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Worksheet generator
Pick what you want, print the page. The answer key comes with it, on its own sheet, and it tells you the mistake behind every wrong choice — not just which letter is right.
This exact URL always produces this exact sheet — bookmark it and the answer key will still match next term. Print with your browser; the controls and the site navigation are left off the page.
1.A password is one letter from A, B, C followed by two digits from 1 to 5. Digits may repeat. How many passwords are possible?[4]
A13
B30
C60
D75
E125
2.How many different four-letter arrangements can be made from the letters of the word MATH, using each letter once?[4]
A4
B12
C16
D24
E256
3.In how many ways can 7 be written as the sum of two different whole numbers bigger than zero? Swapping the order does not make a new way.[4]
A3
B4
C6
D7
E12
4.A club has 8 members. In how many ways can a group of 3 be chosen to attend a conference, if the three places are all the same?[4]
A56
B336
C24
D112
E28
5.A committee of 4 must be formed from 5 boys and 4 girls, and it must contain exactly 2 boys and 2 girls. How many different committees are possible?[4]
A60
B126
C20
D240
E40
6.Each of the four edges of a square is painted either black or white. Two paintings count as the same if one can be rotated onto the other. How many genuinely different paintings are there?[4]
A6
B16
C4
D8
E5
7.How many two-digit numbers have digits that add up to 8?[5]
A4
B7
C8
D9
E16
8.A three-digit code uses only the digits 1, 2 and 3, and digits may repeat. How many such codes contain at least one 3?[5]
A8
B9
C12
D19
E27
9.A code uses the letters A, B and C, each exactly once. How many codes do not start with A?[5]
A2
B3
C4
D6
E9
10.How many diagonals does a convex polygon with 12 sides have? A diagonal joins two vertices that are not already joined by a side.[5]
A54
B66
C108
D120
E42
Math Kangaroo Star · https://kangaroo-atlas.vercel.app · seed 9 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · Independent project, not affiliated with Math Kangaroo in USA, NFP.
Answer key — Math Kangaroo practice
Each wrong choice carries the thinking that produces it. When a student picks C, this is what they were doing.
1.D — 75KA-0023The multiplication principle
AI added the number of options at each step instead of multiplying them.
BI treated the two digits as one choice of ten rather than two independent choices of five.
CI assumed the two digits had to be different, so I used 5 times 4 for them.
EI used 5 choices for the letter position as well, forgetting there are only three letters.
2.D — 24KA-0073Arrangements of a few objects
AI counted the letters rather than their arrangements.
BI multiplied 4 by 3 and stopped, forgetting the last two positions.
CI used 4 choices for every position, as if letters could repeat.
EI used 4 choices in each of four positions, which allows every letter to repeat.
3.A — 3KA-0076Casework
BI included 0 and 7 as a pair, even though both numbers have to be bigger than zero.
CI counted both orders of each pair, even though swapping does not make a new way.
DI counted every starting number from 1 to 7 without checking which pairs repeat.
EI counted both orders and also allowed pairs of equal numbers.
4.A — 56KA-0163Selections of a few objects
BI counted ordered selections, so I counted the same three people once for every order they could stand in.
CI multiplied the 8 members by the 3 places, which counts something quite different from a selection.
DI divided the 336 ordered selections by 3 instead of by 3 factorial.
EI chose 2 people rather than 3.
5.A — 60KA-0172Selections of a few objects
BI chose any 4 from all 9 people and ignored the two-and-two requirement.
CI added the two counts instead of multiplying them.
DI treated the choices as ordered, counting the same committee several times.
EI used 5 x 4 x 2 or a similar shortcut rather than counting each selection properly.
6.A — 6KA-0173Counting up to symmetry
BI counted every colouring of the four edges and forgot that rotations make some of them identical.
CI divided 16 by 4, but that only works when no painting is left unchanged by a rotation, and some are.
DI halved 16, treating only the 180 degree turn as a symmetry.
EI listed by how many edges are black but forgot that two black edges can be adjacent or opposite.
7.C — 8KA-0012Casework
AI counted each pair of digits once instead of counting both orders, such as 17 and 71.
BI listed the pairs starting from 1 and 7 and forgot the number 80, where the second digit is zero.
DI included 08 as a two-digit number, but a two-digit number cannot start with zero.
EI counted both orders of every pair and then counted the pairs that reverse to themselves twice as well.
8.D — 19KA-0018Complementary counting
AI counted the codes that avoid 3 entirely and gave that as my answer without subtracting.
BI counted the codes with a 3 in the first position only and forgot the other two positions.
CI counted the codes with exactly one 3 and forgot the ones with two or three of them.
EI counted every possible code and forgot to remove the ones with no 3 at all.
9.C — 4KA-0140The multiplication principle
AI counted the codes that do start with A rather than the ones that do not.
BI counted the letters available for the first position instead of counting whole codes.
DI counted every arrangement of the three letters and forgot the restriction.
EI allowed letters to repeat, which the words each exactly once rule out.
10.A — 54KA-0177Overcount, then correct
BI counted every line joining two vertices and forgot to remove the 12 sides.
CI counted each diagonal from both of its endpoints and forgot to halve.
DI used 12 x 10 without halving, double counting every diagonal.
EI subtracted 24 rather than 12, removing each side twice.