PSLE Math – Problem sums that most P6 pupils stumble over

21 Aug

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51 Responses to “PSLE Math – Problem sums that most P6 pupils stumble over”

  1. Chermaine August 22, 2010 at 7:28 pm #

    Maths Q: A 3-room flat has a rectangular living room with an area of 30.15m2 and a width of 4m. Find the length of living room, correct to 2 decimal places.

    Reply
    • Surya September 8, 2012 at 9:06 am #

      I got the answer as 7.5375. I worked it out like this: 30.15/4=7.5375.

      Reply
  2. Tommy Poa August 29, 2010 at 5:12 pm #

    Hi. If I am not wrong is Ms Phang handling this website? If so, HI MS PHANG!!!! I am your student from last year(P5) at St Anthony Primary School. Do you still remember me? HAHA!!! I missed your WONDERFUL FANTASTIC GOOD BEST teachings, so did my friends that have taken your Math Olympiad lessons last year. We were sad that you didn’t come back to teach us again. We had a good teacher too, called Ms Ooi. Anyways, just sending my regards to you. I hope some day I can have you being my MATH teacher!!( I LOVE MATH!!! :D)

    Tommy
    P.S. I miss you sweet, kopiko!

    Reply
  3. Math Arena August 29, 2010 at 11:54 pm #

    Hi Tommy,

    So nice to hear from you! Of course I remember you, you were one of the nicest kids in that class….there were quite a number of good kids there!

    I missed the whole class too. Please send my regards/hello/hi to the others. Since I started Math Arena, I am spending less time teaching in school programme. I do missed it.

    Thanks for your kind words about my teaching, I feel very encouraged. You’re right that Ms. Ooi is a very good teacher. She is my good friend too. I’ll tell her what you said about her!

    How’s your preparation for PSLE coming along? I shall be putting up some P6 Math Prelim questions from my pupils studying in schools in the East soon….you and your friends may want to check it out.

    So glad you like the kopiko sweets. It is my favourite since my mom gave me some when I was your age, long long time ago.

    I hope you get lots of good math teachers throughout your journey in school. I myself had an excellent math teacher when I was in P6, long time ago. That reminds me…I shall look him up this Teachers’ Day! I heard he is still teaching in one of the primary school in the West.

    Keep in touch!

    Ms. Phang
    P.S. You can post questions on my website too.

    Reply
  4. Tommy Poa September 1, 2010 at 9:25 pm #

    Thanks!!! Happy Teachers Day!! I will be glad if you do send me the questions via email!!! I LOVE math sums!!! If I do not know how to solve them, may I ask you to explain it? THANKS!!!!My PSLE preparation is fine and thanks to you, I could solve many questions that I met when taking the DSA test!!!!! Results are not out yet. I will pass the message to my friends!! Keep in touch throught this website!!!

    Tommy
    P.S. Really hope you can teach me MATH again…I really miss your teachings and most importantly, YOU!!!

    Reply
  5. Math Arena September 3, 2010 at 12:10 am #

    Hi Tommy,
    Wow! Its good to hear you remembered what we taught you and could apply them during your DSA test! And yes, I’ll do my best to show you the steps should you have any questions on math.

    Since you’re so keen in math, can I suggest that you take up Olympiad Math in Sec 1? You can call up Maths Hub to find out more about SMO(Junior) after your PSLE. If you move to the East, call Math Arena. I won’t be teaching it. But our trainer for this course is very good and fun too!

    Watch this space for some 2010 Prelim questions.

    Reply
  6. Tommy Poa September 3, 2010 at 7:14 pm #

    WHY!!!! Why won’t you be teaching?! I’ll certainly call Math Hub or Arena for Math Olyimpiad training. Oh, are there Math Olympiad classes in Sec 1?

    Tommy

    Reply
  7. goh jianchang March 29, 2011 at 8:54 pm #

    fantastic u are great so many maths probs ^^

    Reply
    • matharena March 29, 2011 at 11:28 pm #

      Hi jianchang,
      Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the questions!
      You may post math questions here if you have any. We’ll try to solve them whenever time permits.

      Reply
  8. Max Ng June 10, 2011 at 2:34 pm #

    So , whats the answer for this ?

    Reply
  9. Jia square August 13, 2011 at 12:51 pm #

    can you help me to solve this question? Jim bought some chocolates and gave half of it to Ken. Ken bought some sweets and gave half of it to Jim. Jim ate 12 sweets and Ken ate 18 chocolates. The ratio of Jim’s sweets to chocolates became 1 : 7 and the ratio of Ken’s sweets to chocolates became 1:4. How many sweets did Ken buy?

    Reply
    • matharena August 22, 2011 at 3:52 pm #

      Hi Jia square,

      you may refer to this link for the solution.

      Click to access PSLE%2016.8.11.pdf

      Reply
      • xiaoming September 14, 2020 at 5:30 pm #

        😦 can someone gimme answers for 2012 psle math paper2?!?! I’m having LOTS of trouble D;

  10. Angelic Smile :D December 10, 2011 at 9:02 pm #

    May i know where i can find challenging questions for the P6 level? Thank you very much! 🙂

    Reply
    • Math Arena December 12, 2011 at 7:08 pm #

      Hi Angelic Smile,

      We will put up more P6 questions whenever we can.
      You can look them up under “Archives”.
      Or you can post questions here if you like.

      Reply
  11. Eugenia February 20, 2012 at 2:03 am #

    Hi.

    This has helped me to get a clearer picture of what the primary 6 mathematics standard is like now. I am currently tutoring primary school kids and am grateful to this. Just a question- do primary 6 students still use models? As the syllabus has changed from when I was primary 6, 6 years ago!

    Reply
  12. Math Arena February 20, 2012 at 1:21 pm #

    Hi Eugenia,

    I’m glad you find our questions and solutions helpful.

    Yes, models are still being used by P6 pupils. But some pupils find other alternative methods of solving problems more suited to their learning. So we do teach multiple approaches to problem solving at Math Arena.

    If you have interesting questions, you are welcome to post them here. We’ll find time to solve them when we can.

    Reply
  13. sha March 15, 2012 at 2:36 pm #

    Hi,
    Having a problem here need help to solve…mummy of P6

    Shawn as 20% as many stickers as Peter
    Peter has 125% as many stickers as Jack
    If Peter give 9% to Jack,Peter and Jack will then hv an equal no of stickers.
    Find the average no of stickers the 3 of them have.?

    Reply
    • matharena March 15, 2012 at 5:55 pm #

      Hi,

      I’ve amended the question so it can be worked out.

      Change “9%” to “9 stickers”.

      Please click here for solution: http://www.matharena.com.sg

      Reply
    • sha April 6, 2012 at 10:37 am #

      Thank you!

      Reply
  14. sha April 6, 2012 at 10:45 am #

    Hi,
    Need help to solve this….
    Brennan spent $700 of his salary.He then gave 5/8 of the remaining money to his mother.
    He saved the remaining money which was 9/38 of his salary.What was the amount of his salary?

    Reply
  15. Jodie September 5, 2012 at 11:48 pm #

    Hi I néed help on this maths question and I wonder could u help me to solve them. I spent many hours but still to no avail.
    1)James kept $600 of his salary for himself and gives 18% of his salary to his mother. The rest of his salary is given to his father. His father receives 70% of the total amount James give away. How much is James salary?
    2) Ellen gets $4 more allowance money than federico each week. They each spend $11 per week on transport and saves the rest. After a few weeks,Ellen managed to save $65 and Federico only managed to save $45. How much allowance money does Ellen get each week?please reply ASAP:)

    Reply
    • Wang Xuyang Sunny April 10, 2014 at 8:53 pm #

      1) $1500
      2) $24
      I’m not showing off but I did it in like 1 min

      Reply
  16. matharena September 6, 2012 at 1:56 pm #

    Hi Jodie

    The suggested solutions for the 2 questions you have posted can be found here: https://matharena.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/questions-from-jodie/

    Reply
  17. loaf September 22, 2012 at 2:36 pm #

    Thx MathArena It Rly Make Me Happy When I Get The Right Answer 😀 Thx For Ur Help As My PSLE Is Reaching In 5Days Time

    Reply
    • Math Arena September 22, 2012 at 4:37 pm #

      Hi loaf,
      We are happy to have been of help to you!

      Reply
  18. Ben tan September 27, 2012 at 7:26 pm #

    Is there a mistake in Q.6

    Reply
    • Ben tan September 27, 2012 at 7:29 pm #

      Sorry my bad I did not check carefully. This is a really good guide for my tomorrow exam.

      Reply
  19. Meryllow October 11, 2012 at 5:48 pm #

    Hi! I need help in solving this question:
    At first, Jerry had $200 less than Ben. Then Ben gave Jerry 1/4 of his money. In return, Jerry gave Ben 1/5 of his money. Later, Ben gave 1/2 of his money to Jerry. In the end, Jerry had $700 more than Ben. How much did Jerry have at first?

    Reply
    • Meryllow October 15, 2012 at 9:37 pm #

      Thank you so much! The method is easy to understand as compare to the answer key.

      Reply
      • matharena October 17, 2012 at 1:39 pm #

        Hi Meryl,
        You can thank Mr. Bosco for the crystal clear solution!

        Math Arena

  20. Theodore November 28, 2012 at 8:49 am #

    I am continuously searching online for posts that can help me.
    Thx!

    Reply
  21. Lokeswari D/O Ragu December 17, 2013 at 7:23 pm #

    Hi, my name Lokeswari. I am new to this website. Anyways I am quite weak in my maths. I hope that this PSLE questions help me to improve!

    Thanks to the teacher who upload this questions..

    Reply
  22. brandon February 13, 2014 at 4:23 pm #

    I am also from saps I am in primary 6-2 now

    Reply
  23. Santiago German June 20, 2014 at 5:26 pm #

    Hello Math Arena.I was wondering if you could help me solve a few questions that have been troubling my mind.

    1. Mrs Hoon made some cookies to sell.3/4 of them were chocolate cookies and the rest were almond cookies.After selling 210 almond cookies and 5/6 of the chocolate cookies,she had1/5 cookies left.How many cookies did she sell?

    2. Tickets for a school drama performance were sold to teachers and pupils at different prices.Tickets were sold to teachers at $20 while tickets were sold to pupils at $8.
    1/4 of the tickets sold were bought by teachers.The total amount of money collected from the sale of tickets to pupils was $416 more than the total amount collected from the sale of tickets to teachers.

    How much money was collected from the sale of tickets altogether?

    3. Mr Lee baked 185 more chicken pies than tuna pies.After selling 3/5 of the chicken pies and half of the tuna pies,he had 146 pies left.How many pies did he sell?

    4.One afternoon, six friends rented four computers for two hours and thirty minutes and took turns to play at them.At anytime,four of them played at the computers while the other two friends watched.If each of them had the same amount of playing time,How many minutes did each person play at the computer?

    Thank you for your time and I hope you could solve these troubling problematic questions for me.I hope you have a nice day.

    Reply
    • matharena June 25, 2014 at 1:16 am #

      Reply
  24. tskp June 29, 2014 at 8:11 pm #

    Hi matharena, can you help me to solve this math problem please ?
    Q)There were some boys and girls in the school hall at first. 40% of the boys and 10% of the girls left the school hall. As a result, 3/4 of the pupils remained in the school hall. How many boys were there at first?

    Reply
  25. Santiago German July 7, 2014 at 9:24 pm #

    Thank you for answering my questions. You have helped me in my math homework.i once again say thank you and have a nice day math arena.

    Reply
  26. John Moore July 14, 2014 at 7:42 pm #

    Can you please help me with these questions that I cannot solve.

    1 At a swimming event, School A had 18 more representatives than School B and 6 fewer representatives than School C. The ratio of the number of boys to the girls from the three schools was 1:3. The ratios of the number of boys to the number of girls in School A, B and C were 1:3 1:5 and 2:5 respectively . How many representatives from the three schools were there in all?

    2 Bernard has some twenty cent and fifty cent coins. 2/3 of the total value of the twenty cent coins is the same as 1/2 of the total value of the fifty cent coins. If Bernard spends 4 fifty cent coins, the value of the twenty and fifty cent coins will be the same. How May twenty cent coins does Bernard have?
    Thank You

    Yours Sincerely, John

    Reply
  27. Amit July 15, 2014 at 1:19 pm #

    Hi matharena, can you help me to solve this math problem please ?
    1.Mr Lim and Mr Tan drove from Bedok to Jurong one morning. They started at the same time and the journey was 35 km. They drove at the same speed for the first 10 km. Mr Tan did not change his speed but Mr Lim drove at a faster speed for the remaining 25 km. Mr Lim reached the destination 5 minutes before Mr Tan who was 5 km behind him.
    a)If Mr Tan reached the destination at 10.20 am, at what time did they start the journey?
    b)What was Mr Lim’s speed for the last 25 km of the journey in km/h?

    2.There are 98 children queuing up to enter an amusement park. For every 2 boys standing in the queue, there are 4 girls standing in between them. What is the largest possible number of boys in the queue?

    3.In Week 1, a seller had 35 of his shirts left after selling 100 of them at $10 each. He sold 40% of the remainder at $12 each in Week 2 and the rest at a discounted price in Week 3. His total sale collection for the 3 weeks was $2,485. What was the discounted price of each of the shirts sold in Week 3?

    4.The figure below (not drawn to scale) shows a rectangle with its corners cut off. 2 upper corners are in a shape of a quarter circle and 2 lower corners are in a shape of a square. The length of the radius of the quarter circle is the same as the length of the square. The ratio of the length of the rectangle to its breadth is 12 : 5. The length of PQ is 25 cm and the length of RS is 4 cm.
    a)What is the radius of the quarter circle?
    b)What is the perimeter of the shaded part? (Take 𝜋 = 3.14 and give your answer correct to 1 decimal place.)
    P
    Q
    R
    S
    25 cm
    4 cm

    Reply
  28. Vicky August 22, 2014 at 9:48 pm #

    Hi Matharena, can you help me to solve this math problem? Thank you
    Mary put 5/7 of the cookies in 14 small packets and 4 boxes. She put the 3/4 remainder in 6 big packets. The rest was given away. A box has four times as many cookies as a small packets. A big packet has 6 more cookies than a small packet. How many cookies are there in a big packet?

    Reply
    • matharena August 23, 2014 at 2:14 am #

      Vicky, we have many similar examples in this website, do try those. Now we are working on videos (2013 prelim and … even 2014 prelim questions when we get the papers)

      We are also solving for our students. Do subscribe to http://www.learnbywatching.org and we can put you in priority with our students.

      You are welcome however to at least attempt the question you asked, scan what you have done and send to us, we will look at your answer and help you there.

      Reply
  29. Syal February 9, 2015 at 10:25 pm #

    Hi.. Have a maths qns which requires help to solve.

    Shopkeeper has some Red, Green and Blue pens.
    Total of Red & Green pens is 429.
    Total of Red & Blue pens is 219.
    The number of green pens is 6 times more than blue pens.

    a) Find total number of pens
    b) Amount Shopkeeper would receive if he sells the pens at 3 for $2/-.

    Appreciate any help I can get for this qns. Thanks.

    Reply
    • matharena February 10, 2015 at 4:33 pm #

      Syal, we have many similar examples in this website, do try those.

      Do subscribe to http://www.ilearnbywatching.com and we can put you in priority with our students in helping them with ad hoc questions.

      However we can help you if work out the answer as best as you can, scan what you have done and send it to us, we will look at your answer and help you from there.

      Reply
  30. sal April 29, 2015 at 3:59 am #

    Please help with this question:
    Q. A restaurant offers Zippy soft drink, Fresh Up soda and Health-O fresh juice. On Monday, the ratio of the number of Zippy soft drink to the number of Fresh Up soda sold was 3: 6. And the ratio of the number of Fresh Up soda to the number of Health-Ojuice sold was 12: 2.
    a) Find the ratio of number of Zippy sodas to the number of Fresh Up soda sold to the number of Health-O juice sold.

    Reply
  31. Joey. March 7, 2016 at 6:56 pm #

    Q : A baker bought the same number of apples, peaches and grapes to make some fruit tarts. After 28 grapes, some apples and peaches were used to make some fruit tarts, there were 123 fruits left. There were thrice as many apples as peaches left. The number of grapes left was 24 was fewer than the number of apples left. How many peaches were used to make fruit tarts?

    Reply

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