Tricky Math Questions for Middle
School - Cambridge Curriculum
1. 1. What is the smallest positive number that is both a square and a cube?
Answer: The smallest positive number that is both a square and a cube is 1.
2. 2. A clock shows the time as 3:15. What is the angle between the hour and the minute
hand?
Answer: The angle between the hour and minute hand is 52.5 degrees.
3. 3. I am thinking of a number. If I double it and subtract 4, I get 10. What is my number?
Answer: The number is 7.
4. 4. How many degrees are in the sum of all interior angles of a pentagon?
Answer: The interior angles of a pentagon add up to 540 degrees.
5. 5. Which number is the only even prime number?
Answer: The only even prime number is 2.
6. 6. How many faces does a cube have?
Answer: A cube has 6 faces.
7. 7. If 5 pencils cost the same as 3 pens, and each pen costs $1.50, how much does one
pencil cost?
Answer: One pencil costs $0.90.
8. 8. In a triangle, two angles measure 40° and 70°. What is the size of the third angle?
Answer: The third angle is 70 degrees.
9. 9. A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 9 run away. How many are left?
Answer: The farmer has 9 sheep left.
10. 10. Which number comes next in the pattern? 2, 6, 12, 20, ?
Answer: The next number is 30.
11. 11. What is the mean of these numbers: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10?
Answer: The mean is 6.
12. 12. If a = 2 and b = 3, what is the value of a² + b²?
Answer: The value is 13.
13. 13. Which shape has the most lines of symmetry?
Answer: A circle has the most lines of symmetry – infinitely many.
14. 14. What is the smallest 4-digit number that is divisible by 5?
Answer: The smallest 4-digit number divisible by 5 is 1000.
15. 15. How many edges does a triangular prism have?
Answer: A triangular prism has 9 edges.
16. 16. How many zeros are there in one million?
Answer: There are 6 zeros in one million.
17. 17. A triangle has angles in the ratio 2:3:4. What is the largest angle?
Answer: The largest angle is 80 degrees.
18. 18. What is the product of the first three prime numbers?
Answer: The product is 30 (2 × 3 × 5).
19. 19. What is the probability of flipping heads four times in a row with a fair coin?
Answer: The probability is 1 out of 16.
20. 20. Which shape has more edges: a cube or a square-based pyramid?
Answer: A cube has more edges; it has 12, while the pyramid has 8.
21. 21. What is the next number in this sequence: 81, 27, 9, 3, ?
Answer: The next number is 1.
22. 22. How many 90° angles are in a square?
Answer: There are 4 right angles in a square.
23. 23. What is the median of these numbers: 5, 8, 2, 9, 6?
Answer: The median is 6.
24. 24. If you triple a number and subtract 5, you get 16. What’s the number?
Answer: The number is 7.
25. 25. Which of these is not a multiple of 4: 16, 24, 36, 38?
Answer: The number 38 is not a multiple of 4.
26. 26. A shape has only 1 curved face and no vertices. What is it?
Answer: The shape is a sphere.
27. 27. If 2x = 3y and x = 6, what is y?
Answer: The value of y is 4.
28. 28. How many hours are there in a week?
Answer: There are 168 hours in a week.
29. 29. A cube has a volume of 64 cm³. What is the length of one edge?
Answer: Each edge is 4 cm long.
30. 30. A recipe needs 2.5 cups of flour. You want to make 3 batches. How much flour is
needed?
Answer: You need 7.5 cups of flour.
31. 31. How many lines of symmetry does a regular hexagon have?
Answer: A regular hexagon has 6 lines of symmetry.
32. 32. A number is divisible by both 3 and 5. What else must it be divisible by?
Answer: It must also be divisible by 15.
33. 33. Which 3D shape has 5 faces, 8 edges, and 5 vertices?
Answer: The shape is a square-based pyramid.
34. 34. What is 25% of 240?
Answer: 25% of 240 is 60.
35. 35. If a pizza is cut into 8 equal slices and you eat 3, what fraction is left?
Answer: There are 5/8 of the pizza left.