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UKMT Intermediate Olympiad 2016

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Original post by Orion22
It was much easier than I expected :biggrin: but it I guess that was only because they hit my strong points (geometry:smile:)..I did all the questions 1 to 6, but after I handed in the paper I REALISED I DIDNT WRITE MY ANSWER IN THE SOLUTION FOR QUESTION 1!!
And there were plenty of crossing outs in my solutions, so that'll be tens of marks deducted for presentation :s-smilie::s-smilie:


I found it easier than I expected too! Oh and that sucks :0 as long as it's written down somewhere they probably won't deduct marks... As for the workings, well as long as they're legible I don't think they mind too much about crossings out, if the maths is good!
Also, for question 2 it said, 'What are the possible numbers in the top left corner' implying that there was more than one solution. I just got 8. What other possible numbers are there?
Original post by Orion22
Also, for question 2 it said, 'What are the possible numbers in the top left corner' implying that there was more than one solution. I just got 8. What other possible numbers are there?


I got 8 only too. The thing is, it is such a ridiculously easy question for the Cayley then, so I am still suspicious of another number. Or maybe the question was phrased wrongly or something
Original post by abcdefghij1234
I got 8 only too. The thing is, it is such a ridiculously easy question for the Cayley then, so I am still suspicious of another number. Or maybe the question was phrased wrongly or something


I know - this year has got be the easiest Cayley yet! Or maybe the questions suited a certain style of thinking, or the 'easy' ones are just trick questions DX
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Orion22
I know - this year has got be the easiest Cayley yet! Or maybe the questions suited a certain style of thinking, or the 'easy' ones are just trick questions DX


I thought it was much easier than I expected too, I really hope they weren't trick questions DX
I missed out 999 on question 1 but gt the rest :-/ will I lose many marks do u think? Also, have many people got all six? I'm worrying because last year on Hamilton, 51was boundary for prize, could be higher this year
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by TheBigBrick
I missed out 999 on question 1 but gt the rest :-/ will I lose many marks do u think? Also, have many people got all six? I'm worrying because last year on Hamilton, 51was boundary for prize, could be higher this year


I did Cayley but, just remember, there are some (including myself) who are very envious of your genius - the prize for me is unthinkable!:smile:
Good luck.

Also, the working out is correct, you'll probably get around 8. If you've showed it previously, you still have a shot at getting 10 (I guess).
I've never done an olympiad before, I have an idea of how they are marked but do they give 10 marks only for excellent answers? Or can an explanation with just a few flaws still get 10 marks?
Original post by jina1106
I've never done an olympiad before, I have an idea of how they are marked but do they give 10 marks only for excellent answers? Or can an explanation with just a few flaws still get 10 marks?


I'm guessing the marking is like in the Junior Olympiad, which I did last year - I lost one mark on not explaining one of the steps, but it was quite a big flaw, so they were quite nice:smile: But I'm not too sure..
Or maybe they will be stricter this year, seeing as the questions were relatively easy compared to last year XD
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Orion22
I'm guessing the marking is like in the Junior Olympiad, which I did last year - I lost one mark on not explaining one of the steps, but it was quite a big flaw, so they were quite nice:smile: But I'm not too sure..
Or maybe they will be stricter this year, seeing as the questions were relatively easy compared to last year XD


Do they give back the papers so you know how many marks you got on each question?
I hope they're not too strict with the markings, I think I made quite a few mistakes..
Original post by jina1106
Do they give back the papers so you know how many marks you got on each question?
I hope they're not too strict with the markings, I think I made quite a few mistakes..


Yep, they give the papers back. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get a good mark:smile: What are you hoping to achieve?
Original post by Orion22
Yep, they give the papers back. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get a good mark:smile: What are you hoping to achieve?


I answered 5 questions fully (1-4 and 6) and I'm hoping for a distinction maybe? I mean a medal or prize would be great.. :biggrin: What are you aiming for?
Ahaha thanks, I just can't believe I missed 999, it's such an obvious answer, doh! :-/ anyone doing the team maths challenge tomorrow
Original post by abcdefghij1234
I did Cayley but, just remember, there are some (including myself) who are very envious of your genius - the prize for me is unthinkable!:smile:
Good luck.

Also, the working out is correct, you'll probably get around 8. If you've showed it previously, you still have a shot at getting 10 (I guess).
Original post by TheBigBrick
Ahaha thanks, I just can't believe I missed 999, it's such an obvious answer, doh! :-/ anyone doing the team maths challenge tomorrow


I already did the team maths challenge last Friday :smile:
Original post by jina1106
I answered 5 questions fully (1-4 and 6) and I'm hoping for a distinction maybe? I mean a medal or prize would be great.. :biggrin: What are you aiming for?


Well, I did all the questions, but as I am prone to making silly mistakes, I would be lucky to get a distinction..:smile:
Everyone, how did you work out question 5? I'm interested to see your solution to this..
Original post by Orion22
Everyone, how did you work out question 5? I'm interested to see your solution to this..
I said that of the numbers 1 to 9, only 2,4,6,8 will help make the product of a row or column divisible by 4. Obviously 8 can go on 1 row and 1 column, meaning the product of 1 row and column is divisible by 4. Also, there are exactly 3 rows and columns, obviously. Again, the number 4 can go on its own row and column, meaning that 2 rows and columns are now divisible by 4, leaving 2 and 6 to make the final row and column divisible by 4. But for this, 2 and 6 must go on the same row AND column, which clearly is not possible, since if in the same column, different rows and vica Versa, and so the task is not possible.( i didn't consider the possibility that 8 and 4 went in the same column, since then there is 1 less column divisible by 4 than if they went in unique rows and columns)
Original post by TheBigBrick
I said that of the numbers 1 to 9, only 2,4,6,8 will help make the product of a row or column divisible by 4. Obviously 8 can go on 1 row and 1 column, meaning the product of 1 row and column is divisible by 4. Also, there are exactly 3 rows and columns, obviously. Again, the number 4 can go on its own row and column, meaning that 2 rows and columns are now divisible by 4, leaving 2 and 6 to make the final row and column divisible by 4. But for this, 2 and 6 must go on the same row AND column, which clearly is not possible, since if in the same column, different rows and vica Versa, and so the task is not possible.( i didn't consider the possibility that 8 and 4 went in the same column, since then there is 1 less column divisible by 4 than if they went in unique rows and columns)


Thanks:smile::smile:
I just realised someone else had asked that question too, sorry for the trouble :biggrin:
Original post by TheBigBrick
Ahaha thanks, I just can't believe I missed 999, it's such an obvious answer, doh! :-/ anyone doing the team maths challenge tomorrow


I did the TMC today. Only person on my team ever to get into an Olympiad (I've done it in Y8 and Y9) so got a little frustrated on the shuttle round as the questions seemed easy compared to what I've experienced in the JMO and IMOK. We did our heat at a private school beginning with 'b' in Essex (Brampton, it might have been). On the first round, there were tons of arguments, so we only got 36. Cross number was easy for us - we completed it with 55/56 in 20 minutes. The first shuttle we completed in 3 minutes and got every mark. The other three shuttles were total flops (the other pair kept spending about 5 minutes per question and getting them wrong). The relay was okay - we answered all but 15b, so 29 questions, and we (as a team) got 4 or 5 wrong, which isn't too bad, I guess. I felt under pressure after the shuttle so rushed which is why my pair made a few mistakes - the Y8 boy left the maths to me and the running to him. Anyway, it's the experience that counts - we came 7th out of 29.

I personally much prefer the individual challenges as you don't have to worry about letting everyone else down. Also, you are good as yourself in the individual challenge - in the team, you are only as good as your weakest/slowest pair (and even then your weakest player as he/she wanted the answer explained).

Anyway, hopefully I'll get a distinction/medal in the Cayley to make up for it!

How did you fare?
(edited 8 years ago)
Cool, my worry is that my team isn't as good as previous years were, we did a practice cross number but didn't really get anywhere so I'm not too sure about it... :-/. On the other hand, the questions are MUCH easier than bmo1, so i have no real clue how it will go on group,.. The year 8s are weak and nobody seems to know about Fibonacci sequence, or prime factorisation, palindromes etc
Original post by abcdefghij1234
I did the TMC today. Only person on my team ever to get into an Olympiad (I've done it in Y8 and Y9) so got a little frustrated on the shuttle round as the questions seemed easy compared to what I've experienced in the JMO and IMOK. We did our heat at a private school beginning with 'b' in Essex (Brampton, it might have been). On the first round, there were tons of arguments, so we only got 36. Cross number was easy for us - we completed it with 55/56 in 20 minutes. The first shuttle we completed in 3 minutes and got every mark. The other three shuttles were total flops (the other pair kept spending about 5 minutes per question and getting them wrong). The relay was okay - we answered all but 15b, so 29 questions, and we (as a team) got 4 or 5 wrong, which isn't too bad, I guess. I felt under pressure after the shuttle so rushed which is why my pair made a few mistakes - the Y8 boy left the maths to me and the running to him. Anyway, it's the experience that counts - we came 7th out of 29.

I personally much prefer the individual challenges as you don't have to worry about letting everyone else down. Also, you are good as yourself in the individual challenge - in the team, you are only as good as your weakest/slowest pair (and even then your weakest player as he/she wanted the answer explained).

Anyway, hopefully I'll get a distinction/medal in the Cayley to make up for it!

How did you fare?
(edited 8 years ago)

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