The CENTRE for EDUCATION

in MATHEMATICS and COMPUTING

cemc.uwaterloo.ca

Gauss Contest
Grade 8
(The Grade 7 Contest is on the reverse side)
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
(in North America and South America)
Thursday, May 16, 2024
(outside of North America and South America)

Time: 1 hour ©2024 University of Waterloo

Calculating devices are allowed, provided that they do not have any of the following
features: (i) internet access, (ii) the ability to communicate with other devices,
(iii) information previously stored by students (such as formulas, programs, notes,
etc.), (iv) a computer algebra system, (v) dynamic geometry software.
Instructions
1. Do not open the contest booklet until you are told to do so.
2. You may use rulers, compasses and paper for rough work.
3. Be sure that you understand the coding system for your answer sheet. If you are not sure,
ask your teacher to explain it.
4. This is a multiple-choice test. Each question is followed by five possible answers marked
A, B, C, D, and E. Only one of these is correct. When you have made your choice, enter
the appropriate letter for that question on your answer sheet.
5. Scoring: Each correct answer is worth 5 in Part A, 6 in Part B, and 8 in Part C.
There is no penalty for an incorrect answer.
Each unanswered question is worth 2, to a maximum of 10 unanswered questions.
6. Diagrams are not drawn to scale. They are intended as aids only.
7. When your supervisor instructs you to start, you will have sixty minutes of working time.

The name, school and location of some top-scoring students will be published on the website,
cemc.uwaterloo.ca. On this website, you will also be able to find copies of past Contests and
excellent resources for enrichment, problem solving and contest preparation.
 Grade 8
Scoring: There is no penalty for an incorrect answer.
Each unanswered question is worth 2, to a maximum of 10 unanswered questions.

Part A: Each correct answer is worth 5.

1. How many 5 cent coins are needed to make 25 cents?

(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5

2. Which of the following shapes has a vertical line of symmetry?

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

3. Which of the following numbers is largest?

(A) 0.58 (B) 1.32 (C) 0.97 (D) 1.03 (E) 0.12

4. 50% of n is 2024. The value of n is

(A) 2074 (B) 24 (C) 50 (D) 4048 (E) 4042

5. Ryan recorded the distance, in kilometres, that he ran Distance Ryan Ran
6
on each day from Monday to Friday, as shown. The total 5

Distance (km)
distance that Ryan ran over the five days is 4
3
(A) 14 km (B) 16 km (C) 18 km
2
(D) 20 km (E) 22 km 1
0
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Day of the Week

6. When the number 11 is increased by 2 and the result is then multiplied by 3, the final
result is
(A) 35 (B) 39 (C) 28 (D) 25 (E) 363

7. The value of a that satisfies the equation 15 + a = 10 is

(A) −10 (B) −5 (C) 0 (D) 5 (E) 10

8. In the diagram, ∠ABC is a straight angle.

The value of x is
x°
(A) 80 (B) 65 (C) 75 40° x°

(D) 70 (E) 60 A B C

9. In a drawer, the ratio of the number of spoons to the number of forks is 1 : 2. The
total number of spoons and forks in the drawer cannot be equal to
(A) 12 (B) 6 (C) 18 (D) 10 (E) 3

10. In the diagram, a square with side length 6 is partially

shaded. The largest shaded region is a square with side
length 3. The other two shaded regions are squares with
side lengths 2 and 1. What is the total area of the
unshaded region?
(A) 12 (B) 18 (C) 22
(D) 24 (E) 30
 Grade 8

Part B: Each correct answer is worth 6.

11. In the sequence 1, 3, 4, 7, . . ., each number beginning with the 4 is the sum of the two
numbers before it. This means that the next number in the sequence is 4 + 7 = 11.
The smallest number greater than 100 that appears in the sequence is
(A) 133 (B) 199 (C) 113 (D) 101 (E) 123

12. The number 385 has three prime factors. The sum of these prime factors is
(A) 21 (B) 26 (C) 25 (D) 23 (E) 22

13. Trapezoid ABCD can be divided into three equilateral

triangles. If the perimeter of the trapezoid is equal to D C
840 cm, what is the length of AB? 60° 60°

(A) 120 cm (B) 140 cm (C) 168 cm

(D) 25 cm (E) 210 cm A B

14. A container of ice cream can make 6 cones or it can make 4 sundaes. If 5 such
containers of ice cream are used to make 12 cones, what is the greatest number of
sundaes that can be made with the ice cream that remains?
(A) 4 (B) 8 (C) 12 (D) 16 (E) 20

15. When a positive integer n is divided by 10, the remainder is 8. When n is divided
by 5, the remainder is
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (E) 4

16. A block of wood in the shape of a rectangular prism has

length 4 cm, width 4 cm, and height 7 cm. A cylindrical
hole with radius 1 cm is drilled through the centre, as
shown. To the nearest cm3 , what is the volume of the 7 cm
block of wood after the hole is drilled? (Note: The
volume of a cylinder with radius r and height h is πr2 h.)
(A) 90 cm3 (B) 122 cm3 (C) 106 cm3 4 cm
(D) 84 cm3 (E) 92 cm3 4 cm

17. The Gaussbot factory assembles robots. Each robot comes in one of three colours:
red, blue, or green. Each robot also has a number stamped on its head: 1, 2, 3, or 4.
The nth robot assembled is the first robot to have the same colour and the same
number as a previously assembled robot. What is the greatest possible value of n?
(A) 11 (B) 12 (C) 13 (D) 7 (E) 8

18. A circular spinner is divided into five equal sections. An

arrow is attached to the centre of the spinner and is
positioned as shown. The arrow is spun clockwise, and E A
it stops in the section labelled D. Which of the following
could have been the angle of rotation? D B
(A) 530◦ (B) 550◦ (C) 630◦ C
(D) 675◦ (E) 700◦
 Grade 8
19. Three different integers in a list have a mean (average) of 50 and a range of 14. What
is the smallest possible integer in the list?
(A) 40 (B) 43 (C) 39 (D) 42 (E) 41
20. Kiran has a box containing three different types of fruit: apples, pears, and bananas.
In the box, 21 pieces of fruit are not apples, 25 pieces of fruit are not pears, and 28
pieces of fruit are not bananas. How many pieces of fruit are in the box?
(A) 53 (B) 32 (C) 46 (D) 37 (E) 51

Part C: Each correct answer is worth 8.

21. The prime factorization of 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 can be written in the form 2a × 3b × 5c .
The value of a + b + c is
(A) 6 (B) 7 (C) 9 (D) 5 (E) 8

22. The ratio of the number of quarters (worth $0.25 each) to the number of dimes
(worth $0.10 each) to the number of nickels (worth $0.05 each) in a jar is 9 : 3 : 2.
If the total value of the quarters and dimes is $17.85, what is the total value of the
nickels?
(A) $0.45 (B) $0.50 (C) $0.70 (D) $0.35 (E) $0.55

23. Five different integers, each greater than 0, have a sum of 264. The greatest common
divisor of these five positive integers is d. What is the sum of the digits of the largest
possible value of d?
(A) 4 (B) 3 (C) 8 (D) 2 (E) 6

24. A network of pathways lead from a single opening to three

bins, labelled A, B, C as shown. If a ball is dropped into
the opening, it will follow a path and land in one of the
bins. Every time a path splits, it is equally likely for the
ball to follow either of the downward paths. Ellen drops
two balls, one after the other, into the opening. What is
the probability that the two balls land in different bins?
17 27 25
(A) 32 (B) 50 (C) 64
1 15
(D) 3 (E) 32

25. A figure is constructed using fourteen 1 × 1 × 1 cubes.

Q
Nine of the 1 × 1 × 1 cubes are used to make the bottom
layer and five additional 1 × 1 × 1 cubes are positioned
on top of the bottom layer. The figure is shown from two
different perspectives. An ant begins at P and walks a
distance d on the surface of the figure to arrive at Q. The
P
smallest possible value of d is closest to
(A) 6.43 (B) 6.40 (C) 6.71 Q
(D) 6.66 (E) 6.48