LESSON 3.

3
POLYA’S FOUR STEPS
IN PROBLEM SOLVING
 Objectives:

1. Tell all the Polya’s four steps in

problem solving.
2. Select the appropriate strategy to
solve the problem.
3. Solve problems with the use of Polya’s
four step.
 One of the major problems of a student in
mathematics is on how to solve worded
problems correctly and accurately. Sometimes,
they have difficulty understanding in grasping
the main idea of a problem on how to deal
with it and to solve it. It is very important that
there is always a clear understanding on how
to solve problems most especially in a
Mathematics as a course.
George Polya is one of the
foremost recent mathematicians to
make a study of problem solving.
He was born in Hungary and moved
to the United States in 1940. He is
also known as “The Father of
Problem Solving”.
 He made fundamental contributions to
combinatorics, number theory, numerical analysis
and probability theory. He is also noted for his work
in heuristics and mathematics education. Heuristic, a
Greek word means that "find" or "discover" refers to
experience-based techniques for problem solving,
learning, and discovery that gives a solution which is
not guaranteed to be optimal.
 The George Polya’s Problem-Solving Method are as
follows:
 Step 1. Understand the Problem.
 This part of Polya’s four-step strategy is often
overlooked. You must have a clear understanding of
the problem. To help you focus on understanding the
problem, consider the following questions. These are
some questions that you may be asked to yourself
before you solve the problem.
a. Are all words in a problem really understand and clear by the
reader?
b. Do the reader really know what is being asked in a problem on
how to find the exact answer?
c. Can a reader rephrase the problem by their own without deviating
to its meaning?
d. If necessary, do the reader can really visualize the real picture of
the problem by drawing the diagram?
e. Are the information in the problem complete or is there any
missing information in a problem that could impossible to solve
the problem?
 Step 2. Devise a Plan
 Sometimes, it is necessary for us that to be able to solve a
problem in mathematics, we need to devise a plan. Just
like a Civil Engineer that before he construct a building, he
needs to do a floor plan for a building that he wants to
build. To be able to succeed to solve a problem, you could
use different techniques or way in order to get a positive
result. Here are some techniques that could be used. You
could one of these or a combination to be able to solve
the problem.
a. As much as possible, list down or identify all important information in
the problem
b. Sometimes, to be able to solve problem easily, you need to draw
figures or diagram and tables or charts.
c. Organized all information that are very essential to solve a problem.
d. You could work backwards so that you could get the main idea of the
problem.
e. Look for a pattern and try to solve a similar but simpler problem.
f. Create a working equation that determines the given (constant) and
variable.
g. You could use the experiment method and sometimes guessing is
okay.
 Step 3. Carry out the plan
 After we devised a plan, the next
question is “How are we going to carry
out the plan?” Now, to be able to carry
out the plan, the following suggestions
could help us in order to solve a
problem.
a. Carefully and accurately working on the problem.
b. There must be a clear and essential information or
data in the problem.
c. If the first plan did not materialize, make another
plan. Do not afraid to make mistakes if the first plan
that you do would not materialize. There is a saying
that “There is a second chance.”
 Step 4. Look back or Review the Solution
 Just like on what you do in solving worded
problems in Algebra, you should always check
if your answer is correct or not. You need to
review the solution that you have made. How
will you check your solution? The following
could be your guide.
a. Make it sure that your solution is very
accurate and it jibed all important details of
the problem.
b. Interpret the solution in the context of the
problem.
c. Try to ask yourself that the solutions you’ve
made could also be used in other problems.
 These strategies will help you to solve the problem
easily. These are the following strategies that you
could be used:
1. Draw a picture, diagram, table or charts. Label
these with correct information or data that you
could see in the problems. Sometimes, there are
hidden information that is very much important
also to solve the problem. So, be cautious.
2. Identify the known and unknown
quantities. Choose appropriate variable in
identifying unknown quantities. For
example, the unknown quantity is height.
You could use “h” as your variable.
3. You have to be systematic.
4. Just like on what we have in devising a plan,
look for a pattern and try to solve a similar but
simpler problem.
5. Sometimes, guessing is okay. There is no
problem in guessing and it is not a bad idea to
be able to begin in solving a problem. In
guessing, you could examine how closed is your
guess based on the given problem.
 Example:

1. The sum of three consecutive positive integers is 165. What

are these three numbers?
Step 1. Understand the problem
When we say consecutive numbers, these are like
succeeding numbers. Say, 4, 5, 6 are three consecutive numbers
for single-digit numbers. For the two digit number, example of
these three consecutive is 32, 33, and 34. Noticing that the
second number added by 1 from the first number and the third
number is increased by 2 from the first number.
 Step 2. Devise a plan
 From the previous discussion of this lesson, devising a
plan is very essential to solve a problem. We could use
an appropriate plan for this kind of problem and that is
formulating a working equation. Since we do not know
what are these three consecutive positive integers, we
will be using a variable, say x to represent a particular
number. This variable x could be the first number.
 Now, since it is consecutive, the second number will be
increased by 1. So, the possible presentation would be x + 1.
The third number was increased by 2 from the first number so
the possible presentation would be x + 2. Since, based on the
problem that the sum of these three consecutive positive
integers is 165, the working equation is:
(x) + (x + 1) + (x + 2) = 165
where x be the first positive integer, x + 1 be the second number
and x + 2 be the third number.
 Step 3. Carry out the plan We already know
the working formula. To be able to determine
the three positive consecutive integers, we
will be using the concept of Algebra here in
order to solve the problem. Manipulating
algebraically the given equation;
x + x + 1 + x + 2 = 165
Combining similar terms;
3x + 3 = 165
Transposing 3 to the right side of the equation;
3x = 165 – 3
Simplifying;
3x = 162
Dividing both side by 3 to determine the value of x;
x = 54
and this would be the first number.
 Now, the second number is x + 1 and we
already know the value of x = 54. So, the
next number is 55. Then the third number
would be x + 2 and again we know that x =
54 so the third number is 56. Hence, the
three positive consecutive integers whose
sum is 165 are 54, 55 and 56.
 Step 4. Look back and review the solution
 We need to review our solution to check if the
answer is correct. How are we going to do
that? Just simply add the identified three
consecutive positive integers and the result
should be 165. So, adding these three
numbers, 54 + 55 + 56 will give us a sum of 165.
2. There are ten students in a room. If
they give a handshake for his
classmate once and only once, how
many handshakes can be made?
 Step 1. Understand the problem
 Let us say that you are one of those ten students in a room.
To know how many handshakes could be made with of
those ten students, we need name those ten students as A,
B, C. …, I, and J. If you would be the A student you can give a
handshake to different nine students. Now, if you give your
hand to B, i.e., A to B, it is can be said the giving handshake
by B to A is just only one count. Obviously, you cannot make
a handshake to yourself as well as B to himself and so on.
Step 2. Devising a plan
To determine the total number of
handshakes, it is very easy if we are
going to create a table. Say,
 A B C D E F G H I J
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
The x symbol represent that
you cannot make a
handshake to yourself and 
symbol meaning that a
handshake was made.
Step 3. Carry out the plan
 A B C D E F G H I J
A X √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
B X X √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
C X X X √ √ √ √ √ √ √
D X X X X √ √ √ √ √ √
E X X X X X √ √ √ √ √
F X X X X X X √ √ √ √
G X X X X X X X √ √ √
H X X X X X X X X √ √
I X X X X X X X X X √
J X X X X X X X X X X

TOTAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
 So, adding this 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 +
7 + 8 + 9 = 45. Hence, there are a
total of 45 handshakes if these ten
students give a handshake for his
classmate once and only once.
Step 4. Look back and review the
solution
Trying to double check the diagram,
it is clearly seen that the total
number of handshakes that could
be made which is 45 is correct.
ACTIVITY