Report 2

Mathematical Modeling
Sharisse Gomez, Alyssa Onorario, Abegail Romas
Department of Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science
University of the Philippines Mindanao
June 2021

The aim in this report is to demonstrate modeling using proportionality or geometric similar-
ity, and demonstrate model fitting. This is divided into two main parts: 1) the modeling activity
and 2) the model fitting using MS Solver.

1 Modeling using proportionality or geometric similarity

1.1 Problem overview
A painter once painted a portrait of her child in a canvas. It has a dimension of 24 cm × 30 cm.
The birthday of her son is fast approaching and she decided to make a smaller version of that
same painting. However, when she went to buy the canvas, she was not sure what to purchase.
The available canvases have dimensions 12 cm × 15 cm and 12 cm × 18 cm. She wants to
determine which canvas she should pick so that they are geometrically similar.

1.2 Model formulation

1.2.1 Assumptions
• The two rectangles are geometrically similar.

1.2.2 Variables and parameters

• ln – the length of the canvas
• wn – the width of the canvas

• An – the area of the canvas

1.2.3 Formulating the model

Two objects that look identical to each other yet in different sizes, but have the same constant
ratio in all its corresponding dimensions are considered geometrically similar (Rowen et al., 2020).
The objective is to determine what canvas size she should pick. We know that two rectangles

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r1 , r2 are proportional to each other if their sides form equal ratio. In this problem we will use
the area relationship to determine if the two rectangles form equal ratio.
A0 l0 × w 0
= = k2
An ln × w n
Not only are these ratios immediately known once the scaling factor k has been specified,
but also the area may be expressed as a proportionality in terms of some selected characteristic
dimension. Let’s select the length l as the characteristic dimension. Then with lln0 = k, we have
 2
A0 l0
= k2 =
An ln

Therefore,
A0 An
= = constant
l0 ln
holds for any two geometrically similar objects. That is, the area is always proportional to
length2 .
A ∝ l2
Thus, if we are want to determine a function using the object’s length and area, we have

y = f (l, A)

We could express all the function arguments in terms of some selected characteristic dimensions,
such as length, giving
y = g(l, l2 )
Therefore, to find if the canvas size is geometrically similar with the original painting we have
the model
l0 × w0 A0
r0 ∝ rn = = = k2
ln × w n An

1.3 Model solution and analysis

In order to find the canvas that is dimensionally similar, we use our formula
Case 1: r0 = 24cm × 30 cm and r1 = 12 cm × 15 cm
l0 × w 0 A0
r0 ∝ r1 = = = k2
l1 × w 1 A1
24 × 30 720
r0 ∝ r1 = = =4 k=2
12 × 15 180
Case 2: r0 = 24cm × 30 cm and r2 = 12 cm × 18 cm
l0 × w0 A1
r0 ∝ r2 = = = k2
l2 × w2 A2
r
24 × 30 720 10 10
r0 ∝ r1 = = = k=
12 × 18 216 3 3
Therefore, the mother should buy the 12 cm×15 cm canvas, since it is geometrically similar to
the original one. We chose this canvas because the 12 cm ×18 cm violated that the measurement
should not take fractional values.

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1.4 Discussion
In this report, the problem is to determine what dimension of a canvas should the painter use
to achieve a geometrically similar smaller painting with the original one. After the decision
variables, constraints, and assumptions were established, the model was formulated, given by
l0 × w0 A0
r0 ∝ rn = = = k2
ln × w n An
The goal was to check if the size of the original painting is proportional to the size of the
available canvas sizes, that is, if the ratio of the area of rectangle r0 , l0 ×w0 , and area of rectangle
r, ln × wn would result to some k 2 . Among the two available canvas size, r1 is geometrically
similar since it is proportional to the original painting size r0 .

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2 Model fitting using MS Solver
In this section, the equation y = mx+b will be fitted to the data found in Figure 1 using the three
analytic approaches: 1) Chebychev approximation criterion, 2) minimizing the sum of absolute
deviations, and 3) least-squares criterion.

Figure 1: The given data

2.1 Chebychev approximation criterion

In this criterion, the largest absolute deviation over the entire collection has been minimized. In
this case, the largest absolute deviation was 1200. It has been minimized, and so the line fitted
using Chebychev approximation criterion (Figure 3) is given by y = 98.56x + 11.84.

Figure 2: Using Chebychev approximation criterion

Figure 3: Fitted line using Chebychev approximation criterion

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2.2 Minimizing the sum of absolute deviations
For this approach, the absolute deviations between each data point and their corresponding point
on the fitted line are minimized. From this, the line fitted using minimizing the sum of absolute
deviations (Figure 5) is given by y = 142.09x − 273.24.

Figure 4: Minimizing the sum of absolute deviations

Figure 5: Fitted line using minimizing the sum of absolute deviations

2.3 Least-squares criterion

This approach minimizes the magnitude of the vector whose coordinates represent the absolute
deviation between the observed and predicted values. Thus, the line fitted using least-squares
criterion (Figure 7) is given by y = 130.38x − 249.64.

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 Figure 6: Using Least-squares criterion

Figure 7: Fitted line using Least-squares criterion

Discussion
In Chebychev approximation criterion, the slope of the line is 98.56 and the y-intercept is 11.84.
The points are more spread out from the fitted line, but they are almost equidistant from the
line. On the other hand, in minimizing the sum of absolute deviations, the slope of the line is
142.09 and the y-intercept is -273.24. The points are closer to the fitted line, with some points
intersecting it. Lastly, in least-squares criterion, the slope of the line is 130.38 and the y-intercept
is -249.64. The fit of the line is almost similar to the fitted line using minimizing the sum of
absolute deviations, except it intersects less points.

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References
Rowen, D.A. et al. (2020). Geometric Similarity. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/g
similarity