Problem of the Week 8

Due Friday, December 11

Four mathletes, Brianna, Andy, Courtney and Brandon, competed in the finals of the Animas High
School Math Bowl. Prizes were awarded for the top three competitors as follows: first place
received an anniversary Math Faculty Pink Tie, second place received a book of Brain Teasers, and
third place received an I Love Math T-shirt.
Three staff members of AHS predicted how the prizes would be awarded.
Lauren predicted that Brandon would win the pink tie, Andy would win the book and
Courtney would win the T-shirt.
Hannah predicted that Brianna would win the pink tie, Brandon would win the book and
Courtney would win the T-shirt.
Aliza predicted that Andy would win the pink tie, Brianna would win the book and Brandon
would win the T-shirt.
It turns out that each staff member predicted exactly one prize winner correctly.
Determine precisely how the prizes were awarded.
Understanding the Problem:
The purpose of this pow was to determine who wins what prize and knowing that each teacher
guessed only one winner correctly.
Purpose:
At first I was very confused and had no idea what I was doing or how I would even start to do this
pow. So I made a table of all of the teachers guesses and saw that none of the teachers predicted
that I would win 1st or 2nd. So this meant that I was either 3rd or 4th. Seeing that Lauren and
Hannah both guessed that I would be 3rd place, I knew it had to be wrong, considering that each
person guessed on correct. So that would mean that Aliza guessed the 3rd place winner correctly.
Because Alizas guess for 3rd place was Brandon, I crossed out his name in the 1st and 2nd slots.
Also, because Aliza had already gotten 3rd place correct, I crossed out her other guesses for 1st
and 2nd places. That left Hannah's guess of Brianna being in 1st and Laurens guess of Andy being
in 2nd place were correct.
Solution:
First place winner was Hannahs guess, Brianna. Second place winner was Laurens guess, Andy.
Third place winner was Alizas guess, Brandon and I was in last place.
Justification:
My answers are correct because I used a table that I drew out when I didnt understand the
problem. I looked at the table really hard and asked Hannah Bissell for help when I was stuck.