THE KENYA NATIONAL MATHS GURUS EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

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𝟏𝟐𝟏/𝟏 − MATHEMATICS − 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝟏

ALT A
FORM THREE
OPENER EXAM
𝟏
Jan. 2025−𝟐 𝟐 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬

Name……………………………….……………. Index Number:…….……………....

Candidate’s Signature……………………… Date………………………..…………..

Instructions to candidates
(a) Write your name and admission number in the spaces provided above.
(b) Sign and write the date of examination in the spaces provided.
(c) This paper consists of two sections: Section I and Section II.
(d) Answer all questions in section I and only five questions from section II.
(e) Show all the steps in your calculations, giving the answers at each stage in the spaces provided below each
question.
(f) Marks may be given for correct working even if the answer is wrong.
(g) Non-programmable silent electronic calculators and KNEC mathematical tables may be used, except where stated
otherwise.
(h) This paper consists of 15 printed pages.
(i) Candidates should check the question paper to ascertain that all the pages are printed as indicated and that no
questions are missing.
(j) Candidates should answer the questions in English.

For Examiner’s Use Only

Section I
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 𝟒 𝟓 𝟔 𝟕 𝟖 𝟗 𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟐 𝟏𝟑 𝟏𝟒 𝟏𝟓 𝟏𝟔 𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥

Section II
𝟏𝟕 𝟏𝟖 𝟏𝟗 𝟐𝟎 𝟐𝟏 𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟑 𝟐𝟒 𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥
Grand Total

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SECTION I (50 marks)

Answer all the questions in this section in the spaces provided.

1. Solve the equation (2𝑥 + 4)(2𝑥 − 1) = 6 (3marks)

3𝑎2 +5𝑎𝑏−2𝑏2
2. Simplify completely (3marks)
𝑎2 −4𝑏2

3. Two similarly shaped cans hold 2000cm3 and 6.75 liters respectively. If the smaller can is 16cm in
diameter, what is the diameter of the larger one? (2marks)

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4. Evaluate the following:

4 (−9−2)𝑥 −4 – 15 + −3
73 x ( −3 𝑥−3+ −8 (−6+ −2) ) (3 marks)

5. The marked price of an article is Ksh 1020. A shopkeeper sold the article to his customer after allowing
him a 10% discount on the marked price. If the shopkeeper still made a profit of 20%. Determine how
much he had paid for it? (3 marks)

6. Solve the following inequality and state the integral values showing your answer on a number line.
(3 marks)
2𝑥 − 1 < 7 + 𝑥 ≤ 3𝑥 + 1

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7. The length of the rectangular flower garden is 7m greater than its width. Its diagonal is 2m greater than its
length. Find
a) The perimeter (2marks)

b) The area of the garden (1mark)

8. Calculate the volume of a prism whose length is 25cm and whose cross section is an equilateral triangle of
side 3cm. (3marks)

9. Water flows from a circular pipe of diameter 3.5cm into a rectangular tank 66cm long, 35cm wide and 45
cm high. If it takes 18 minutes to fill the tank completely, determine the flow rate of the water in the pipe.
22
(𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝜋 = ) (3marks)
7

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10. Find the equation of the image of the line𝑦 = 3𝑥 + 5 after reflection in the line 𝑦 = 𝑥 (3marks)

11. A metallic sphere is immersed in water in a cylindrical container of radius 7cm causing a rise of 7.5 cm in
the water level. Find the radius of the sphere correct to two significance figures. (4 marks)

12. Use reciprocal tables to evaluate f if; (3 marks)

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
− =
𝟓𝟐. 𝟑 𝟒𝟒. 𝟖𝟏 𝒇

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13. From a window 25m above a street, the angle of elevation of the top of a wall on the opposite side is 150. If
the angle of depression of the base of the wall from the window is 350. Find;
(i) The width of the street. (1 mark)

(ii) The height of the wall on the opposite side. (2 marks)

14. Find the a cute angle between the line 3𝑦 = 10𝑥 + 11 and the line y = 3. (2 marks)

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15. The ratio of the radii of two similar cylindrical tanks is 3 : 5. If the volume of the larger tank is 9000 L, find
the volume of the small tank. (3 marks)

16. Pipe x can fill an empty tank in 3 hours, while pipe y can fill the same tank in 6 hours. When the tank is
full, it can be emptied by pipe z in 8 hours. Pipe x and y are opened at the same time, when the tank is
empty, one hour later pipe z is also opened. Find the total time taken to fill the tank.
(4 marks)

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SECTION II (50 marks)

Answer only five questions from this section in the spaces provided

17. At Buhemba airport a building 20m high is 200m from the end of the main runway and in line with it.
Assuming that the plane takes off at the end of the runway and climbs in a straight line.
(a) Determine the minimum angle of ascent (3marks)

(b) If the angle of ascent is 10° and the plane leaves the ground 40 m before the end of the runway, by
how much will it clear the top of the building (4marks)

(c) Determine the least possible distance from the end runway when the angle of ascent is 4°
(3marks)

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18. In a car that averages 10 𝑘𝑚/𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑒, my petrol bill is Kshs. 60,000 per annum.
(a) How much less would my bill be if the car averaged 12 km per litre? (3marks)

(b) Given that 1 litre of petrol costs Kshs. 30 and that the consumption down to 1 litre per 10 km with
average speed 60km/hr, how many hours per annum do I spend? (4marks)

(c) To achieve 12 km per litre, I drop my average speed to 50 km/hr. How much longer do I spend
driving? (3 marks)

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19. Draw a graph of y = x2 – 5x + 6 for values of x from 0 to 5. (5 marks)

(a) Use your graph to find

(i) The minimum value of the function x2 -5x + 6 (1 mark)

(ii) The roots of 𝑥 2 − 5𝑥 + 6 (2marks)

(iii) x2 – 5x + 6 ≥ 0 ( 2marks)

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20. A lorry travels from Nairobi to Lodwar and back. From Nariobi to Lodwar, the average speed of the lorry is
70 km/h and from Lodwar to Nairobi, the lorry averages 20 km/h slower and takes 4 hours longer than on
the journey from Nairobi to Lowdar.

(a) Find the distance between Nairobi and Lodwar. (4 marks)

(b) Diesel consumption is 0.32 litres per kilometer on the journey from Nairobi to Lodwar. This rate of
fuel consumption increases by 25% on the return journey. Calculate the amount of diesel the lorry
consumes for the trip. (3 marks)

(c) The lorry makes 2 rand trips per week. If diesel costs sh 65 per litre, determine the total cost of
diesel required to run the lorry for 3 months. (3 marks)

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21. Find the area of the shaded region if O1 and O2 are the centres of the sector with radius 8cm and 6 cm
respectively, and AB = 8 cm. (10 marks)

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22. Three secondary schools, St Georges, Kenya High and Moi Girls are such that St. Georges is directly to the
south of Kenya high and are 400m apart. Moi Girls is situated at N 700E of St Georges and are 7000m
apart.
(a) Calculate the distance between Moi Girls and Kenya High. (5 marks)

(b) A cyclist from Kenya high cycling at 5 km/h started his journey at 9.00 am towards Moi girls to
deliver a message, meanwhile a messenger was sent from Moi Girls and started her journey at 9.15
am towards St. Georges walking at 3 km/h meeting on the way. Calculate the distance from St.
Georges to the meeting point. (5 marks)

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23. A factory packs fruit jam in cylindrical tins of radius 5cm and height of 15cm. the tins are then packed into
rectangular cartons each measuring 60cm long, 30 cm wide and 30cm high.
(a) Determine the maximum number of tins that can be packed in one carton (3marks)

(b) An empty carton and an empty tin weighs 560g and 300g respectively. The jam packed in one tin
weighs 990g. a pick up which can carry a maximum of 600kg is used to transport the jam.
Determine the maximum number of cartons the pick up can carry (4marks)

(c) The factory delivered a pickup full of cartons of jam to a retailer. The factory sells one carton to a
retailer for Sh 2880. The retailer sells each tin at Ksh 110. Calculate the percentage profit made by
the retailer (3marks)

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24. A swimming pool is 20m by 12m and it slopes gently from a depth of 1m at the shallow end to a depth of
3m at the deep end
(a) Calculate the volume of water in the swimming pool in 𝑚3 when it is full (3marks)

(b) If the swimming pool is to be drained by a pump which removes water at the rate of 2.5𝑚3 per
minute, how long will it take this pump to drain the swimming pool if it was full (3marks)

(c) If the sides of the swimming pool and its floor are to be covered with square tiles of side 20cm, find
the number to the nearest 100 the number of tiles required. (4marks)

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