Module 3
Module 3
Module 3
Content:
3. Problem Solving and Reasoning
3.1. Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
3.2. Polya’s 4-steps in Problem Solving
3.3. Problem Solving Strategies
3.4. Mathematical Problems involving
Patterns
3.5. Recreational Problems using
Mathematics
Pattern Pattern
Specific
Statement General Statement
Illustrative Examples
2. Use inductive reasoning to predict the next number in the following lists.
a. 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, _____
b. 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, _____
Illustrative Examples
B. Find the next number in the sequence by applying Polya’s 4-step in problem solving.
Answer
i. 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, ___ ii. 2,6,18,54,162,486, ___
4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3
There is a common difference of 4. The common multiplier 3 is called the common
Therefore, the next number in the sequence ratio. The answer is 486x3=1458.
is 29.
In some cases, when you cannot find a pattern on the first difference, try finding the
second, third or higher order differences.
EXERCISE 2
B. Answer the following using Polya’s 4 steps in problem solving based on the strategy
presented above.
1.) 5, 14, 27, 44, 65, _____
2. Working Backward
A strategy that starts at the end of the problem and works backward.
Illustrative Examples
C. Solve the problem by working backwards applying Polya’s 4-step in problem solving.
Anne has certain amount of money in her bank account on Friday morning. During the day she
wrote a check for P24.50, made an ATM withdrawal of P80 and deposited a check for P235.
At the end of the day, she saw that her balance was P451.25. How much money did she have
at the beginning of the day?
Answer
Understand the Problem:
Given: P24.50 check, ATM withdrawal of P80, check deposit P235.
Required: The amount Anne had at the beginning of the day.
Devise a Plan
Start with P451.25. Subtract P235, add P 80, and add P24.50.
Look Back
Checking:
P320.75 balance at the beginning
- P24.50 check
- P80.00 withdraw
+P235.00 deposit
MODULE 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning | 50
P451.25 balance at the end of the day
EXERCISE 3
C. Solve the problem by working backwards applying Polya’s 4-step in problem solving.
In consecutive turns of Monopoly game, Stacy first paid P4 000 for a hotel. She then
lost half her money when she landed on Boardwalk. Next, she collected P1 000 for
passing Go. She then lost half her remaining money when she landed on Illinois
Avenue. Stacy now has P125 000. How much did she have just before she purchased
the hotel?
Illustrative Examples
Car 1 East
Car 2 D
South
Answer
Understand the Problem:
Given: 8:00 AM, Car 1 with 50mph east, Car 2 with 60 mph south, 300 miles apart.
Required: The time when the two cars will be 300 miles apart.
Devise a Plan
Distance = Rate x Time
Car 1 traveled x=50t and Car 2 travelled y=60t.
Since two directions are right angle, Pythagoran theorem can be used to find distance D
between the two cars is D=√𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 .
Look Back
The two cars will be 300 miles apart at 11:51 AM.
EXERCISE 4
D. Solve the problem by working backwards applying Polya’s 4-step in problem solving.
Sarah leaves Seattle for New York in her car, averaging 80 mph across open country.
One hour later a plane leaves Seattle for New York following the same route and
flying 400 mph. How long before the plane overtakes the car?
Illustrative Examples
Answer
Understand the Problem:
Given: 10 questions answered, score=48, 10 points for each correct answer, 3 points
deducted for each incorrect answer.
Required: The number of incorrect answers.
Devise a Plan
The number of correct answers x + the number of incorrect answers y = 10.
Score= 10x -3y
Look Back
Checking: Score = 10x -3y
48 = 10(6) -3(4)
48 = 60 -12
48 = 48
EXERCISE 5
E. Solve the problem by applying Polya’s 4-step in problem solving.
A baseball team won two out of their last four games. In how many different orders
could they have two wins and two losses in four games?
One of the most effective ways to solve a problem is taking few numeric or
geometric cases and observing if there are repeated values or if such values exhibit
certain behavior or pattern. Once the rule of the pattern is captured, it would be easier
to solve the specified problem.
Illustrative Examples
F. Solve the problem by applying Polya’s 4-step in problem solving.
1. Consider a 10-item true or false question. In how many ways can you answer the
10-item test?
Answer
1. 210= 1, 024 ways
For the first item, there are two ways to answer the question; it is either TRUE
or FALSE.
For the first two items, the possibilities or Item 1 Item 2
combinations of answers are: TRUE TRUE
TRUE FALSE
Thus, there are four ways to answer the FALSE TRUE
first two items in a TRUE or FALSE test. FALSE FALSE
So it appears that for n questions in the test, there are exactly 2n ways of
answering them.
EXERCISE 6
F. Solve the problem by applying Polya’s 4-step in problem solving.
Illustrative Examples
2. Each of four neighbors, Sean, Maria, Sarah, and Brian, has a different occupation
(editor, banker, chef, or dentist). From the following clues, determine the occupation
of each neighbor.
MODULE 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning | 54
a. Maria gets home from work after the banker but before the dentist.
b. Sarah, who is the last to get home from work, is not the editor.
c. The dentist and Sarah leave for work at the same time.
d. The banker lives next door to Brian.
Answer
1.
Steps 9L 7L 4L 2L
1 fill the 4 liter jug from the 9 liter jug 5 0 4 0
2 empty the 4 liter jug into the 7 liter jug 5 4 0 0
3 fill the 4 liter jug from the 9 liter jug 1 4 4 0
4 fill the 7 liter jug using 3 liters from the 4 litre jug 1 7 1 0
5 empty the remaining 1 liter in the 4 liter jug into the 2 liter jug 1 7 0 1
6 fill the 4 liter jug from the 7 liter jug 1 3 4 1
7 fill the 2 liter jug using 1 liter from the 4 liter jug 1 3 3 2
8 empty the 2 liter jug into the 9 liter jug 3 3 3 0
2. One possible solution is to construct a table to clearly use the different clues given.
Using the clues and ruling out cells based on it:
a. Maria gets home from work after the banker but before the dentist.
b. Sarah, who is the last to get home from work, is not the editor.
c. The dentist and Sarah leave for work at the same time.
d. The banker lives next door to Brian.
(Xa means ruled out by clue a.)
Editor Banker Chef Dentist
Sean Xc / Xc Xd
Maria / Xa Xc Xa
Sarah Xb Xb / Xc
Brian Xc Xd Xc /
EXERCISE 7
G. Solve the problem. Show your solution.
1. Stacey has an 11-liter can filled with water and a 5-liter empty can. How can she
measure out exactly 7 liters of water?
2. Brianna, Ryan, Tyler, and Ashley were recently elected as the new class officers
(president, vice president, secretary, treasurer) of the sophomore class at Summit
College. From the following clues, determine which position each holds.
a. Ashley is younger than the president but older than the treasurer.
b. Brianna and the secretary are both the same age, and they are the youngest
members of the group.
c. Tyler and the secretary are next-door neighbors.
There are a lot of other recreational problems using mathematics available like Magic
Squares, Staircase Numbers, Squareable Numbers, Wordless Puzzles to name a few.
EVALUATION
1. Identify what type of reasoning is applied in the following arguments. Write
INUCTIVE or DEDUCTIVE.
MODULE 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning | 55
a. I have to review only the topics that Mr. Cruz discussed in class. My
friends who had been in his class said he never gave test on topics that
he never discussed in class.
b. Why is Aling Vicky so forgetful? The only reason that I can think of is
that she is not getting enough sleep lately. Lack of sleep makes a person
forgetful.
c. Don will make a good president. After all, he did great as a mayor.
d.The heat outdoors must have triggered my blood pressure to go up.
Why not? I had it all normal while I was indoors with the air
conditioning on.
e. All fruits are nutritious. Apple is a fruit, therefore, it is nutritious.
b. Four young children are seated next to each other on a bench. The child on the left
cannot be older than the child on the right. The ages of the 1 st and 3rd children differ by
8 years. No child is below 2 years old, neither any of them is older than 10 years old.
The 2nd child is 7 years younger than the 4th child. What are the ages of the four
children?
c. The reciprocal of 7 is repeating, non-terminating decimal. What is the 12th digit in the
decimal form of the reciprocal of 7?
e. While waiting for their parents to arrive, Sansa and Arya decided to play a game. They
collected 25 stones and placed it in an urn. They are to take turns taking away 1, 2, or
3 stones from an urn. The person who will take the last stone loses. Sansa took the first
move. What are her chances of winning the game?
a. Vic gets home from work after the civil engineer but before the electrical engineer.
b. Joey, who is the last to get home from work, is not the electrical engineer.
c. The electrical engineer and Joey leave for work at the same time.
d. The civil engineer lives next door to Willy.
Portfolio Entry
On long bond paper/s, either hand written or type written, do the following:
1. Write a reflection paper by answering the following questions:
a) What the kind of reasoning you often used in your daily life? Cite an example.
b) When having an argument, how do you convince your opponent about your
argument?
c) How do you solve your problems in life?
MODULE 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning | 57
Let your coach hear you!
Let your instructor know about how you feel learning the lesson by
answering the following questions.
How do you feel after reading and answering this module? Shade the
number that bests describe you.
[4] I get it completely.
[3] I get it.
[2] I fell confused. I have questions. I
[1 ] I feel frustrated. I need help.
What are the three things you significantly learn from the module?
Video Clips
“Die Hard: With a Vengeance.” Youtube, uploaded by Movieclips, 1 June 2015, Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDnvXAkMnx8.
“The Monty Hall Problem.” Youtube, uploaded by niqnsenx, 21 January 2007, Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhlc7peGlGg.
“Using the Scientific Method in Everyday Life.” YouTube, uploaded by Chris Shelton, 11
February 2016, Retrieved at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyJjisgjoeg.
References
Dimasuay, L., Alcala, J. & Palacio, J. (2016). General Mathematics. Manila: C & E,
Publishing, Inc.
Mathematics in the Modern World (OB -Based). (2018). Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc.
Publishing, Inc.
“Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is
something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.”
– Christian D. Larson