The CENTRE for EDUCATION

in MATHEMATICS and COMPUTING

cemc.uwaterloo.ca

Gauss Contest
Grade 7
(The Grade 8 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 7
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. When the four digits of 2024 are added, the result is
(A) 10 (B) 8 (C) 224 (D) 44 (E) 16
2. If n = 5, the value of n + 2 is
(A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 7 (D) 8 (E) 9
3. Which of the following shapes has a vertical line of symmetry?

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

4. Students at Gauss Middle School were asked to choose

Tuesday
their favourite school day. The results are shown in 10%
Wednesday
the circle graph. Which day was chosen by exactly Monday 25%
15%
one-quarter of the students?
Thursday
(A) Monday (B) Tuesday (C) Wednesday Friday 20%
30%
(D) Thursday (E) Friday

5. A square with side length 5 has an area of

(A) 5 (B) 10 (C) 15 (D) 16 (E) 25
6. In the diagram, ∠P QR is a straight angle. The value of x
is
146° x°
(A) 54 (B) 14 (C) 24
P Q R
(D) 64 (E) 34
7. Katie completed two laps of a track without stopping. The first lap took 3 minutes
and 45 seconds, and the second lap took 4 minutes and 35 seconds. What was her
total time?
(A) 8 minutes 30 seconds
(B) 7 minutes 50 seconds
(C) 8 minutes 50 seconds
(D) 8 minutes 20 seconds
(E) 7 minutes 40 seconds
8. The sequence of the five symbols J  4 F repeats to form the pattern:

J  4 F J  4 F ···

If the pattern is continued, the 23rd symbol in the pattern is

(A) (B) J (C)  (D) 4 (E) F
9. Olivia cuts a 42 cm length of string into 2 cm pieces. Jeff cuts a 42 cm length of
string into 3 cm pieces. How many more pieces of string does Olivia have than Jeff?
(A) 7 (B) 8 (C) 4 (D) 6 (E) 5
 Grade 7
10. A number is randomly chosen from the list 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The probability
that the chosen number is divisible by 2, or by 3, or by both 2 and 3, is
(A) 49 (B) 95 (C) 69 (D) 79 (E) 89

Part B: Each correct answer is worth 6.

11. In the subtraction of the two-digit numbers shown, the letters P and Q each represent
a single digit.
8P
− Q6
49

The value of P + Q is
(A) 7 (B) 9 (C) 11 (D) 8 (E) 10

12. The length of a rectangle is twice its width. The perimeter of the rectangle is 120 cm.
The width of the rectangle is
(A) 20 cm (B) 60 cm (C) 30 cm (D) 50 cm (E) 10 cm

13. Eloise purchased a number of water hand pumps to give to a charity. The mean
(average) price was $85 per water pump. If Eloise spent a total of $765, how many
water pumps did she purchase?
(A) 7 (B) 8 (C) 9 (D) 10 (E) 6

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

15. A circle has radius 2. If the radius of the circle is tripled, the area of the original
circle divided by the area of the new circle is
(A) 31 (B) 61 (C) 19 (D) 12 (E) 18

16. Brett and Juanita each have a glass containing 300 mL of water. Brett pours half
of his water out and then Juanita pours 20% of her water into Brett’s glass. What
volume of water is now in Brett’s glass?
(A) 210 mL (B) 360 mL (C) 180 mL (D) 330 mL (E) 240 mL

17. A circular spinner is divided into 12 identical unshaded

sections and 3 identical shaded sections, as shown. Each
unshaded section is 3 times the size of each shaded
section. An arrow is attached to the centre of the spinner.
The arrow is spun once. What is the probability that the
arrow stops in a shaded section?
1 1 1
(A) 15 (B) 5 (C) 12
1 1
(D) 13 (E) 4

18. 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
 Grade 7
19. Five different integers in a list have a median of 10 and a range of 7. What is the
smallest possible integer in the list?
(A) 4 (B) 5 (C) 6 (D) 7 (E) 8

20. A standing desk has 31 height settings, numbered from the lowest height, 1, to the
highest height, 31. Since the desk is not working properly, when the up button is
pressed, the desk goes up 6 settings at a time if possible, otherwise it does not move.
When the down button is pressed, the desk goes down 4 settings at a time if possible,
otherwise it does not move. If the desk starts at setting number 1, how many of the
31 settings will the desk be able to stop at?
(A) 14 (B) 16 (C) 9 (D) 15 (E) 10

Part C: Each correct answer is worth 8.

21. Five different integers are selected from 1 to 6 and one
integer is placed into each of the five squares shown. The
integers are placed so that the sum of the three integers
in the vertical column is 7, and the sum of the three
integers in the horizontal row is 11. Which integer does
not appear in any square?
(A) 3 (B) 4 (C) 2
(D) 6 (E) 5

22. In the diagram, 17 toothpicks are used to make a

2 by 3 grid of squares. Of the toothpicks used, 10 are
outer toothpicks and 7 are inner toothpicks. Suppose that
toothpicks are used to make a 20 by 24 grid of squares.
To the nearest percent, what percentage of toothpicks
used are inner toothpicks?
(A) 88% (B) 95% (C) 93%
(D) 70% (E) 91%

23. A rectangular prism has integer edge lengths and has a volume of V . The six faces
of the prism are painted and then the prism is cut into 1 by 1 by 1 cubes. Of these
cubes, 50 cubes have no paint on them. What is the mean (average) of all possible
values of V ?
(A) 224 (B) 310 (C) 396 (D) 288 (E) 348

24. A three-digit integer is an integer from 100 to 999, inclusive. A three-digit integer is
called Tiny if no rearrangement of its digits gives a three-digit integer that is smaller.
For example, 138, 207 and 566 are Tiny, but 452, 360 and 727 are not. How many
three-digit integers are Tiny?
(A) 255 (B) 201 (C) 212 (D) 234 (E) 219

25. Suppose that

w, x, y, z, (x + y), (x + z), (234 + z), and (234 − z)
are 8 different prime numbers. If w + x + y = 234, and each of y and z is less than 50,
the value of w − y is
(A) 226 (B) 150 (C) 210 (D) 174 (E) 222