3.3 Pattern Recognition : as a Problem-Solving Strategy In the previous two sections, we . introduced general approaches of laying out -ememna uteamiage the solution to a particular problem of interest. At the end of the While the deductive approach seem to present —_Ts§on, students a more accurate solution, the strength of the be able to: inductive approach is something that cannot 2g statements be easily neglected. In fact, Polya’s strategy ~ insymbolic forms. dominantly inductive in nature. 2. write symbolic So in this lesson, we further f attention on how we can recogni: evident and the hidden rae in observing few cases of a iv 1. Consider a 10-item true or false question. a. In how many ways can you answer the first item? b. In how many ways can you answer the first 2 items? c. In how many ways can you answer the first 3 items? Chapter 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning 6970 @ Generalizing, in how many ways can you ns? answer the first it “ ©. Inhow many ways can you answer the 10-item tesyy 2. Inacertain gathering, participants greet each other through handshakes OF course, a person cannot shake his own hands and each person can only shake hands with another person once. a a. How many handshakes occur between two peo; ple in the meeting? b, ae How many handshakes occur among three people in th —£ How many handshakes occupfje four people inthe meeting? d. If there are 12 _ Y.. o how many handshakes occurre ? e. What formula ©... De smpute te total number dy Mere of handsh « eople in the meeting? One of the most re Wi solve a problem is taking few numeric or geometric ca: if there are repeated values or if such or pattern. Once the rule of the pattern is be now easier to solve the specified problem. Let us consider the first situation in the Diagnostics. For the first item, there are only 2 possible ways of answering it, either TRUE or FALSE. A bit of complication occurs when we move to the first 2 questions. We can enumerate the possibilities as follows: (i) 1-TRUE, 2-TRUE; (ii) 1-TRUE, 2—FALSE; (iii) 1-FALSE, 2-TRUE; (iv) 1-FALSE, 2-FALSE. Thus there are 4 possible ways in all. In the case of having 3 questions we may look at the following possibilities (the first being the answer to the first question, the second forthe second question and the third for the third question); TRUE-TRUE-TRUE, TRUE-TRUE-FALSE, TRUE-FALSE-TRUE, FALSE-TRUE-TRUE, TRUE-FALSE-FALSE, FALSE-TRUE-FALSE, FALSE-FALSE-TRUE, FALSE-FALSE-FALSE. This accounts for 8 possible ways of answering the 3 questions. It is left to the reader to verify (you may also enumerate) that there are 16 possible ways of answering the first 4 questions. Mathematics in the Modern WorldSummarizing the results, we have the following table: Number of | Number of ways to Sees Sou een It must be evident that the number of ways is always a power of 2. Number of questions So, it appears that for questi e tes re are exactly ways of answering them. Specifically, i are, 3g ions, then there must be ways. The second proble: me , Sic is deceivingly simple. For only two individuals, he 1s galyone handshake that takes place (PI to P2 is the same, a®pp to Pup Wor three individuals (P1, P2, P3), the distinct hands} : , Pl to P3, and P2 to P3 (for a total of 3 handshakes), For fourindividuals (P1, P2, P3, P4), we have the following distinct handshakes:P1 to P2, P] to P3, P1 to P4, P2 to P3, P2 to Pd, P3 to P4 (for a total of 6 handshakes), Summarizing, we have the following tabulated values: Number of Number of individuals handshakes 2 1 3 3 4 6 5 2 Chapter 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning 7”tern on the number of handshakes. There seem to be a pal Let us verify if there will be really 10 handshakes among 5 people (P1, P2, P3, PA, PS): (1) PI to P2; (2) Pl to P3; (3) PI to P4; (4) othe (5) P2 to P3; (6) P2 to PA; (7) P2 to PS; (8) P3 to P4; (9) P3 t 10) P4 to PS. So, as it appears, the number of handshakes is just, ented successively by the natural numbers. We summarize this in lowing table of values: =1+2+3 10=1+2+3+4 3 ee re, 142434..+(n-1) If we are observant in the number of handshakes, we can notice the following: _1(1+1) oe 2(2+1) 2 3(3+1) 2 14+2=3= 142=3=6= 14243442102 40440) 2 72 Mathematics in the Modern WorldSo, the pattern of the sums is also evident: get the half of the product of the last number multiplied by the (supposed to be) next number in the sum, In the language of handshakes: get the half of the product of the number of people multiplied by that number minus 1. So, if there are people in the said gathering, the total number of handshakes is n(n=1) 2 14243444 4(n-1)= Exercise 3.3.1, Solve the following problems using Polya’s four-step problem-solving strategy. i. In the complex number system, we have #=i,... Find i, PS Find the last digit of the r\e oe” «Oo Sai Yan was borne! 78, before Dong was bor. If Dong was born ona > was Yan born? The set {0,1} forms the binary system. There are exactly two 1-digit binary numbers, namely 0 and 1; there are four 2-digit binary numbers, namely 00, 01, 10 and 11; and there are eight 3-digit binary numbers, namely 000, 001, 010, 100, 011, 101, 011 and 111. a, List all 4-digit binary numbers b. How many 4-digit binary numbers are there? Chapter 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning 374 c. How many S-digit binary numbers are possible? d. How many n-digit binary numbers can be formed? 5, Consider a rectangle with length / and width w. Now fold it into ty, draw a line on the fold and unfold the rectangle. Observe that there now three rectangles, two small rectangles and the original rectan a, Fold the rectangle into three, draw lines on the folds, then unig How many rectangles do you see? b. Fold the rectangle into four, draw ic folds, then unfoig How many rectangles do you see? c. From your observatio AP ig ion many rectangles are formed if the original ingle, << led into n pieces? «0 Exercise 332. QY o” For this or ra the guidelines below: + Form 1s of 4-5 members, assign a leader + Each group will be provided with a Galton board * The group should work together to obtain the needed information as detailed below. * Designated leader will summarize the results of the group’s experiment and present it before the entire class Place 13 sticks on a flat surface. Two players take turn taking either 1, 2, or 3 sticks. The last person to take the last piece or pieces loses the game. Mathematics in the Modem WorldGuide Questions 1. If you are the first player, how would you strategize your moves to ensure that you win the game? Ifyou are the second player, how would you strategize your moves to ensure that you win the game? Who has the better chance of winning, the first or the second player? oe What if there 4, How will the result change if there are 9 sticks are 25 sticks? Assignment: o o” For this assignment, you needs eh lowing video clip: Die Hard: With Pre < (https://www.youtube.com/ watch? avXARMARS) Nas Guide: In git 2 With a Vengeance, Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson‘ ‘iven a 5-gallon jug and a 3-gallon jug and they must put exactly 4 gallons of water on a scale to keep a bomb from exploding. Figure out how they could accomplish this feat. 1. Three things that I significantly learned from the video clip Chapter 3: Problem Solving and Reasoning 752. Three things that are still unclear to me Complete the statement: I used to think that eee Wey 4. Three questions that I want to ask x Ie ‘8 clips Referer Readings Aufmann, R., Lockwood, J., Nation, R., Daniel K., & Clegg, D. (2014). Mathematical excursions (3" ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage. Video Clips Movieclips. (2015, June 1), Die hard: With a vengeance Bad day in Harlem. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDnvXAkMaxé ‘Mathematics in the Modern World