The fewest coins that make an amount

Difficulty Starter · Set 9rm0xy

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1
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 17¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
2
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 28¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
3
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 28¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
4
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 33¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
5
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 22¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
6
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 48¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
7
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 24¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
8
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 8¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
9
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 44¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
10
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 18¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
11
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 23¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
12
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 46¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
13
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 18¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
14
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 42¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
15
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 10¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
16
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 23¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
17
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 23¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
18
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 6¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
19
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 26¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?
20
What is the fewest number of coins that makes 17¢, using quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies?

What is in this set

The numbers in this set run from 5 to 49.
52% of them come to more than a quarter, so the largest coin is in play.
48% of them come to less than a quarter.
A careful solution takes 4 written steps on average.
The mistake this set invites most often, in 52% of the problems: the quarters were never used; always take the largest coin that still fits before moving down.
Answers are a whole number.

Drawing 240 problems from this page produced 45 different ones, 19% — so a sheet of 20 will come back to a problem you have seen — there are only so many sensible ones of this kind.

The same skill, harder or easier

We would put this in front of a grade 4 class. That is our judgement, not a standard, and it is printed here so you can disagree with it. Everything else we put in that year.