🦘 Math Kangaroo Grade All Felix 1-2 Ecolier 3-4 Benjamin 5-6 Kadett 7-8 Junior 9-10 Student 11-12 ⇄ switch contest
2013 Math Kangaroo

Problem 15

Problem 15 · 2013 Math Kangaroo Medium
Arithmetic & Operations careful-counting

At the London 2012 Olympic Games the USA won the most medals: 46 gold, 29 silver and 29 bronze. China was second with 38 gold, 27 silver and 23 bronze. How many more medals did the USA win than China?

Show answer
Answer: C — 16
Show hints
Hint 1 of 3
Add up all of the USA's medals, then add up all of China's medals.
Still stuck? Show hint 2 →
Hint 2 of 3
The lighter way is to compare gold to gold, silver to silver, and bronze to bronze.
Still stuck? Show hint 3 →
Hint 3 of 3
Find each of those three differences and add the three differences together.
Show solution
Approach: compare each colour separately so the numbers stay small
  1. Gold: the USA had 46 and China had 38, that is 8 more gold.
  2. Silver: 29 against 27 is 2 more, and bronze: 29 against 23 is 6 more.
  3. Adding the three extras, 8 + 2 + 6 = 16 more medals, which is answer C.
Mark: · log in to save