PROBLEM SOLVING AND REASONING all ; > Ifred A. Montapert once warned “ex@Spt problems and eat them for breakfast”, Indeed, we roblems of varying complicatedness from time to time, Pp@bleHis have become integral in one’s daily affairs, they form < speetrum by which a person's character is sometimes defined. and profitably. Taking meter Rene Descartes advice “each problem that I one le, which served afterwards to learn the necessary skills to figure solve other probl out aN, evi Na ms that he or she encounters. Problems arise inevitably wiohes per dealt with impartially ~ In the pre: Joni ions to problems are taken on a long-term basis. Pe wolves reasoning and it does not mean you need ‘oduce immediate solutions. It entails appropriate use of knowledge, facts and data to effectively propose a solution. The ability to develop a well thought out solution within a reasonable time frame, however, is a skill that only mathematics can offer. So, this chapter covers the fundamental concepts of systematically finding solutions to problems. “ principles of solving ‘problems Pcsohihs (section 1), along with some )plied to certain types of problems (section ion-in finding the solution (section 3) and ir both the intellectual and recreational emphasizes the use of the existing ulate such solutions.Inductive and Deductive 3.1 Reasoning Advertisements that we see in television Learning Outcomes: are results of marketing strategy designed i, At the end of the address prevailing or foreseen problems in sales lesson, students due maybe to competition or other problems, should be able to: These TV ads basically try to persuade the 1. Distinguish viewers to patronize the efit by conveying inductive from that the product has bee: y many people, deductive usually prominent o! ch strategy actually reasoning; uses one princip! Gersoning that we are 2. Give examples about to ross ra deductive Probles@ebiving, @Bitils inferring from processes of previou: irre of similar scenarios inference; and wil sis 0 tifying patterns that can 3. Use either sl o sOlutions. Inference may either the inductive luc "deductive in process. or deductive *« reasoningto— ®& % Di tics solve practical V3 ae problems. Qing Checkpoint & Instruction: Identification. Classify the reasoning employed in the following arguments as INDUCTIVE or DEDUCTIVE. 1. All numbers ending in “0” Te or “5” are divisible by 5. The a number 35 ends with a “5”. SLBAES 50 itis divisible by 5. wi A % yy Ore b: IPRA Tim has 40 credits, so Tim & a 2. To earn a master’s degree, a ee student must have 32 credits. € é will earn a master’s degree. 3. All horses have manes and the Arabian is a horse; therefore Arabians have manes. Mathematics in the Modern World4, Ray is a football player. All football players weigh more than 170 pounds. Ray weighs more than 170 pounds, 5. The chair in the living room is red. The chair in the dining room is red, The chair in the bed room is red. All chairs in the house are red. DEDUCTIVE Fig. 3.1. Deductiv (Credits: https://www. thatquiz asoning 1/1484 1329498191 Deductive and asia Ping > methods of making inferences, It used heavily when makin®jgfatemgnts out some mathematical concepts or phenomena. =e ology Pasumens: Argui ¥ The’ ‘of two odd integers is an even number. mand n are odd integers. Therefore, m+n is even. Argument 2: 3+ 5=8, 7+ 11=18, and 9 + 21=30. Then the sum of two odd integers is even. In Argument 1, the first two statements are the premises of the argument while the third statement is the conclusion. In Argument 2, the first statement is the premise and the second is the conclusion. Argument | takes the deductive form of reasoning. Here, we draw a specific statement (conclusion) from a general principle (premise, known to be valid and true). This method of reasoning ensures the truth of the conclusion provided that the premises are true. In other words, if the Premises are true, there is no way that the conclusion is false. Chapter 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning 5152 A ive fi f ing. As cai rgument 2 is in the induct! e form of reasoning. As can be op, ae Ori ) consists of specific cases while th . : ¢ (or premises) cOnsIS wl ty us a ce ale rt f what is claimed in the premise, Unf; “lus generalization of whi au deduction the premises in the inductive pro N ONLY stron. the ess, deductive proe Ss canng,ePRh the truth of the conclusion : ensure the truth of the conclusion: In other words, the premis thy 0 Mey Figure 3.1 above illustrates s the distinction of the deductiy, ' : © ang sses reasoning. inductive proc In mathematics, theorems generally take tre deductive approach lig those that you encountered in geometry. cone as ath ita following the citation of definitions, related theore! ematical Tle For example: in aright triangle the wwo acute angles areGoWN Triangle ABC has B = 90°. @ Therefore, A+ C= 90°. ee A Here, the first premise mej ‘a kno} Deny of right triangles The next statement actually, implies thaggtriangle ABC is a right triangle (invoking the definition RO ith angles A and C being =. (again, this follows fr pr that the sum of the interior angles is i 90°). So, the conclusion is definitely lementary, must be 180°, and ai true and the arg iS < On the, ind, statethents that are derived through experimentation take the indilesfve approach of reasoning. Statistical researches for example rely heavily on the investigation of a sample group, which is just a subset of the entire population. Here, the characteristic of the sample is usually inferred as a characteristic of the population, and we normally speak of level of significance which, in a way, quantifies the degree that the inferred conclusion is true, One classic example of inductive inference is Galileo’s characterization of the pendulums which later led to the development of pendulum clocks. Briefly put, he showed that the time it takes a pendulum to take one full swing (period) is dependent on the length of the pendulum, in particular, the Period is the square root of the length. The establishment of this property was not solely inductive, it took a while for the deductive approach to be -applied for the conclusion to be accepted as an absolute truth. Mathematics in the Modern WorldInasmuch as patterns are concerned, there is another way of looking at how deductive and inductive approaches of reasoning differ, In algebra, we also encounter deductive approach when dealing with algebraic expressions. Consider the following series of operations: Multiply your age by 8, add 6 to the result, then divide the sum by 2, and finally subtract 3 from the quotient. We can infer that the series of operations generates 4 time: your age. Let us represent the age by a letter x, then the first operation yields 8x46 8x, The second operation gives 8x + 6, then the third as . Your knowledge in algebra tells you that this value can be simplified into 4x + 3. ‘And so, going into the last operation, we obtain Q 4 4x +3-3= 4x This indicates that the given series of okedhions is actually equivalent to simply multiplying your age by 4. Thisiprocess ifffistrates how we make inferences using the deductive app In the inductive arcseyg Winns rve few cases instead of assigning the letter for a ‘or example, if your age is 7, then the series of operations yield 0 lues: (i) 8 x 7 = 565; (ii) 56 + 6 = 62; (iii) 62 +2 =31; AO = 28 ii(@Pnerate the following values: (i) 8x 12=96; (ii) 96+6=1 102 51; (iv) 51-3 = 48. Likewise, a 35-year old person will following values: (i) 8 x 35 = 280; (ii) 280 + 6 = 286; (iii) 286 + 257143; (iv) 143-3 = 140. Apersonagt Observing the results, we are inclined to conjecture that the series of operations corresponds to multiplying your age by 4. So, while the results are the same for both deductive and inductive approaches, the process of making inference clearly differs in the two cases. Again, as a matter of emphasis, inferences made by inductive process does not render absolute truth (only conjecture). They can become one if the deductive approach is applied. This is actually the usual routine of establishing mathematical truths. One starts by observing patterns of events, generalize the pattern by a formula or mathematical rule (this becomes the conjecture), then prove the conjecture by deductive process. Chapter 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning $3For example, we can conjecture that “ifthe sum of two natural Numb, is even then their product is also even” by observing that 24 = 6 ang , 4= ord 4 10 40 and 4 ¥ 10-40, The conjecture is not an absolute jy, (hence, it is false) as the case 3 + 5 = 8 (an even) yet 3*5= 15 (an aa renders a counterexample, ‘) Note that we need only a single counterexample to disprove , conjecture, For example, to say that “any real number divided by itseip;. = Is ‘i 0. the number 1” is incorrect, Zero is a real number, yet rie undefined (g, not a real number), thus a case of a counterexample, Exercise 3.1.1. al, Use Inductive or Deductive reasoning to answy following questions, 1. Prediot the next number in each given gf numbers. a 3,6,9,12,15,? ee @ b. 1,3,6,10, 15,7 oO’ 2 c. What type of reasopigie Wid roan (2) and (b)? ent is TRUE or FALSE. If false, 3. Ina neighborhood of engineers, it is known that there is a chemical, civil, mechanical and an electrical engineer among Tito, Vic, Joey and Willy. Identify the correct profession of each given the following clues: i, Vic gets home from work after the civil engineer but before the electrical engineer ii. Joey, who is the last to get home from work, is not the electrical engineer, iii, ‘The electrical engineer and Joey leave for work at the same time. iv. The civil engineer lives next door to Willy. 54 Mathematics in the Modern WorldExercise 1.1.2, For this exercise, please follow the guidelines below sign a leader + Form groups of 45 members Solve the Tower of Hoot puzzle, Pat into writing all your observations and generalizations Designated leader will discuss the group solution before the entire class Assignment: For this assignment, you need to watch the Oo jt clips: + The Monty Hall Problem 1, Three things that 1 emo abe the video clip rv al a 2. Three things that are still unclear to me Chapter 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning 5556 3. Complete the statement: Fused to think that —————_— 4, Three questions that I want to ask about the video clips 2 __—_ 4 _____ © Se A's y 0 References Readings oy o” Aufimann, oY co, R, Daniel K., & Clegg, D. (2014), ra Matheiiggfeal excursions (3 ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage. Video Clips Niansenx. (2007, January 21). The Monty Hall problem. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhlc7peGIGg Mathematics in the Modern World