2021 AMC

34 2021 AMC Middle Primary Solutions

Middle Primary Solutions

Middle Primary
Solutions Solutions
– Middle Primary Division
1. There are 7 dots,
hence (B).

2. 14 − 2 = 12,
hence (C).

3. (Also UP1)
2
There are 3 equal parts and 2 are green, so is green,
3
hence (E).

4. 234 + 100 = 334,

hence (D).

5. One hour is 60 minutes, half an hour is 30 minutes, and half of that is a quarter of an
hour, which is 15 minutes,
hence (C).

6. There are 8 divisions on the scale, and a full tank holds 80 kL. So each division indicates
10 kL. Labelling these 10, 20, . . . , 80, the indicator is halfway between the 60 kL and 70 kL
marker, giving a reading of 65 kL,
hence (D).

7. (Also UP2)
The unknown number is 5 more than 9, which is 14,
hence (E).

8. Alternative 1
A cube has 6 faces, so there are 6 × 4 = 24 small squares in total,
hence (D).
Alternative 2
We can see 12 squares on the three faces shown in the diagram. There are another 12
squares on the three hidden faces, so there are 12 + 12 = 24 squares in total,
hence (D).

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9. Think of the track as a closed loop, with

participants running around it in an anti-
clockwise direction.
Flags that are on the left side of the track
when a participant runs past must be inside
the closed loop, and there are 8 such flags
as shown,

hence (B).

10. We can measure each shaded area using the equilateral triangles in the grid as units:
2 4 2
A = 16 , B = 14 + = 15 , C = 10 , D = 12 + = 14 , E = 12 + = 13
2 2 2

Then A = 16 is the largest,

hence (A).

11. (Also UP8)

There are 4 students ahead of him, 8 behind him, and Leo himself. So there are 4+1+8 = 13
students in line,
hence (E).

12. (Also UP11, J10)

In (B), the five cards can’t be dropped in any order, since 2, 7, 6, 4, 9 is a cycle of 5 cards
where each is on top of the next one, so no single card is on top.
Several of the other options have cycles with fewer cards: (A) has 2, 9, 4; (C) has 4, 9, 7,
6 and (D) has 2, 7, 6.
The remaining option is (E), which is possible in the order 4, 7, 9, 2, 6 or in the order 7,
4, 9, 2, 6,
hence (E).
Note: Another way of eliminating (B) and (D) is to observe that the last card dropped
must be on top, not under another card. However, in (B) each card is under another card,
and likewise for (D). Further, (A) and (C) can also be eliminated. Each has a top (last)
card, but once this is removed none of the other four cards is on top, so none of these can
be the second-last card.

6 3 1
13. There are 24 quarters and four people, so each gets six quarters. Then = =1 ,
4 2 2
hence (E).

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14. From the four diagrams the boxes that area heavier than another box are A, D, C and E.
So B is the lightest box,
hence (B).

15. Lydia needs $28, since then her grandfather will pay the other $28.
So she has to save another 28 − 16 = 12 dollars,
hence (B).

16. The largest numbers that can be made with the 5 digits are, in descending order,

94321, 94312, 94231, 94213, 94132, 94123, . . .

The first even number in the list is 94312, which has 1 in the tens place,
hence (A).

17. In column 4, the total of 5 can only be made as 2 + 1 + 1 + 1, so F = 2 and H = 1.

In row 4, the total is 13 and H = 1. Then three R’s add to 12, and so R = 4.
In row 1, the total is 16 and F + F = 2 + 2 = 4. Then two M ’s add to 12, and so M = 6.
In column 1, the total is 16 and M + R = 6 + 4 = 10. Then two L’s add to 6, and so
L = 3,
hence (C).

18. Currently their ages add to 19 + 26 + 31 = 76, which is 24 less than 100. Each year, the
sum of their ages goes up by 3, so it will take 24 ÷ 3 = 8 years for their ages to add up to
100,
hence (B).

19. From the ends of the labels we can tell that Ainslie is the 3rd column, Turner and Downer
are the 1st and 4th columns, or vice versa, and Watson and Dickson are the 2nd and 5th
columns, or vice versa.
Downer must have a taller column than Watson, so the only possibility is that they are
the 1st and 5th columns, respectively. This means Turner is the 4th column and therefore
represents 3 students,
hence (A).

20. (Also UP19)

To get a units digit of 2 in the answer, the units digit of the first term must be 4. There is
a carry of 1 into the tens column, so to get a carry of 1 from the tens into the hundreds,
the tens digit of the second term must be at least 6. This results in the following four
possibilities:
34 34 34 34
+ 68 + 78 + 88 + 98
102 112 122 132
hence (C).

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21. Looking at the last word, it looks like ‘apples’ = ‘kete’. Since there is no other word that
appears three times, this is the only possibility. Then ‘oranges’ = ‘kito’ and the second
English sentence matches the first Windarian sentence.
From that sentence it looks like ‘likes’ = ‘bem’ and ‘Dad’ = ‘Ato’, which must be true,
since ‘likes’ appears in two sentences, whereas ‘Dad’ doesn’t.
Consequently, the first English sentence matches the third Windarian sentence, which
means that ‘Mum’ = ‘Eke’. Finally, ‘loves’ = ‘tum’, so ‘Mum loves oranges’ = ‘Eke tum
kito’,
hence (C).

22. Alternative 1
We want 6 consecutive numbers that add to 147. Since 6 × 20 = 120 and 6 × 30 = 180, we
guess that the numbers are in the 20s.
As a first try, 20 + 21 + 22 + 23 + 24 + 25 = 135. From here 21 + 22 + 23 + 24 + 25 + 26 = 141
(replace 20 by 26) and 22 + 23 + 24 + 25 + 26 + 27 = 147 (replace 21 by 27),
hence (B).
Alternative 2
The average of the six page numbers is 147 ÷ 6 = 24.5. The difference between the first
and last pages is 5 pages. So we try 2.5 either side of 24.5: the first page number is 22 and
the last is 27. Checking, 22 + 23 + 24 + 25 + 26 + 27 = 147,
hence (B).

23. When the cubes are joined, there are 5 pairs of faces joined to hold the 6 cubes in one
piece. So there are 10 faces that are not exposed to the outside, and these 10 faces do not
get any blue paint,
hence (D).

24. (Also UP23)

Half a rotation of the gear M means that the gear rotates clockwise by 5 teeth.
Gears A and C also rotate by 5 teeth, but since they have 20 teeth, this is a quarter-turn.
Also A and C will move in the opposite direction to gear M, so they will both rotate 90
degrees anticlockwise.
Only diagram (A) shows this,
hence (A).

25. There are 6 choices for the triple. For each choice of the triple, there are 5 choices for the
pair. So there are 6 × 5 = 30 possible full house rolls,
hence (E).

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26. From the complete diagonal, the magic number is 16 + 10 + 7 + 1 = 34.

The bottom row has 4 + 15 + 1 = 20, so needs 34 − 20 = 14.
16 3 2 13
The last column has 8 + 12 + 1 = 21, so needs 34 − 21 = 13.
Then the top row has 16 + 2 + 13 = 31, so needs a = 34 − 31 = 3. 5 10 11 8
The third column has 2 + 7 + 14 = 23, so needs c = 34 − 23 = 11. 9 6 7 12
The second column has 3 + 10 + 15 = 28, so needs b = 34 − 28 = 6.
4 15 14 1
The remaining two squares are not needed but can be filled in.
The product is a × b × c = 3 × 6 × 11 = 198,
hence (198).

27. Hayden has 1420 − 505 = 915 dollars more than Mitchell, both before and after spending.
After spending, Hayden has 4 times as much as Mitchell, so the difference is 3 times as
much as Mitchell. So Mitchell’s remaining amount is 915 ÷ 3 = 305 dollars. Since he
started with $505, he must have spent $200,
hence (200).

28. Alternative 1
The numbers of blocks in each tower seem to be consecutive square numbers: 1, 4, 9. This
can be confirmed by rearranging each tower into a square. For instance, here is the 5th
tower arranged into a 5 × 5 square.

−→

Then the number of blocks in the first ten towers is the sum of the first 10 square numbers

1 + 4 + 9 + 16 + 25 + 36 + 49 + 64 + 81 + 100 = 385

hence (385).
Alternative 2
Considering all ten towers together, we can count the number of rows of each length.
All ten towers have a row of length 1, using 10 × 1 = 10 blocks.
Nine of the towers have a row of length 3, using 9 × 3 = 27 blocks.
Eight of the towers have a row of length 5, using 8 × 5 = 40 blocks.
Following this pattern, the total number of blocks used is

10×1 + 9×3 + 8×5 + 7×7 + 6×9 + 5×11 + 4×13 + 3×15 + 2×17 + 1×19
= 10 + 27 + 40 + 49 + 54 + 55 + 52 + 45 + 34 + 19 = 385

hence (385).

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29. The second number must end in 5.

The third number uses digits from {1, 2, 3, 4, 6} and is a multiple of 6 but not a multiple
of 4. Two-digit multiples of 6 are 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 54, 60 and 66. Of these, only
42 uses the digits available and is not a multiple of 4.
The first number uses digits from {1, 3, 6} and is a multiple of 4 but not a multiple of 6.
This must be 16.
Returning to the second number, it must be 35.
So her three numbers are 16, 35 and 42, and then 16 × 35 + 42 = 560 + 42 = 602,
hence (602).

30. (Also UP29)

The total of all three sides includes the three corner numbers twice each, the six edge
numbers once each and the centre number zero times. So to make this triple total as small
as possible, we look for a solution where the largest number (10) is in the centre, the
smallest numbers are at the corners (1 + 2 + 3 = 6) and the remaining six numbers are on
the edges (4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 = 39).
1
Then this triple total would be 2 × 6 + 39 = 51 and the side total
would be 51 ÷ 3 = 17. 6 4
With this information, many solutions are possible, just by placing 8 10 9
the numbers to obtain a total of 17 on each side. One is shown here,
2 5 7 3
confirming that a side total of 17 is the smallest possible,
hence (17).

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