NAGA COLLEGE FOUNDATION, INC.

M.T. Villanueva Avenue, Naga City

College of Business and Accountancy

Mathematics in the Modern

World
Module: Semi – Final

Name, Course, Block, and Schedule

Prepared by:
Alejandro P. Alaurin II

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 NAGA COLLEGE FOUNDATION, INC.
M.T. Villanueva Avenue, Naga City
College of Business and Accountancy

Mathematics in the Modern World

Overview: This module focuses on the Chapter’s discussion about Problem Solving for
Semi Final. This chapter include topics such as Problem Solving Strategies, and
Inductive and Deductive reasoning. This material includes summarized discussions, and
activities to support learning. The following details below are their tasks and a guide for
the third module of the semester.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this module, you are able to:
a. identify arguments whether it uses inductive or deductive reasoning;
b. apply Polya’s problem-solving strategy and procedures in math problems; and
c. solve real-life word problems including puzzles and patterns.

Learning Plan:

Task Description
1 Polya’s Problem Solving Strategy
Discussion about Polya’s Problem Solving Strategy including problems such
as worded, patterns, and puzzles provided with examples and exercise.
QUIZ 1 – Apply Polya’s problem-solving strategy and procedures in some
math problems.
QUIZ 2 – Solve word problems using any plan or techniques.
QUIZ 3 – Solving Logic puzzles
2 Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
Discussion about the difference between Inductive and Deductive Reasoning,
and how will it be identified in a problem.
QUIZ 4 – Identification. Identify arguments whether it uses inductive or
deductive reasoning

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Task 1

Topic: Polya’s Problem Solving Strategy

George Polya
- Hungarian mathematician
- Best known for his work on problem solving

1.1 The basic problem-solving strategy that Polya advocated consisted of the following
four steps.

Polya’s four steps are deceptively simple. To become a good problem solver, it helps to
examine each of these steps and determine what is involved.
1. Understand the Problem
Can you restate the problem in your own words?
Can you determine what is known about these types of problems?
Is there missing information that, if known would allow you to solve the problem?
Is there extraneous information that is not needed to solve the problem?
What is the goal?

2. Devise a Plan

Make a list of the known information.

Make a list of information that is needed.
Draw a diagram.
Make an organized list that shows all the possibilities.
Make a table or a chart.
Work backwards.
Try to solve a similar but simpler problem.
Look for a pattern.
Write an equation. If necessary, define what each variable represents.
Perform an experiment.
Guess at a solution then check your result.

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 3. Carry out the Plan

Work carefully.
Keep an accurate and neat record of all your attempts.
Realize that some of your initial plans will not work and that you may have to devise
another plan or modify the existing plan.

4. Review the Solution

Ensure that the solution is consistent with the facts of the problem.
Interpret the solution in the context of the problem.
Ask yourself whether there are generalizations of the solution that could apply to other
problems.

Look at some examples below applying the above strategy

Example 1: Apply Polya’s Strategy

(Make an organized list)

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Example 2: Apply Polya’s Strategy
(Make a table and look for a pattern)

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Example 3: Apply Polya’s Strategy
(Work Backwards)

There are many ways to solve a problem depending on the solution it requires.
However, Polya’s four steps in problem solving is always a good guide. Choose your
plan to proceed to a problem.

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Quiz 1

Following the examples above, solve the problems below using the Problem Solving
Strategy. Explain what you’re doing in each step. Use the table format for answering.
1. A hat and a jacket together cost Php 1000. The jacket costs Php 725 more than
the hat. What are the cost of the hat and the cost of the jacket?

2. In a basketball league consisting of 10 teams, each team plays each of the other
teams exactly three times. How many games will be played?

3. Melody picks a number. She doubles the number, squares the result, divides the
square by three, subtracts 30 from the quotient, and get 18. What are the
possible numbers that Melody could have picked? What operation does Melody
perform that prevents us from knowing with 100% certainty which number she
picked?
Solution format:

1. Understand
the Problem

2. Devise a Plan

3. Carry Out the

Plan

4. Review the
Solution

Additional Word Problems:

In answering a problem, there is no way of always writing the explanation in each of the
steps in problem solving. You may always follow each step but use a more comfortable
way and easier way to solve a problem. You can proceed to the solution process as
long as it shows the answer and you check it thoroughly.
For a clearer picture, consider the problems below.

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Example 4
1. Pearl read 10 pages of a book on Monday. She read 1/3 of the remainder on
Tuesday. If she still had 24 pages to read, how many pages were there in the
book?

Solution:

Example 5
2. A total of 100 chickens and carabaos are in a farm. If the total number of legs of
the animals is 340, how many carabaos are there?
Solution:

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 Example 6
3. If Php 90,000 is divided among Ana, Beth and Carol in the ratio of 8:7:3,
respectively, what amount will carol received?
Solution:
Given: Ana, Beth, & Carol’s part respectively, 8:7:3 of 90,000
Carol’s Part (3) ÷ total ratio (8 + 7 + 3 = 13) x 90,000

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x 90,000 = 15, 000
18

Therefore, Carol has Php 15, 000

Quiz 2

Solve the following problem following the problem solving strategy without giving
explanation in each step. Show your complete solution.
1. Which two numbers should come next in the sequence 18, 23, 28, 33, …?
2. On three examinations, a student received scores of 77, 85, and 75.  What score
will the student need on the fourth examination to have an average of 83?
3. All the seats of the bus are occupied and six are standing. At the next bus stop,
13 persons got off and 5 got in. how many seats were empty on the next stop?
4. At Arman’s co. Pretzels are moved from ovens to packaging in a line of 25. Every
fifth pretzel is tested for weight. Every third pretzel is tested for size. How many
of the 25 pretzels are not checked or tested?
5. If 10 boxes of oranges worth P2000 and its box is worth P15. How much are all
the oranges worth without the boxes?
6. A stick 96 cm long is divided in the ratio 3:4:5. How long is the longest part?
7. An odd number is greater than 6x5 and less than 6x7. What is the number if the
sum of its digits is 8?

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8. A factory was cutting rolls of cloth into 1 meter lengths, from a 200 meter roll.
How long would it take for the machine to cut the roll if each cut took 4 seconds?
9. Billie spends 25 minutes in the bathroom. She eats breakfast for 22 minutes
and spends 27 minutes more in her room. She takes 12 minutes to collect
her books. She walks 15 minutes to catch the jeep at 9:05 A.M. What time
did she get up?

10. A bicycle trip across Marikina is about 3000 meters on average. How many
meters would you need to travel every day to complete a 2660-meter trip in four
weeks?

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1.2 Logic Puzzle
Logic puzzles can be solved by using deductive reasoning and a chart that enables us
to display the given information in a visual manner.

Example 7

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.
1. Maria gets home from work after the banker but before the dentist.
2. Sarah, who is the last to get home from work, is not the editor.
3. The dentist and Sarah leave for work at the same time.
4. The banker lives next door to Brian.

Solution:
From clue 1, Maria is not the banker or the dentist. In the following chart, write X1
(which stands for “ruled out by clue 1”) in the Banker and the Dentist columns of Maria’s
row.

From clue 2, Sarah is not the editor. Write X2 (ruled out by clue 2) in the Editor column
of Sarah’s row.
We know from clue 1 that the banker is not the last to get home, and we know from
clue 2 that Sarah is the last to get home; therefore, Sarah is not the banker. Write X2 in
the Banker column of Sarah’s row.

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From clue 3, Sarah is not the dentist. Write X3 for this condition. There are now Xs for
three of the four occupations in Sarah’s row; therefore, Sarah must be the chef.
Place a in that box. Since Sarah is the chef, none of the other three people can be
the chef. Write X3 for these conditions. There are now Xs for three of the four
occupations in Maria’s row; therefore, Maria must be the editor.

Insert a to indicate that Maria is the editor, and write X3 twice to indicate that neither
Sean nor Brian is the editor.
From clue 4, Brian is not the banker. Write X4 for this condition. See the following table.
Since there are three Xs in the Banker column, Sean must be the banker.

Place a in that box. Thus Sean cannot be the dentist.

Write X4 in that box. Since there are 3 Xs in the Dentist column, Brian must be the
dentist. Place a in that box.
Sean is the banker, Maria is the editor, Sarah is the chef, and Brian is the dentist.

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Quiz 3 – Logic Puzzle

Answer the following problems. Use a table for the solution of this logic puzzles.
(1) 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.

(2) Michael, Clarissa, Reggie, and Ellen are attending University of the Philippines
(UP). One student is a computer science major, one is a chemistry major, one is
a business major, and one is a biology major. From the following clues,
determine which major each student is pursuing.
Clues:

I. Michael and the computer science major are next-door neighbors.

II. Clarissa and the chemistry major have attended UP for 2 years. Reggie has
attended UP for 3 years, and the biology major has attended UP for 4 years.
III. Ellen has attended UP for fewer years than Michael.
IV. The business major has attended UP for 2 years.

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Task 2

Topic: Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

The type of reasoning that forms a conclusion based on the examination of specific
examples is called inductive reasoning. The conclusion formed by using inductive
reasoning is a conjecture, since it may or may not be correct.

When you examine a list of numbers and predict the next number in the list according to
some pattern you have observed, you are using inductive reasoning.

Example 1 – Use Inductive Reasoning to Predict a Number

Use inductive reasoning to predict the next number in each

of the following lists.
a. 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, ? b. 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, ?

Solution:

a. Each successive number is 3 larger than the preceding

number. Thus we predict that the next number in the list
is 3 larger than 15, which is 18.

b. The first two numbers differ by 2. The second and the

third numbers differ by 3.
It appears that the difference between any two numbers is always 1 more than the
preceding difference. Since 10 and 15 differ by 5, we predict that the next
number in the list will be 6 larger than 15, which is 21.

Deductive Reasoning

Another type of reasoning is called deductive reasoning.

Deductive reasoning is distinguished from inductive reasoning in that it is the process of
reaching a conclusion by applying general principles and procedures.

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Use deductive reasoning to show that the following procedure produces a number that
is four times the original number.
Procedure: Pick a number. Multiply the number by 8, add 6 to the product, divide the
sum by 2, and subtract 3.

Let n represent the original number.

Multiply the number by 8:
Add 6 to the product:

Divide the sum by 2:

Subtract 3:

W e started with n and ended with 4n. The procedure given

in this example produces a number that is four times the
original number.

Inductive Reasoning vs. Deductive Reasoning

In the next Example we will analyze arguments to determine whether they use inductive
or deductive reasoning.
Example 2
Determine whether each of the following arguments is an example of inductive
reasoning or deductive reasoning.
a. During the past 10 years, a tree has produced plums every other year. Last year the
tree did not produce plums, so this year the tree will produce plums.
b. All home improvements cost more than the estimate. The contractor estimated that
my home improvement will cost $35,000. Thus my home improvement will cost more
than $35,000.

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Solution:
a. This argument reaches a conclusion based on specific examples, so it is an example
of inductive reasoning.
b. Because the conclusion is a specific case of a general
assumption, this argument is an example of deductive
reasoning.

Quiz 4 – Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Identification. Identify the argument if it uses inductive or deductive reasoning.

1. In the sequence 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, … Jed guessed the next three terms. His
argument is; each successive number is 3 larger than the preceding
number. Thus he predicts that the next number in the list
is 3 larger than 15, which is 18, then next are 21 and 24.

2. All home improvements cost more than the estimate.

The contractor estimated that my home improvement will
cost $35,000. Thus my home improvement will cost
more than $35,000.

3. During the past 8 years, a tree has produced plums

every other year. Last year the tree did not produce
plums, so this year the tree will produce plums.

4. Sam picked a number. Multiplied the number by 8, added 6 to the product,

divided the sum by 2, and subtracted 3. This produces a number that is four
times the original number.

Reference:

Mathematics in the Modern World

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