Canadian Math Contest

Question number 16.
The odd numbers from 5 to 21 are used to build a 3 by 3 magic square. (In a magic square, the numbers in each row, in each column, and the numbers on each diagonal have the same sum.) If 5, 9 and 17 are placed as shown what is the value of x?

when i first saw this question i thought to myself, "this question is doable, but its going to take a long time to figure out! there are so many different possibilities" But after thinking about it, with a couple of trial and errors i was able to figure it out.
First i wrote down all the odd digits from 5 to 21 and crossed out the digits that were already placed. Than i thought to myself "well if you want all the same sum, than the row with the lowest digit will probably be in the same row with the highest digit! Than i just continued to place the rest of the digits and it worked! :)
It was my first time doing the math contest, and i was very nervous!
but once i started, i began to relax a little and just tried to solve the problems one at a time. Towards the end, i began to feel pressed for time, and got a little fustrated with the questions that i could not solve.
Overall, i thought that the time limit was a little too short, but it was a good experience! I may have not done that well, but it was my first time, so i believe ill get better with practice ^^

good qualities to be good in math

To be good in math, the top 3 qualities i think you need to be good in math is to be patient, hard working and to think abstractly.

I think that patience is the most important because if there is a difficult math question, you need to the patience to be able to try, try again. To try the different methods to figure out the answer. It may take a long time, but if you have the patience you can do it! :)
You also have to be hardworking. Math is a continuous learning passage, and if you slack off in one year, it'll only get harder and harder. You have to listen to the lessons, work hard on the homework and to work even harder if it is difficult for you.
Lastly, you need to be able to think abstractly. Sometimes there are many different ways to find the answer, and being able to think abstractly will let you check your answers to see if it is correct. This quality is very important for word questions. With word questions you have to be able to think of a way to solve it, whether it is with a specific formula, or that is takes more than one step.

Overall, i think i have to work harder on all three :) But the one i have the most difficulty is to think more abstractly. I need to be able to train my brain to put the information given to you, into a way to solve the question.

math contest question

My favorite math question was number 15.

In the multiplication show, P and Q ecah represent a single digit, and the product is 32951. What is the value of P + Q?

39P x Q3 = 32951

First, you know that 3 x P has to be a digit that ends in a 1, because the product ends in a 1. Therefore, 3 x 7 = 21.
Now we made an educated guess that P = 7, So than you plug in:
397 x 3 to get the first product.
397 x 3 = 1191.
Now you have to find out that, 32951 (the ending product)- 1191 (The first product) = x (The second product)
Therefore x + 1191 = 3295.
which is 31760.
Than you have to say that Q x 7 = a digit that ends in a 6.
So you make an educated guess that Q would = to 8.
than you plug in 397 x 83 which equals to 32951.
than you add Q + P = 7 + 8 = 15.
Thus, your answer would be 15.

I like this question because at first it seems really hard, but if you use logic to figure it out, it is actually a simple question. AFter I figured out the answer, I felt really smart! ^^