PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES

Part 2

POLYA’S FOUR-STEP PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES

1. Understand the problem

To help focus on understanding the problem, consider the following questions:
 Can you restate the problem in your own words?
 Can you determine what is known in these types of problem?
 Is there missing information that, if known, would allow you to solve the problem?
 Is there extraneous information that is not needed to solve the problem?
 What is the goal?

2. Devise a plan
Successful problem solver use variety of techniques when they attempt to solve a problem. Here are
some frequently procedures:

 Make a table or chart  If a formula applies, use it

 Look for a pattern  Work backward
 Solve a similar, simpler problem  Guess and check
 Draw a sketch  Use trial and error
 Use inductive reasoning  Use common sense
 Write an equation and solve it  Look for a “catch” if the answer seems
obvious or impossible
3. Carry the plan
Once you have devised a plan you must carry it out.
 Work carefully
 Keep an accurate and neat record of all your attempts
 Realize that some of your initial plans will not work and that you may have to devise another
plan or modify your existing plan

4. Look back and check

Once you have found a solution, check the solution
 Ensure that the solution is consistent with the facts of the problem
 Interpret the solution in context of the problem
 Ask yourself whether these are generalizations of the solution that could apply to other
problems

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MMW NOTES IN PROBLEM SOLVING – RAVINA , JN
 EXERCISES

1. A baseball team won two out of their four games. In how many different orders could they have two
wins and two losses in four games? (Make an organized list)

2. A true-false quiz contains five questions. In how many ways can a student answer the question if the
student answers two of the questions with “false” and the other three with a “true”?
(Make an organized list)
3. If six people greet each other at a meeting by shaking hands with one another’ how many
handshakes will take place? (Solve a similar but simpler problem)
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4. Determine the digit 100 places to the right of the decimal point in the decimal representation of .
27
(Make a table and look for a pattern)

5. Determine the unit’s digit (ones digit) of 4 200? (Make a table and look for a pattern)

6. Melody picks a number. She doubles the number, squares the result, divides the square by 3 subtracts
30 from the quotient, and gets 18. What are the possible numbers that Melody could have picked?
What operation does Melody perform that prevents us from knowing 100%certainty which numbers
she picked? (guess and check)

7. The product of the three ages, in years of three teenagers is 4590. None of the teens are the same
ages. What are the ages of the three teen agers? (Use guess and check)

8. Nothing is known about the personal life of the ancient Greek mathematician Diophantus except for
1 1
the information in the following epigram “Diophantus passed of his life in childhood, in youth,
6 12
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and more as a bachelor. Five years after his marriage was born a son who died 4 years before his
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father, at his fathers (final) age. How old was Diophantus when he died? (Hint: Although an
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equation can use to solve the problem, the method of guessing and checking will probably require
less effort. Also assume that his age, when he died is a counting number).

9. A hat and a jacket cost $100. The jacket cost $90 more than the hat. What are the cost of the hat and
the cost of the jacket? (Warning: This is a deceptive problem).

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MMW NOTES IN PROBLEM SOLVING – RAVINA , JN
10.

Ratings

13%
24%

Not Rated - 23%

PG13-27%
R-34.4%
PG-12.7%

35%

28%

Figure 1. Ratings of the 511 films released in 2017

Use Figure 1 to determine the number of films released in 2017 that received a PG-13 rating. Round to
the nearest counting number. (Note: 511 movies were released in2017)

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MMW NOTES IN PROBLEM SOLVING – RAVINA , JN