Merchant Taylors’ School 11+ Percentage Word Problem

In this video, Singapore Maths Academy tackles Question 36 from Merchant Taylors’ School Specimen Paper 1, a tricky but engaging problem involving percentage decay and exponential reasoning.

A ball is dropped and bounces back to 75% of the previous height after each bounce. The challenge is to determine how many times it bounces before it reaches less than 25% of the original height. This is a classic example of geometric sequences in disguise — a type of question that often appears in high-end 11+ maths exams.

We walk students through how to model the bounce pattern mathematically, using logical steps to track the decay of the bounce height with each rebound. It’s ideal practice for students sitting the Merchant Taylors’ School 11+ entrance exam, and it helps build fluency with percentages, sequences, and worded problems.