The Beauties of Math

SAMUEL RIEMANN SOLIVEN

JANUARY 31, 2022
Participation Guidelines
• Questions will pop out in some sections of this session.
•Question will be labelled with “Q”+ the question number, e.g Q1, Q2.
•Send your answers to my email: sam_riemann@yahoo.com, with the
question label as subject and the message being your answer + your
Gcash number. Example:
Subject: Q2
Message: 14 09177777722
•The participant who first sent the correct answer will receive a prize
through Gcash. The prize depends on the difficulty of the question.
Outline
• Math in Nature
• Careers in Math
• Attitudes of a problem solver
• Problem Solving Techniques
• Advanced problem tactics
Math in Nature: Fractals
Math in Nature: The Normal Distribution
Math in Nature:
The Golden Ratio
The golden ratio is a number such that:
a/b = (a+b)/a
Math in Nature: The Golden Ratio
Q1 – 100 PHP
A normal distribution has the following parameters:
and

What is its variance?

Careers in
Math
Exercises vs Problems
Exercise Problem

 A question one knows how to

 A question that demands much
resolve immediately.
thought and resourcefulness before
 No need to puzzle on the
the right approach to be found.
techniques supposed to be used.
 Exercises vs Problems:
Examples
Example Compute without a calculator.

This is an exercise.
 Exercises vs Problems:
Examples
Example Write as a fraction in lowest terms.

This seems to be an exercise but just a bit tedious.

So, we “guess” that

Showing this formula is correct is a problem.

Attitudes of a good Mathlete
Mentally Tough

• Confidence
• Concentration
Mice and Men
“The landlady hurried into the backyard, put the mousetrap on the
ground (it was an old-fashioned trap, a cage with a trapdoor) and called
to her daughter to fetch the cat. The mouse in the trap seemed to
understand
the gist of these proceedings; he raced frantically in his cage,
threw himself violently against the bars, now on this side and then on
the other, and in the last moment he succeeded in squeezing himself
through and disappeared in the neighbour's field. There must have
been on that side one slightly wider opening between the bars of the
mousetrap . . . I silently congratulated the mouse. He solved a great
problem, and gave a great example.”
Moral of the Story:
•Agood problem solver does not
easily give up.
• However, a good problem solver
doesn’t just keep banging his
head against a wall, but instead,
varies each attempt.
But what if the problem is just too
impossible?
• Learn that giving up is an
option. But knowing WHEN to
give up is the key.
• If you know a problem is
solvable but you have
exhausted your resources,
then give up TEMPORARILY.
How to improve mental toughness?
• Practice with easy problems
first.
•Getting used to success is the
key to raising one’s
confidence.
•Work on harder and harder
problems that continually
challenge and stretch you to
the limit.
Sample Problem
Problem 1:
Consider the following diagram. Is it possible to connect each small box on the top with its
same-letter mate on the bottom with paths that do not cross one another, nor leave the
boundaries of the large box?

B
A C

C B A
 Attitudes of a good Mathlete
Creative

• Open to new ideas

• Flexible thought process
• Non-routine and non-
repetitive
Sample Problem 2
A monk climbs a mountain. He starts at 8AM and reaches the summit at noon. He spends the
night on the summit. The next morning, he leaves the summit at 8AM and descends by the
same route that he used the day before, reaching the bottom at noon. Prove that there is a time
between 8AM and noon at which the monk was at exactly the same spot on the mountain on
both days.
(Note: We do not specify anything about the speed that the monk travels. For example, he could
race at 1000 miles per hour for the first few minutes, then sit still for hours, then travel
backward, etc. Nor does the monk have to travel at the same speeds going up as going down.)
Solution 2
Let the monk climb up the mountain in whatever way he does it. At the instant he begins his
descent the next morning, have another monk start hiking up from the bottom, traveling exactly
as the first monk did the day before. At some point, the two monks will meet on the trail. That is
the time and place we want.
Signs of a creative solution
“OH MY GOD. WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?”
Sample Problem 3
Pat wants to take a 1.5 -meter-long sword onto a train, but the conductor won 't allow it as
carry-on luggage. Also, the baggage person won 't take any item whose greatest dimension
exceeds 1 meter. What should Pat do?
Solution 3
Fit the sword into a 1 meter by 1 meter by 1 meter box.
 Attitudes of a good Mathlete
Efficient

• Brief and concise solutions

• Been there, done that
• A veteran; finds out the
best strategy to be done in
less time
 How to Be Efficient?
• Keep on drilling exercises
and problems.
• If a solution seems too
tedious, try looking for a
simpler one.
• Invoke shortcuts you have
learned from practicing.
Sample Problem 4
Find the remainder when is divided by 7.
An “inefficient” but correct solution

divided by 7 equals

Remainder 1

Remainder = 1
 Attitudes of a good Mathlete
Resourceful
• Extends learning from existing
education curriculum to
outside resources
• Does his own research to
answer problems
• Possesses and utilizes an
abundant amount of study or
practice materials
 Attitudes of a good Mathlete
Hard worker
• Motivated and determined to
win
• Willing to learn
• Knows his priorities
 Attitudes of a good Mathlete
Knowledgeable
• A walking textbook – can recite
Mathematical formulas
• However, knowledge not
limited to memory of formula
alone
• Can understand and re-derive
Math rules and formula
• Can explain Math in layman’s
terms
How to get started?
Two parts to a successful solution:

Investigation Argument

 May be full of wrong turns

 May consist of silly misconceptions  Heart and soul of the solution
First Step: Orientation
Orientation

1 2 3 4 5
Read the problem
carefully. Pay
Begin to classify: “is Carefully identify Try some quick
attention to details Go back and do it
it a find” or “to the hypothesis and preliminary
such as positive vs. again.
prove” problem. the conclusion. brainstorming.
negative, finite vs
infinite, etc.
Orientation

1 2 3 4 5
Read the problem
carefully. Pay
Begin to classify: “is Carefully identify Try some quick
attention to details Go back and do it
it a find” or “to the hypothesis and preliminary
such as positive vs. again.
prove” problem. the conclusion. brainstorming.
negative, finite vs
infinite, etc.
Orientation

1 2 3 4 5
Read the problem
carefully. Pay
Begin to classify: “is Carefully identify Try some quick
attention to details Go back and do it
it a find” or “to the hypothesis and preliminary
such as positive vs. again.
prove” problem. the conclusion. brainstorming.
negative, finite vs
infinite, etc.
Orientation

1 2 3 4 5
Read the problem
carefully. Pay
Begin to classify: “is Carefully identify Try some quick
attention to details Go back and do it
it a find” or “to the hypothesis and preliminary
such as positive vs. again.
prove” problem. the conclusion. brainstorming.
negative, finite vs
infinite, etc.
Orientation

1 2 3 4 5
Read the problem
carefully. Pay
Begin to classify: “is Carefully identify Try some quick
attention to details Go back and do it
it a find” or “to the hypothesis and preliminary
such as positive vs. again.
prove” problem. the conclusion. brainstorming.
negative, finite vs
infinite, etc.
Second Step: Startup Strategies

Get your hands dirty Make It Easier

Penultimate Step
Startup Strategies:
Get your Hands Dirty

 Stay loose and experiment.

 Plug in lots of numbers.
 Keep playing around until you see a pattern.
 Play around some more and try to find out why
the pattern works.
Startup Strategies:
Penultimate Step
 The step that directly yields to the conclusion is a
penultimate step.
 For example, suppose that A and B are weird,
ugly expressions that seem to have no
connection, yet one must show that A=B. One
penultimate step is to show that and
 Sometimes, the penultimate step is obvious.
Sometimes, it fails.
 Startup Strategies:
Make it Easier

An Olympiad  Find what makes the problem look difficult.

Problem  For example, if the problem involves big, ugly
numbers, make them small and pretty.
 Or if you are working with radicals and fractions,
try working with nice integers.
An Olympiad
Problem with
simplified
numbers
 High School Math Techniques
• Along the way, you will encounter many mathematical formulas.
• Utilizing the most basic formulas, you may be able to solve more complicated problems.
• You can also derive other formulas, with the most basic ones!
 Math as a Tool: Linear Equations
The sum of two numbers is 36. The difference is 14. What are the two numbers?

Solution
Let x and y be the two numbers. WLOG, x > y.
Then x + y = 36
x – y = 14.
Þ (x+y) + (x-y) = 50
=> 2x = 50
Þ x = 25
Plugging x into equation (1), then y = 11
Q2 – 50 PHP
The sum of two numbers is 10. Their difference is 2. What is
the difference of the squares of the two numbers?
Math as a Tool: Summation Techniques
It is easy to write 1+2+3, but when writing out a sum of a lot of numbers may
be tedious. We can write the sum of 1 to 100 as 1+2+3+…+100 but we can
simplify this by using the sigma notation:

In general, the sum of a sequence of numbers is written as:

Math as a Tool: Summation Techniques
Properties:

𝑛 𝑛 𝑛

∑ (𝑎 ¿¿𝑛+𝑏𝑛)=∑ 𝑎𝑛+ ∑ 𝑏𝑛 ¿
𝑘=1 𝑘=1 𝑘=1
Math as a Tool: Summation Techniques
Important summation
formulas:

𝑛
𝑛 (𝑛+1)
∑ 𝑘= 2
𝑘=1
Math as a Tool: Summation
1. Find the sum of 4,7,10,13,…,31.

𝑎 1= 4 ,
2. Find the sum of

1 1
𝑎 1= ,𝑟 = , 𝑘=6
2 2
Q3 – 100 PHP
Find the sum of the infinite geometric series:
Math as a Tool: Summation
Prove that 0.999999… = 1

Note that

which is an infinite geometric series with

Hence 0.999999… =
 Math as a Tool: Summation
Find a general formula for
𝑥 3 − 𝑦 3 =( 𝑥 − 𝑦 ) ( 𝑥 2 + 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦 2 )
Q4 – 150 PHP
Find the sum of the squares from 1 to 20.
Math as a Tool: Factoring Techniques
Recall:

2 2
𝑎 −𝑏 =(𝑎+𝑏)(𝑎 −𝑏)
 Math as a Tool: Factoring Techniques
(PMO 2011 Qualifying Stage) Let x, y be integers such that (x+y) = 5 and xy = 2.
Find
Recall that:
Q5 – 500 PHP
If
Math as a Tool: Modular Arithmetic
Modular arithmetic is a system of arithmetic for integers, which considers the remainder. In
modular arithmetic, numbers "wrap around" upon reaching a given fixed quantity (this given
quantity is known as the modulus) to leave a remainder.

A number is the equivalent of asking for the remainder of x when divided by N. Two
integers a and b are said to be congruent (or in the same equivalence class) modulo N if they
have the same remainder upon division by N. In such a case, we say that
Math as a Tool: Modular Arithmetic
Examples:

1 0 ≡3 𝑚𝑜𝑑 7
Math as a Tool: Modular Arithmetic
Properties

If 𝑎≡𝑏𝑚𝑜𝑑𝐾,then
 Math as a Tool: Modular Arithmetic
Find the remainder when is divided by 3.

Note that:

By using a multiplicative property of modular arithmetic,

Hence, the remainder is 1.

 Math as a Tool: Modular Arithmetic
(16th PMO Qualifying Stage Question 8) What is the remainder when is divided by 7?

Note that:

Also note, that

By exponential property of Modular Arithmetic, we know that

Hence, the remainder is 1.

Q6 – 500 PHP
What is the last digit of
(Hint: The last digit of a number is the remainder when
dividing by 10).
Methods of Argument

Argument by
Direct Proof Mathematical Induction
Contradiction
Methods of Argument:
Direct proof

Set up: You are given P. You need to prove Q.

Direct proof involves working around P until you

arrive with the conclusion Q. This straightforward
way of proof is the most common style of proof.
 Methods of Argument:
Direct proof
Example Show that the square of an odd number is
also odd.

Proof: If is an odd integer, it can be expressed as

for some integer

Thus,

Since is an integer, then is odd.

Methods of Argument:
Argument by Contradiction
Instead of trying to prove something directly, we
start by assuming that it is false, and show that the
assumption leads us to an absurd conclusion.

It best works for proving directly that something

cannot happen.
 Methods of Argument:
Argument by Contradiction
Example: Euclid’s
Theorem Prove that there are infinitely many primes.

Proof: Suppose there are finitely many primes. So we can list them as Consider the number …
Then there exists a prime among say that divides . Also, since divides , then must be a factor
of the difference of and which is . This cannot be true as the only factor of 1 is 1, itself. This is
a contradiction and hence, there are infinitely many primes.
 Methods of Argument:
Argument by Contradiction
When do we use Argument by Contradiction?

 If direct proof seems impossible, try proof by

contradiction.
 If negating the conclusion seems easier, try proof
by contradiction.
Methods of Argument:
Mathematical Induction

Works very well for proving statements governing

integers.

Assertion usually can be put in the form is true for

all integers . Where is the statement we are trying
to prove involving the integer and is the “starting
point”.
Methods of Argument:
Mathematical Induction
Standard Induction

How it works:
1. Establish the truth of , called the base case.
2. Assume that is true for some integer , called
inductive hypothesis. Show that the inductive
hypothesis implies that is also true.
 Methods of Argument:
Mathematical Induction
Example Prove that if is an integer greater than 3, then

Proof: We proceed by Mathematical Induction.

Base case:

For the base case, the statement is obviously true since

 Methods of Argument:
Mathematical Induction
Example Prove that if is an integer greater than 3, then

Proof (cont):

Inductive hypothesis:
To show:

Multiplying both sides of the inductive hypothesis by n+1, we get

Some Tactics in Solving:
Symmetry
 Involves finding or imposing order in a concrete way,
for example by reflection.
 Usually yields additional information.
 Most of the time, significantly makes the problem
simpler.
 Some Tactics in Solving:
Symmetry
Example Gaussian Pairing Tool

When Gauss was 10, his teacher published his class with a seemingly tedious sum:

While the other students slowly added the numbers, little Carl discovered a short-cut and
immediately arrived at the answer of 5,050. He was the only student to find the correct
sum. His insight was to notice that 1 could be paired with 100, 2 with 99, 3 with 98, etc. to
produce 50 identical sums of 101. Hence, the answer of 101*50 = 5,050.
 Some Tactics in Solving:
The Extreme Principle
Extreme Principle

If possible, assume that the elements of your problem are

in order. Focus on the “largest” and “smallest” elements ,
as they may be constrained in interesting ways.
 Some Tactics in Solving:
Extreme Principle
N students are standing in a field such that the distance between each
Example
pair is distinct. Each student is holding a ball, and when the teacher
blows a whistle, each student throws their ball to the nearest student.
Prove that there is a pair of students that throw their balls to each
other.

Solution:

Consider the smallest distance between any pair of students. Since this is the smallest
distance, the closest student to each of these is the other, so these students throw their ball
to each other.
 Some Tactics in Solving:
The Pigeonhole Principle
Pigeonhole Principle

If you have more pigeons than pigeonholes, and you try

to stuff the pigeons into the holes, then at least one hole
must contain at least two pigeons.
 Some Tactics in Solving:
The Pigeonhole Principle
Example
Given a plane wherein every point is colored either red or blue. Prove
that no matter how the coloring is done, there must be two points,
exactly one unit apart, that are the same color.

Solution:

Consider an equilateral triangle with side length which is one unit. Since there are three
vertices (pigeons), and only two colors (pigeonholes), the pigeonhole principle tells us that
two vertices must be the same color.
 Some Tactics in Solving:
The Pigeonhole Principle
Example
Given a unit square, show that if five points are placed anywhere inside
or on the square, then two of them must be at most units apart.

Solution:

Partition the unit square into four by squares. By the pigeonhole principle, one of the
smaller squares must contain at least two points. Since the diagonal of each small square is ,
that is the maximum distance between the two points.
 Some Tactics in Solving:
Invariants

An invariant, is merely some aspect of a problem –

usually a numerical quantity – that does not change, even Making the
if many properties do change. given more
complicated

INVARIANT
 Some Tactics in Solving:
Invariants
Alice writes down the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 on a blackboard. Bob selects two of these
Example numbers, erases both of them and writes down their sum on the blackboard. For example,
if Bob chose the numbers 3 and 4, the blackboard would contain the numbers 1,2,5,6 and 7.
Further as example, if he next selects 1 and 7, the blackboard would contain 2,5,6 and 8.
Bob continues until there is only one number left on the board. What are the possible
values of that number?

Solution:

In this problem, the invariant is the sum of the numbers on the blackboard, . If Bob chooses
to erase the numbers and , he will write on the blackboard, making the new sum . So, is
indeed invariant. For this problem, , which means that the final number must be 21.
THANK YOU!