POLYA’S 4-

STEP PROBEM
SOLVING
George Polya was a mathematician educator who
strongly believed that the skill of a problem
solving can be taught. He identified four basic
principles on problem solving.
Polya’s four-step in problem
solving process

4 Look back

3 Carry out the Plan

2 Devise a Plan

1 Understand the Problem

 Step 1. Understand the problem.

– Do you understand all the words used in stating the

problem?
– What are you asked to find or show? What are the
data? What is the condition?
– Can you restate the problem in your own words?
– Can you think of a picture or diagram that might help
you understand the problem?
– Is there enough information to enable you to find a
solution?
 Step 2. Devise a Plan

There are many reasonable ways to solve problems.

The skill at choosing an appropriate strategy is
best learned by solving many problems.

“How are you going to attack the problem?”

 Step 3. Carrying out a Plan

All you need is care and patience, given that you have
the necessary skills.

If it continues not to work, discard it and choose

another. Work carefully by checking each step. Can
you see clearly that the step is correct? Can you
prove that it is correct?
 Step 4. Looking back

– Can you check the result? Can you check the

argument?
– Can you derive the solution differently? Can
you see it at a glance?
– Can you use the result, or the method, for some
other problem?
–  
Examples:

1. A man divides to his three sons. The oldest

son was to get more than the middle son, the
middle son was to get more than the younger
son.
We have to find the amount of money each of
them can get.
2. Ryan numbered his miniature race car
collection according to the following rules:
a. It has to be 3-digit number.
b. The digit in the hundreds place is less than
3.
c. The digit in the tens place is greater than 7.
d. The digit in the ones place is odd.
If Ryan used every possibility and each car had
different number, how many cars did Ryan
have in his collection?
3. In a stock car race, the first five finishers in some
order were a Ford, a Pontiac, a Chevrolet, a Buick,
and a Dodge.
– The Ford finished seven seconds before the
Chevrolet.
– The Pontiac finished six seconds after the Buick.
– The Dodge finished eight seconds after the Buick
– The Chevrolet finished two seconds before the
Pontiac
In what order did the cars finish the race?
4. If the length of the top of a rectangle is 15 inches
more than its width and the area is 1,350 square
inches. Find the dimension of the table.

5. There are three siblings Sofia, Angela and

Riana. Sofia gave Angela and Riana much money
as each had. Then Angela gave Sofia and Riana as
much money each had. Then Riana gave Sofia and
Angela as much money as each had. Then each of
three has 128. How much money did each have
originally?