AdrianneSantaRomana

POW#6JustCountthePegs
April13,2016
ProblemDescription
Threestudentshaveeachdevelopedaformulathatwouldcalculatetheareaofapolygononageoboard,
withdifferentinputs.Freddiesformulawouldonlyusetheamountofpegsontheboundaryofthepolygontoget
theformula.Hisstrategyonlyworksiftherearenopegsinthemiddle.AsforSally,herformulawasbasedonthe
numberofpegsontheinteriorofthepolygon,butonlyexactlyfourpegsaroundtheboundary.Lastly,Frashyswas
acombination,withslightalterations,ofthetwootherformulas.Itusedtheamountofpegsontheboundaryand
interiortofindtheareaofthepolygon.Givenageoboardandtheinformationabove,findandprovethethree
differentformulas.

Process
ThisPOW,startedoffwithoutahitch.Mainlybecausetherehad
beengivenstepbystepdirectionsinapproachingthisproblem.Ona
geoboard,theareaof1squareis1unit.Ifthesquareweretobecutinto2
triangles,theareaofeachtrianglewouldbeaunit.Startingoffwith
Freddiesformula,weknowthattherewouldntbeanyinteriorpegs,
thereforeresultinginrectanglesonthegeoboard.Also,knowingthatasingle
square(showntotheright)isalso1unit,itwassimpleenoughtofindthe
areasofthedrawfiguresbelow.Alongwiththevisuals,creatingatablemade
itmoreconvenienttodeveloptheformula.(
SeeFigureI
)Tofindtheareaofeachpolygon,Icountedthenumberof
squareunitsinthefigure.

FigureI:Visuals&TableforFreddiesFormula

In(x)
BoundaryPegs

Out(y)
Area

10

12

Tofindthearea,IdecidedtousetheOutput(y)ortheareaasmyconstantrate.Ilookedatitinthe
perspectiveoflinearequations,soIimaginedwiththeInputwasfor0,whichwouldbe2.Sointheequation
y=mx+b,inthiscasex=my+b,2wouldbepluggedinforthevariableb.NowthatIhadfoundthe
yintercept,Ilookedfortherateofchangeforthenumberofboundarypegs.2,4,6,8,10,12.Thenumberofpegs,
increasesby2thereforetherateofchange,representedbythevariablem,is2.Nowtheequationisx=2y+2.
However,theformulaisintermsofxastheinputandyastheoutput.Tomakethathappen,isbygettingyby
itselfononesideoftheequation(equalsign).
(SeeMathbelow)


AdrianneSantaRomana
POW#6JustCountthePegs
April13,2016
NowthatIhavefiguredoutFreddiesequation,Ihadtotestitouttomakesurethatitwasavalidformula.
Takingtheformulaandplugginginthenumbersthatrepresentedthevariablesleadmetoseethattheformuladid
workforFreddiessituation.
Whatiftherewasexactlyonepeginthemiddle?SoIstarteddrawingoutthedifferentpolygonsinorderto
developatable.Therewasntmuchshapesthatcouldbedrawnwithexactly1peginthecenterbuthereareafew.
Intheend,Ididntfindaformulanorapatternforthisscenario.

In(x)
BoundaryPegs

Out(y)
Area

IdecidedtoseeifIcouldfindaformulaifthenumberofinteriorpegswouldbe2.FromthereIstarted
drawingoutthedifferentpolygons.Again,Icouldntfindapatternwiththeoutcomeofnumbers.Therewasnt
enoughconsistentdatathatwasaccumulatedthatIcouldntfindaformulaforthisscenario.

In(x)
BoundaryPegs

Out(y)
Area

10


AdrianneSantaRomana
POW#6JustCountthePegs
April13,2016

WithSallyssituation,Istartedbydrawingoutthedifferent
polygonsthatfollowedtherequiredrules.Herformulasolvedforthe
areaofthepolygongiventhenumberofinteriorpegswithexactly4pegs
ontheboundary.Startingoffwith0pegsintheinterior,theareais
exactly1unit.Sincetheformulaonlyaccountsforpolygonswithfour
pegsontheboundary,Ihadnoticedthepatternofkiteshapedfigures.
(
SeeFigure11
)Fororganization,justlikeFreddiesformula,Icreateda
tablethatwouldconverttheimagestonumbers.Theinputbeingthe
numberofpegsontheinteriorandtheareaastheoutput.

FigureII:Visuals&TableforSallysFormula

In(x)
InteriorPegs

Out(y)
Area

Weknowthateachsmallsquareisequalto1unit.Tofindtheareaofthepolygonsusingthedrawings
aboveisquitesimple.First,wewouldneedtodividethepolygonin4differenttriangles.Lookingatthedrawingin
adifferentway,Inoticedthatitwasacombinationofarectangleandasmallsquare.Usingthebluepolygonbelow,
asanexample,thetwosmalltrianglesaddupto1unit.Now,thelargerectanglehas5squareunitsandaddingthe
onesquare,makesthearea6.Ididthesameprocessfortheotherpolygons,untilIfoundapattern.

FiguringoutSallysformulawaswayeasiertosolvethanFreddiesformula.AsIlookedthethepattern
fromthetable,Inoticedadding1tothenumberofinteriorpegsgavetheareaofthepolygon.Thisresultedinthe
formula
x+1=y
.NowSallysformula,onlyworkedifthenumberofpegsontheboundaryofthepolygonis
exactly4.


AdrianneSantaRomana
POW#6JustCountthePegs
April13,2016
Idecidedtotestoutadifferentnumberotherthan4exactpegsontheboundary,soIwentwith8because
itsamultipleof4.Nowwiththe8pegsontheboundary,thenumberofinteriorpagesincreasedbecoming5.
Drawingoutthedifferentsizedpolygons,Inoticedthattheshapewasasimilarkiteshapejustliketheprevious
scenario(4exactboundarypegs).Recordingthedataonatable,Ibegantodevelopaformulaforthissituation.I
noticedthattherateofchangeforbothvariablesis4,soIdecidedtoadd4tothenumberofinteriorpegs.Usingthe
datapoint,Ipluggedin5forx.5+4=9,fromheretogettheoutput8subtract1.Itestedouttheformula
(x+4)1=yfortheothertodatepoints,anditdidwork.

In(x)
InteriorPegs

Out(y)
Area

12

13

16

AsforFrashysformula,therearemorethan2variablesunlikethepreviousones.Itwasalittlechallenging
developingthepolygons,takingthefactthattherearemanypossibleoutcomesastowhatthepolygonwouldlook
like.Therecouldbedifferentwaystodrawouttheshapesendingwithadisorganizedtable,thatwouldnthelp
figureouttheequation.Obviously,the2previousformulaswouldhavesomeconnectiontoeachothertocreatethis
lastone.Liketheothertwo,Istartedofwithadrawingoutthepolygons.Stickingtooneshapefororganizationand
consistency,Ichosetoenlargethesquare.(
SeeFigureIII
)Convertingthevisualsontoatable,Inoticedapattern
amongtheindividualvariables.

FIgureIII:Visuals&TableforFrashysformula

In(x)
BoundaryPegs

In(z)
InteriorPegs

Out(y)
Area

12

16

16

20

16

25

24

25

36


AdrianneSantaRomana
POW#6JustCountthePegs
April13,2016
Pickingupthepattern,figuringouttheformulawasprettytoughconsideringthatthereweretwoinputs
insteadofone.Ifirsttookalookattheboundarypegsandcomparedittoarea.Inoticedthattheonlywaytoget
closesttotheareafromtheboundarywouldbetodividebytwo.Using4boundarypegsasanexample,4dividedby
2equals2.Nowtheareais1,andthenumberofinteriorpegsis0.NowifIwantedtoaddthe2equationsforeach
input,theanswertothesecondequationshouldbe1.Nowputtingthetwotogether,theequationbecomes
( 42 ) + (0 1) = 1 Intermsofvariables,theformulawouldbe ( 2x ) + (z 1) = y
.

Solution
Thethreedifferentformulasthateachstudentdevelopedtocalculatetheareaofapolygononageoboard
arethefollowing:
FreddieShort
x2
(x=#ofboundarypegsy=Area)
2 = y
SallyShorter

x + 1 = y
(x=#ofinteriorpegsy=Area)
FrashyShortest
( 2x ) + (z 1)

= y
(x=#ofboundarypegsz=#ofinteriorpegsy=Area)

Extension
MakingalterationstoSallysformula,insteadof4exactpegsontheboundary,itwasadifferentnumber.I
knowthatIusedthenumber8,butwhatifitwerentamultipleof4.Forexample,6exactpegsoreven7.What
wouldtheformulabe?Howwouldthepolygonslook?

SelfReflection
IwouldconsiderthisweeksPOWtobelesschallengingthanthepreviousones.AsImentionedbefore,
mainlybecausetheproblemsheethadgivenstepbystepdirectionstoapproachtheproblem.IdobelievethatI
deserveagradearounda9or10,becauseIhavedefinitelytookthetimetodevelopawellwrittenPOW.Igave
enoughvisualsandtablestoproveandexplainhowIgottothesolution.Iwasabletowriteaboutmyprocessina
conciseandinformativemannerbygettingallmypointsacross.IwouldsaythehabitIusedoftenduringthePOW,
wouldbe
visualizingandlookingforpatter
.Whenworkingtofindtheformulatofindtheareaofapolygon,
drawingthemoutfirsthelpsetupthetableandfindingtheareas.Usingthetableshelpedwith
organization
and
figuringouttheformulaorrule.AtthebeginningofthePOW,Ikeptonwonderingtomyselfaboutthisproblemand
howsimplisticitwas.ThenIlookedbackatthequestionsbeingask.Iwassofocusedonfiguringoutthe3
formulas,thatIdidntrealizewhattheotherquestionswereasking.IknewthatIwasmissingsomething,Ijust
neededtoreadeverythingtheproblemwasaskingme.