The Art of Problem Solving

O. Univ. Prof. Dr. Alfred S. Posamentier

1
 Ten Problem-Solving Strategies
1. Working backwards
2. Finding a pattern
3. Adopting a different point of view
4. Solving a simpler, analogous problem
(specification without loss of generality)
5. Considering extreme cases
6. Making a drawing (visual representation)
7. Intelligent guessing and testing (including approximation)
8. Accounting for all possibilities (exhaustive listing)
9. Organizing data
10. Logical reasoning

2
Working backwards

3
Problem: Find a Path that adds to 50.
You may pass through any open
gate, after which that gate
closes.

Working backwards:
You must use 8 + 15 = 23.

How can you then get a total of

50 – 23 = 27?

27 = 8 + 10 + 9, that determines
the desired path.

4
If the sum of two numbers is 2, and the product of the same two
numbers is 3, find the sum of the reciprocals of these two
numbers
X+Y=2
XY = 3

To find: 1 1

X Y
1 1 X Y 2
  
X Y XY 3

X  1 i 2
No need to find:
Y  1 i 2

5
How can 7 liters of water be measured using only
an 11 liter can and a 5 liter can?

11 liter can 5 liter can

6
The Desired result: 7 liters of water in 11 liter can.

This leaves 4 liters empty in the can.

How could that have been obtained?
4 liters poured off from a full 11 liter can.
To do this we need 1 liter in the 5 liter can.
How can we get 1 liter in the 5 liter can?
Pour 5 liters twice from the full 11 liter can.
This leaves 1 liter in the 11 liter can,
which is transferred to the empty 5 liter can.
From a full 11 liter can pour off 4 liters by filling
the remainder of the 5 liter can.
This leaves the required 7 liters in the 11 liter can.

7
Finding a pattern

8
Find the sum of this series:
1 1 1 1
   ... 
2 6 12 2450
Students might be shown another way to represent this
series:
1 1 1 1
   ... 
1* 2 2 * 3 3 * 4 49 * 50

Solution 1
The traditional way to solve this problem would be to
compute the individual values for each of the
fractions and then add the results

9
Solution 2
Show the students that there may be a pattern
1 1

1* 2 2
1 1 2
 
1* 2 2 * 3 3
1 1 1 3
  
1* 2 2 * 3 3 * 4 4
1 1 1 1 4
   
1* 2 2 * 3 3 * 4 4 * 5 5
The pattern suggests that the sum of this series,
1 49
with its last term of 49 * 50 , will be 50 .

10
What is the sum of the first 100 even numbers?

Solution 1
Students typically will write out the first 100
even numbers and add them in the order
written:

2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + … + 194 + 196 + 198 + 200

11
They can be clever and add in pairs, recognizing
that there is a pattern: (Remember Gauss!)

2 + 200 = 202
4 + 198 = 202
6 + 196 = 202
… and so on.

There are 50 pairs whose sum is 202.

The sum of the first 100 even numbers is
50 * 202 = 10,100.

12
Solution 2
Looking for a pattern can lead to the following:
Number of Sum
even numbers
to be added
1 2 = 2 = 1*2
2 2+4 = 6 = 2*3
3 2+4+6 = 12 = 3*4
4 2+4+6+8 = 20 = 4*5

n 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + ………+ n =n(n+1)

For the first 100 even numbers,

the sum would be (100)(101)=10,100.

13
Adopting a different point of view

14
Hamlet
(Act I, Polonius to Laertes)

“Beware of the entrance to a quarrel, but,

being in, bear’t that th’opposed may
beware of thee”.

15
There is a single-elimination basketball tournament with 25 teams competing.
How many games must be played in order to get a winner?

Typical Solution:
Any 12 teams vs. any other 12 teams leaves 12 teams in the
tournament.
6 winners vs. 6 other winners leaves 6 teams in
tournament.
3 winners vs. 3 other winners leaves 3 teams in
tournament.
3 winners + 1 team which drew a bye = 4 teams.
2 teams remaining vs. 2 teams remaining leaves 2 teams in
tournament
1 team vs. 1 team to get a champion!

16
Use a chart:
Teams playing Games played Winners
24 12 12
12 6 6
6 3 3
3+ 1 bye=4 2 2
2 1 1

The total number of games played is:

12+6+3+2+1=24

17
Using another point of view:

Consider the losers in the tournament.

There must be 24 losers to get one champion.
Therefore there must be 24 games played.

Still another point of view:

Suppose one of the 25 teams is clearly the best team (and the likely
winner).
Have each of the other teams try to defeat this especially good
team.
This requires 24 games played.

18
Find the area of the “Football shaped” figure
ABCD is A unit square
Arcs are quarter arcs

Regions A and B were counted once

while region C was counted twice.

Therefore, area of “football” = area of 2 quarter circles – Area of square

 2
 1 
2 2

19
 Problem
In the adjoining circle AB  CD , find the length of the diameter in terms of a,
b, c and d. C
C C
a 2  c2
c a2  c2
A a B A B b2  d 2
b D
A
d 2 2
b d

D D

Solution
Use the strategy of considering another point of view:
We draw the two segments whose lengths are a 2  c 2 and b2  d,2
respectfully.
The two chords AC and BD cut off two arcs whose sum is 180o
Therefore, placed together they determine a semicircle,
and a diameter AD  AC 2  CD2  a 2  b2  c2  d 2
20
 A

C
E
5

B
o D
C is any point on
the circle.
What is the radius
of the circle?

21
Solving a simpler, analogous problem

22
Find the sum of the angles

Consider measures:
1 1 1 1 1
A  CD; B  ED; C  AE ; D  AB; E  BC
B 2 2 2 2 2

A C
1
A  B  C  D  E  (CD  ED  AE  AB  BC )
2

E D

23
Considering extreme cases

24
The tangent AB of the smaller of the two concentric circles is a chord of the larger
circle. Find the area of the shaded region, if AB=8.

T C
A B R-r
A 4 T 4 B
O r
O R+r
R
Area of shade= R2 - r2 = (R2- r2)
D
“Products of chords”: (R - r)(R + r)=4 * 4=16
R2- r2=16

Therefore , area of shade = 16

Or: Assume the smaller circle is reduced to a point.

Then AB becomes to diameter of the larger circle.
The area of shaded region (larger circle) =  R2=16 

25
Problem: Two concentric circles are 10 units apart.
What is the difference (a constant) between the
circumferences of the circles?

10

26
The traditional straight-forward method:
Let d be the diameter of the smaller circle,
then d + 20 is the diameter of the larger circle.
The difference of the circumferences is
 (d  20)  (d )  20

Applying the strategy of using extremes

Suppose that the smaller of the two circles gets smaller and
smaller until it reaches and “extreme” -- and becomes a point.
In this case it becomes the center of the larger circle.
The distance between the circles now becomes the radius of the
larger circle,
while the difference between the circles at the start, is now the
circumference of the larger circle, which is 20  .

27
Problem:
We have two one-Liter bottles.
One contains a half-liter of grape juice and the
other, a Half-liter of apple juice.
We take a tablespoonful of grape juice and pour
it into the apple juice.
Then we take a tablespoon of this new mixture
(apple juice and grape juice) and pour it into
the bottle of grape juice.
Is there more grape juice in the apple juice
bottle, or more apple juice in the grape juice
bottle?

28
Solution:
We can figure this out in any of the usual ways-often referred to as
“mixture problems” – or we can be clever and use the strategy of
using extremes.

To do this, we will consider the tablespoonful quantity to be a bit

larger. We will use an extremely large quantity.
Let this quantity be the entire one-liter of the grape juice and pour it
into the apple juice bottle.
This mixture is now 50% apple juice and 50% grape juice.
Then pour one-liter of this mixture back into the grape juice bottle
The mixture is now the same bottles.
Therefore, there is as much apple juice in the grape juice bottle, as
there is grape juice in the apple juice bottle!

29
Problem: A car is driving along a highway at a constant speed of 55 miles
per hour. The driver notices a second car, exactly ½ mile behind him.
The second car passes the first, exactly 1 minute later. How fast was
the second car traveling, assuming its speed is constant?
Solution
The traditional solution to set up a series of “Rate x Time=Distance-
boxes,” which many text books guide students to using for this sort of
problem. This would be done as follows:
Rate x Time = Distance
55 1/60 55/60
x 1/60 X/60

55 1 x
 
60 2 60 The second car was traveling at a rate of 85
55  30  x miles per hour.

x  85

30
An alternate approach using the strategy of
considering extremes.

Assume that the first car is going extremely

slowly, that is, at 0 miles per hour.
Under these conditions, the second car travels
½ mile in one minute to catch the first car.
Thus, the second car would have to travel 30
miles per hour.
As the first car is traveling at 55 m.p.h, then the
second car must be traveling at (55 + 30) 85
miles per hour (within the legal limit, of
course!).

31
 The Monty Hall Problem
(“Let’s Make a Deal”)

There are two goats and one car behind three closed doors.

You must try to select the car.

You select Door #3

1 2 3

32
Monty Hall opens one of the doors that you did
not select and exposes a goat.
1 2 3 Your selection

He asks : “Do you still want your first choice

door, or do you want to switch to the other
closed door”?

33
 To help make a decision, Consider an extreme case:

Suppose there were 1000 doors

1 2 3 4 997 998 999 1000

You choose door # 1000.

How likely is it that you chose the right door?
Very unlikely: 1
1000
How likely is it that the car is behind one of the other
doors: 1-999?
999
“Very likely”:
1000
34
 1 2 3 4 997 998 999 1000

Monty hall now opens all the doors except one (2-999), and
shows that each one had a goat.

A “very likely” door is left: Door #1

Which is a better choice?

• Door #1000 (“Very unlikely” door)
• Door #1 (“Very likely” door.)

35
1 2 3 4 997 998 999 1000

These are all “very likely” doors!

So it is better to switch doors from the initial selection.

36
Making a drawing

37
Problem:
If a clock strikes 5 bongs at 5 o’ clock in 5 seconds,
how long will it take to strike 10 bongs at 10 o’ clock?

(Assume that the bong itself takes no time.)

The answer is not 10 seconds!

38
 With the dots representing the bongs, this is what
happens at 5 o’ clock:

11 2 31 41 5
It takes 5 seconds and there are 4 intervals,
therefore each interval must take 5/4 seconds.

At 10 o’ clock the 10 bongs give us 9 intervals.

11 2 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 10

So with each interval taking 5/4 seconds,

5
the clock striking at 10 o’ clock will take 9 x = 11 ¼ seconds.
4

39
Problem:

A local pet shop owner just bought her holiday supply

of baby chickens and baby rabbits.
She doesn’t really remember how many she bought
but she has a system.
She knows she bought a total of 22 animals, a number
exactly equal to her age.
She also recalls that the animals had a total of 56 legs,
her mother’s age.

How many chickens and how many rabbits did she

buy?

40
Solution:
The standard approach is to set up a system of two equations
in two variables as follows:

Let r represent the number of rabbits she bought.

Let c represent the number of chickens she bought.

Then, r + c = 22

4r + 2c = 56(rabbits have four legs each; chickens have two legs each).
Solving these equations simultaneously yields
4r + 4c = 88
4r + 2c = 56
2c = 32
c = 16
r=6

The pet shop owner bought 16 chickens and 6 rabbits.

41
 Reduce the number of animals to 11, and the number of legs to
28, (remember to multiply these results by 2.
Now draw 11 circles to represent the 11 animals.

Whether the animals are chickens or rabbits, they must have at least 2
Legs each. Place 2 legs on each circle:

This leaves us with 6 additional legs, which we place on the “rabbits” in pairs,
to give them a total of 4 legs each:

42
Intelligent guessing and testing

43
 Find four consecutive integers whose product is 120.
Let x equal the first of four consecutive numbers
Let (x+1) equal the second of the four consecutive numbers
Let (x+2) equal the third of the four consecutive numbers
Let (x+3) equal the fourth of the four consecutive numbers

x(x+1)(x+2)(x+3)=120

This leads to:

x4 + 6x3 +11x2 + 6x – 120 = 0

Much easier to try:

2 3 4 5 = 120

44
Accounting for All Possibilities

45
Problem: If four coins are tossed, what is the probability
that at least two heads will be showing?

 We can use methods of probability calculation to obtain

this answer quite quickly, if we recognize the appropriate
“formula” to use.

 The list of all the possibilities

 (the sample space)
 HHHH HHHT HHTH HTHH
 THHH HHTT HTHT THHT
 HTTH THTH TTHH HTTT
 THTT TTHT TTTH TTTT

 There are 11 of with at least 2 H’s.

 The required probability is . 11

16

46
Organizing data

47
Problem:
How many numbers are there between 0 and 1,000,001
that are either squares or cubes?
Solution:
Use a systematic counting approach.
The number of squares is
12 ,22 ,32 ,..., (103 ) 2 1000 numbers
The number of cubes is:
13 ,23 ,33 ,..., (102 )3 100 numbers
The number of numbers which are both squares and cubes is:
16 ,26 ,36 ,...,106 10 numbers

The total of numbers which are either squares or cubes is:

1000 + 100 – 10 = 1090 numbers.

48
Problem:Using the digits 1,2,3,4,5 form three prime numbers
with the greatest sum and where exactly one is a single digit
prime.
After random trials and errors, use organizing data
Solution:
and logical reasoning.
Set up the following skeleton of the three numbers:
Ten’s Unit’s

First prime 5
Second prime 4
Third prime 2

To maximize the sum we want to have the two greatest

digits 5 and 4 in the two ten’s places. Since one prime
must be single digit, it must be 2, since it is the only even
prime. 49
All that remains now is to place the 1 and 3 into positions,
which will yield prime numbers.

Ten’s Unit’s

First prime 5 3
Second prime 4 1
Third prime 2

The sum 53 + 41 + 2 = the greatest sum.

50
Logical reasoning

51
Problem:

In Dr. Euler’s class there are 25 students seated in 5 rows with

5 seats in each row. One day he asks the students to change
seats as follows:

Each student must move one seat forward or backward or one

seat to the left or to the right – diagonal moves are not allowed.

Is it possible that all 25 students follow these instructions?

52
Solution:
Traditional approach is to try various moves.
This usually leads to frustration.

Solving a simpler, analogous problem,

(and making a drawing)

Draw a diagram and number the seats:

21 22 23 24 25
20 19 18 17 16
11 12 13 14 15
10 9 8 7 6
1 2 3 4 5
53
Some seats have even numbers and some have odd numbers.
Where do the students in the seats with even numbers go?
If they move as Dr. Euler instructed, they can chose to move to
four different chairs, all odd number chairs.

Where do the students in the seats with odd numbers go?

They can also choose to move to four different chairs, all even
numbers.
21 22 23 24 25
20 19 18 17 16
11 12 13 14 15
10 9 8 7 6
1 2 3 4 5

54
But since the numbers from 1 to 25 include 13 odd numbers
and only 12 even numbers, there will be one student left over,
who cannot move from an odd numbered chair to an even one.

21 22 23 24 25
20 19 18 17 16
11 12 13 14 15
10 9 8 7 6
1 2 3 4 5

Therefore, it is not possible for Dr. Euler’s students to switch

seats as they were told to do.

55
Problem:
The population of Canada is about 25 million. Is it possible that
at least two people in Canada have the same number of hairs
on their head?
Solution:
Use logical reasoning:
Do we really have to know each citizen’s number of head-hairs?

How many hairs can there possibly be on a human’s head?

We only have approximations, there are certainly less than

25 million hairs on an average head.

Since there are more people than the possible number of hairs,
it follows that at least two people have the same number of
Hairs. (pigeon-hole principle)

56
Problem:
What is the smallest prime number that divides the sum
511 and 713 ?

Solution:
Use logical reasoning:

Both 511 and 713 are odd numbers

(since the product of the odd numbers is odd).

Therefore the sum of these two odd numbers :

511 + 713 is even.

The smallest prime number that divides the sum

511 + 713 is 2 (since it is the only even prime).

57
The goal :
is to have an arsenal of Elegant and efficient
problem-solving strategies
at one’s disposal.
Problem solving = textbook exercises
Problem solving Strategies
can be applied to Mathematics
and
everyday-life situations.
Be ready to use problem-solving strategies
in your regular lessons!

EMPHASIZE THE PROCESS!

58
Problem-Solving Strategies For

Efficient and Elegant

Solutions:
A Resource for the Mathematics Teacher

* * *

Alfred S. Posamentier, and

Stephen Krulik
Foreword by Nobel Laureate Order by Phone at (805) 499-9774
Herbert A. Hauptman or at (800) 4-1-SCHOOL
[(800)-417-2466]
1998, 272 pages •
D0715-0-8039-6698-9 (Paper) $32.95
D0715-0-8039-6697-0 (Library Edition) $69.95 59