch is sold in bundles of 4 or 6 merch pieces. Giyu merch is sold in bundles of 5 merch pieces. Silvana bought 3 mystery bundles of Shinobu merch and 1 mystery bundle of Giyu merch. What is the difference between the minimum and maximum possible number of merch pieces that Silvana purchased?
2024 Fall Math Contest Challenge Question:
Squarella is looking to get a new tiling plan for the sidewalk in her large backyard. Because of her love of patterns, she has decided to use tiles to make a wide array of different designs. What she wants is to determine how many 2 by 22 tilings (a fancy word for how many distinct/different ways she can make a rectangle with tiles) can be made from 2 by 1 tiles. Think about patterns, and don’t be limited by the numbers given. Solve with proof.
2025 Fall Math Contest Sample Question 4:
Two students, Haohan and Silvana, are both hungry for lunch one day. They make a bet to play a game to determine who has to pay for Shawarma. If Haohan is unable to guess Silvana’s birthday in less than 10 attempts, he will have to pay for Shawarma. However, if he is successful, then she will pay for Shawarma. The game works like this: Haohan guesses a date in the year, for example, July 1st. If her Birthday is an earlier date or later date, she will give him a hint and indicate whether her Birthday is earlier or later in the year by stating “Before” or “After” the guessed date. Determine what is the fewest number of attempts possible it would take Haohan to guess the correct date if he has a “winning strategy.” (This means he has the strategy to guess her Birthday before Silvana hints him of her Birthday being “Before” or “After” the guessed date 10 times. Is it possible to win?
2025 Fall Math Contest Sample Question 5:
On a standard issue “perfect” clock made by that has no mechanical failures, the first time the hands would make a perfect 90॰ angle would be 3:00 exactly. If the clock flows continuously, what time would the next 90॰ occur? Note: Referencing a physical analogue clock might help, but watch out, as it is not accurate past 60 seconds of a minute.
2025 Fall Math Contest Sample Question 6:
Solve for W + A + N using the following equations:
N + A = 15
W - B + E = 28
E - B = 3