Polya’s Problem Solving Strategies

A. Problem Solving: Working Backwards

1. In consecutive turns of a Monopoly game, Miya first paid Php. 800 for a hotel. She
then lost half her money when she landed on Boardwalk. Next, she collected Php. 200
for passing GO. She then lost half her remaining money when she landed on Illinois
Avenue. Miya now has Php. 2500. How much did she have just before she purchases
the hotel?

Solution:

The problem asks how much money Miya had originally before doing the following
transactions in order: paid Php. 800 for hotel -> lost half her money on a Boardwalk -
> collected Php. 200 on Go -> lost half the remaining money on Illinois -> has Php.
2500 left.

To work backwards, we will begin with the last event which is having Php. 2500 and
reverse the transactions done. In particular, the events in reverse order is depicted in
the table below. The first column lists the events in reverse order and the second
column computes the amount that Miya has before making the transaction for each
event.

Event Miya’s Money

Miya's money now. Php. 2500.00
Before Miya landed to Illinois Avenue. Php. 2500 x 2 = Php. 5000.00

Before Miya passed to GO. Php. 5000.00 – Php. 200.00 = Php. 4800.00

Before Miya landed to Boardwalk. Php. 4800.00 x 2 = Php. 9,600.00

Before Miya purchase a hotel. Php. 9,600.00 + Php. 800.00 = Php. 10,
400.00

We now conclude that Miya has Php. 10, 400 at the start. You can check that this
answer is correct by making the transactions in order and ending up with Php. 2500.
2. Lylia, Layla and Ling collect coins. They exchange coins among themselves according
to the following arrangement: Lylia gives Layla as many coins as Layla has and Ling as
many coins as Ling has. After that, Layla gives Lylia and Ling as many coins as each of
them has, and then Ling gives Lylia and Layla as many coins as each has. If each finally
has 256 coins, with how many coins does Lylia start?

Solution:

We are asked to determine how many coins Lylia has at the start. The problem has the
following events in order: Lylia gives Lyla and Ling as many coins as each has -> Layla gives
Lylia and Ling as many coins as each has -> Ling gives Lylia and Layla as many coins as each
has -> each has 256 coins at the end.

We employ the same strategy as in Problem 1. The table below illustrates the solution
by working backwards.
Event Lylia’s Coins Layla’s Coins Ling’s Coins

When they finished giving 256 256 256

each other the coins.
Before Ling gives Lylia and 256÷2=128 256÷2=128 256+128+128=512
Layla as many coins as each
has.
Before Layla gives Lylia and 128÷2=64 128+64+256=448 512÷2=256
Ling as many coins as each
has.
Before Lylia gives Lyla and 64+224+128=416 448÷2=224 256÷2=128
Ling as many coins as each
has.

Therefore, Lylia has 416 coins at the start. Try to check our answer. Is it correct?
B. Problem Solving: With Pattern
1. Determine the units digit (ones’ digit) of the counting number represented by the
exponential expression
a. 4300
b. 2725

a. The units digit of 4300

We try to find a pattern to solve this problem. We try to study the powers
of 4. The table below shows the first 6 powers of 4 and the corresponding
units digit.
Powers of 4 Units Digit Observe that the units digit of
1
4 =4 4 powers of 4 are either 4 or 6.
2
4 =16 6 If the exponent of 4 is odd,
3
4 = 64 4 the units digit is 4 while if the
4
4 = 256 6 exponent of 4 is even, the
5
4 = 1024 4 units digit is 6.
46 = 4096 6
⋮ ⋮
Therefore, the units digit of 4300 is 6.

b. The last digit of 2725 .

We use the same strategy as in a. The table below shows the first 8 powers of 2
and the corresponding units digit.
Powers of 2 Unit Digit Observe that the units digit of powers
1
2 =2 2 of 2 are either 2, 4, 8, or 6. These units
2
2 =4 4 digits rotate in order every 4th power.
23 = 8 8 To know the units digit of 2725, we
24 = 16 6 divide 725 by 4 and determine the
25 = 32 2 remainder. Note that the remainder
when 725 is divided by 4 is 1. Thus, the
26 = 64 4
units digit of 2725 is the same as the
27 = 128 8
units digit of the first power of 2 which
28 = 256 6
is 2.
⋮ ⋮

Therefore, the unit digit 2725 is 2.

2. Use difference table to predict table the next term in the sequence. 2, 7, 24, 59, 118,
207, …
Solution: As suggested in the problem, we try to subtract the terms of the sequence
to find a pattern. Subtracting consecutive terms of 2, 7, 24, 59, 118, 207, … produces a
new sequence containing 5, 17, 35, 59, 89, … . No obvious pattern occurs so we
continue to look for one by subtracting consecutive terms of 5, 17, 35, 59, … . The result
produces another sequence containing 12, 18, 24, 30, … . From here we see that if we
subtract the consecutive terms of 12, 18, 24, 30, … we will get a common difference of
6. The table below illustrates what we did.
Terms First Difference Second Difference Third Difference

2
7–2=5
7 17 – 5 = 12
24 – 7 = 17 18 – 12 = 6
24 35 – 17 = 18
59 – 24 = 35 24 – 18 = 6
59 59 – 35 = 24
118 – 59 = 59 30 – 24 = 6
118 89 – 59 = 30
227 – 118 = 89
207

Now that we have seen the common difference of the sequence, we can solve it
backwards to determine the next term of the original sequence. The table below shows
this.
Terms First Difference Second Difference Third Difference

2
7–2=5
7 17 – 5 = 12
24 – 7 = 17 18 – 12 = 6
24 35 – 17 = 18
59 – 24 = 35 24 – 18 = 6
59 59 – 35 = 24
118 – 59 = 59 30 – 24 = 6
118 89 – 59 = 30
227 – 118 = 89
207 30 + 6 = 36
89 + 36 = 125
207 + 125 = 332
Hence, the next term in the given sequence is 332.
3. For each integer 𝑛 > 1, find the distinct positive integer 𝑥 and 𝑦 such that
1/𝑥 + 1/𝑦 = 1/𝑛.

Solution: Let n be a positive integer greater than 1. By inspection,

𝒏 𝒙 𝒚 𝟏/𝒙 𝟏/𝒚 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
+ =
𝒙 𝒚 𝒏
2 3 6 1/3 1/6 1 1 1
+ =
3 6 2
3 4 12 1/4 1/12 1 1 1
+ =
4 12 3
4 5 20 1/5 1/20 1 1 1
+ =
5 20 4
⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮
𝑛 𝑛+1 𝑛(𝑛 + 1) 1 1 1 1 1
+ =
𝑛+1 𝑛(𝑛 + 1) 𝑛 + 1 𝑛(𝑛 + 1) 𝑛
Thus, 𝑥 = 𝑛 + 1 and 𝑦 = 𝑛(𝑛 + 1).

4. What is the next letter in the sequence Z, O, T, T, F, F, S, S, E . . . ?

Solution: The letters in the sequence are the first letters when you spell the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, … . In particular, the sequence can be viewed as Zero, One, Two, Three, Four, Five,
Six, Seven, Eight, … . Hence, the next letter in the sequence is N for Nine.
C. Problem Solving: Using Picture or Diagram
1. It cost Php. 50.00 to cut and weld a chain link. Esmeralda has seven link and wishes to make
a chain. What is the minimum cost to do this?

Solution: Open link 2 and connect links 1, 2, and 3

1 2 3
Open link 5 and connect links 4, 5, and 6

4 5 6
Finally, open link 7 and connect the chain 1-2-3 and 4-5-6 by link 7.
Since we only had to cut three links to make this chain, the cost will Php. 150.00 to
make the chain.

2. Kagura and Hayabusa are both part-time in the local sushi shop. The shop is open
7 days a week. Kagura works one day and then has 2 days off before she works again.
Hayabusa works one day, and then has 3 days off before he works again. Kagura and
Hayabusa both work on Tuesday, March 1st. On which other days in March do Kagura
and Hayabusa work together on the same day?

Solution: We will make a drawing of a calendar and then simply place initials on those
dates on which each person works.

Kagura’s work schedule

Su M T W T F Sa
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
29 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
Hayabusa’s work schedule
Su M T W T F Sa
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
29 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31

Work Schedule of Kagura and Hayabusa

Su M T W T F Sa
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
29 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
Those dates which contain two sets of initials are the dates on which Kagura and
Hayabusa work together. The figure readily shows these dates to be March 13 th and
25th.

3. Suppose we cut out two opposite corners of a chessboard. If one domino can cover
exactly two squares of a chessboard, can we cover the chessboard with 31 dominoes?

Solution: The puzzle is impossible to complete. A domino

X
placed on the chessboard will always cover one white square
and one black square. Therefore, a collection of dominoes
placed on the board will cover an equal number of squares
of each color. If the two white corners are removed from the
board then 30 white squares and 32 black squares remain to
be covered by dominoes, so this is impossible. If the two
black corners are removed instead, then 32 white squares
and 30 black squares remain. X

D. Problem Solving: Using List and Table

1. 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?

Solution: We will make a list of all possible ways

WWLL, WLWL, WLLW, LWLW, LWWL, LLWW
Therefore, there are 6 possible ways.
2. In a basketball league consisting of 10 teams, each team plays each of the other teams
exactly three times. How many league games will be played?

Solution:
A B C D E F G H I J There are 45 possible games for
A AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ every exactly one match of each
B BC BD BE BF BG BH BI BJ teams. Since every teams plays
C CD CE CF CG CH CI CJ each of the other teams three
D DE DF DG DH DI DJ times then there are 135 games
E EF EG EH EI EJ will be played.
F FG FH FI FJ
G GH GI GJ
H HI HJ
I IJ
J

3. Each of the four friends Roger, Kadita, Irithel, and Khufra has a different pet (fish, cat, dog,
and snake). From the following clues determine the pet of everyone.
a. Kadita is older than her friend who owns the cat and younger than her friend
who owns the dog.
b. Irithel and her friend who owns the snake are both same age and are the
youngest members of their group.
c. Roger is the older than her friend who owns the fish.

Let's create a table with each clue. Shade black if the animal is not the pet of the person
on the first column and red otherwise.
“Kadita is older than her friend who owns the cat and younger than her friend who
owns the dog.”

Fish Cat Dog Snake

Roger
Kadita
Irithel
Khufra

“Irithel and her friend who owns the snake are both same age and are the youngest
members of their group.”
Fish Cat Dog Snake
Roger
Kadita
Irithel
Khufra
Followed by,

Fish Cat Dog Snake

Roger
Kadita
Irithel
Khufra

“Roger is the older than his friend who owns the fish.”
Looking at the statement carefully, we can say that Roger did not own the snake
because he is not the youngest among their friends. Also, he is not owner of a fish.
Therefore, Roger owns the dog.
Fish Cat Dog Snake
Roger
Kadita
Irithel
Khufra

Finally, by connecting each statement. We obtain,

Fish Cat Dog Snake

Roger
Kadita
Irithel
Khufra