Problem Solving Strategies

Heuristics are procedures or strategies that do not guarantee a solution to a problem

but provide a more highly probable method for discovering the solution to a problem. There
are many reasonable ways to solve problems. The skill at choosing an appropriate strategy
is best learned by solving many problems. You will find choosing a strategy increasingly
easy. Here is a partial list of problem solving strategies.

1. Working Backwards. This strategy is used to solve problems that include a

number of linked factors or events, where some of the information has not been provided,
usually at the beginning of the problem. This entails starting with the end results and
reversing the steps you need to get those results, in order to figure out the answer to the
problem.
Example:
In a dancing competition, all the contestants started dancing together. After 3
minutes, half the people were eliminated. During the next 10 minutes, half of the remaining
were eliminated. At the 15 minute mark, half again were eliminated, and at the 20 minute
mark, half of those still remaining were eliminated. In the last 2 minutes, one more
contestant was eliminated, leaving a winner of the competition. How many dancers were
where in the beginning?

Solution:
Note that there is one winner and that the number of the contestants was halved at
certain intervals. Using this information, it is possible to work backwards by doing the
opposite of the linked events in the problem.

Situation No. of dancer/s

Winner of the competition 1
Last 2 minutes (1 contestant was eliminated, so add 1): 1 + 1= 2
After 20 minutes (the contestants was halved, so double): 2(2)= 4
After 15 minutes (halved, so double): 2(4)= 8
After 10 minutes (again halved, so double): 2(8)= 16
After 3 minutes (halved, so double): 2(16)= 32
Hence, 32 dancers entered the competition.

2. Guess and Check. Often referred to as “trial and error”. It is important to recognize
that an error really isn’t a mistake at all. It helps to guide the problem solver to the
next attempt at the answer. The following are the essential features of the guess
and check strategy:
 Make an “educated” guess at the solution.
 Check the guess against the conditions of the problem.
 Use the information obtained in checking to make a better guess.
 Continue the procedure until the correct answer is obtained.
Example:
The product of the ages, in years, of three teenagers is 4590. None of the teens are
the same age. What are the ages of the teenagers?
Solution:
The possible ages of the teenagers are 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19. From this list,
we choose three numbers whose product is 4590. To have an educated guess, note that the
product end in zero. So 4590 has 2 and 5 as factors, which means that at least one of the
numbers we seek must be an even number and at least one number must have 5 as a
factor. This means 15 is one of the numbers.
Age 1 Age 2 Age 3 Product
15 16 18 4320 Too small
15 16 19 4560 Too small
15 17 18 4590 Correct
The ages of the teenagers are 15, 17, and 18.

3. Making a diagram. This is the most common problem solving strategy. Very often,
a problem solver needs to draw a diagram just to understand the meaning of the problem.
The diagram represents the problem in a way we can see it, understand it, and think about
it while looking for the next step. When you draw a diagram, you organize information
spatially, which then allows the visual part of your brain to become more involved in the
problem-solving process.
Example:

A frog fell down an abandoned well which was 21 meters deep. The frog found it
difficult to jump up the mud coated walls. It started its long jump up the well at six a.m. It
took it 15 minutes to jump 3 meters because the walls were so slippery. At the end of every
15 minute period it rested for 5 minutes while it sadly slipped down one meter. It continued
on at the same rate. At what time did it finally reach the top of the well?

Solution:
This problem can be approached in a number of ways. We can draw a time line with
1 cm marks. One centimeter represents 1 meter the frog jumps or slips. Drawing a line will
help to visualize the problem.

It would take the frog 195 minutes to cover the distance. It would reach the top of the
well at 9:15 a.m.

4. Making an organized list. Making a list is systematic method of organizing

information in row and/ or column. By putting given information in an organized list, you can
clearly analyze this information and then solve the problem by completing the list. It should
be emphasized that one should make a systematic list. By making a systematic list, one will
see every possible combination.
Example:
 Matt wants to take a 3-day weekend trip to visit his grandparents. He can either
Friday or Monday off from work, and he can either take a plane, drive, take a train, or take
a bus. How many options are available to Matt?

Solution:
There are many different options. They are…
Friday and take a plane Monday and take a plane
Friday and drive Monday and drive
Friday and take a train Monday and take a train
Friday and take a bus Monday and take a bus
Therefore, there are 8 different weekend trip combinations available to Matt.

5. Look for a pattern. This strategy entails looking for patterns in the data in order to
solve a problem, that is, the solver looks for items or numbers that are repeated, or a series
of events that repeat. This can be used to solve many math problems and can be used in
combination with many other strategies, including make a table, make a list, or simplify the
problem.
Example:

In the song “Twelve days of Christmas”, a person receives a set of gifts each day for
12 days. On the first day, she received one gift – a partridge in a pear tree. On the second
day, she received two turtle doves and another partridge in a pear tree – a total of three
new gifts. On the third day, she received a new gift (three French hens) plus the gift given
on the second day, for a total of six new gifts. This continues for 12 days. How many gifts
did she receive on the 12th day?

Solution:
Day No. of gifts received
1 1
2 1+2=3
3 1+2+3=6
4 1 + 2 + 3+ 4 = 10
5 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15
. .
. .
. .
12 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + … + 12 = 78
Hence, she received 78 gifts on the 12th day.

6. Solve a simpler problem. Sometimes you can find the answer to a problem by
solving another problem that has simpler numbers or fewer cases. To use this strategy, first
use a simpler or more familiar case of the problems. Then use the same concepts and
relationships to solve the original problem.
Example:

The houses in Camella Homes are numbered consecutively from 1 to 150. How
many house numbers contain at least one-digit 4?
Solution:
 House numbers that contain the digit 4 in unit’s place-
4,14,24,34,44,54,64,74,84,94,104,
114,124,134,144
House numbers that contain the digit 4 in ten’s place-
41,42,43,45,46,47,48,49,141,142,143,145,
146,147,148,149
Therefore, there are 31 house numbers that contain at least one digit 4.

7. Elimination. Eliminating possibilities is strategy in which we remove possible

answers until the correct answer remains.
Example:
Tony is younger than 60 years of age. When you add the digits of his age the sum is
9. His age lies between two prime number. If his age is a multiple of 6, how old is he?
Solution:

6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 54

 His age is divisible by 6 and less than 60.

 The sum of the digits is 9.
 His age lies between two prime number.
Tony is 18 years of age.

8. Act it out. Act out the problem by trying to do what the people or things in a
problem do. This strategy works because you are actually doing a problem.
Example:

At an acquaintance party, everyone must shake hands with everyone else, once. If
there are 7 people attending the party, what is the total number of handshakes made?

Solution:

Act the situation. Try to perform it by having 7 people to shake their hands once and
count the total number of handshakes.
1st person shake hands with 6 people,
nd
2 person shake hands with 5 people only since has already shaken hand
st
with during 1 round
rd
3 person shake hands with 4 people,
th
4 person shake hands with 3 people,
th
5 person shake hands with 2 people, and
6th person shake hands with 1 people.
There are 21 handshakes in all.

9. Adopting a Different Point of View. Occasionally you may find that you are
blocked in your attempts to solve a particular problem. Sometimes this type of difficulty
arises from developing a “mind set”. That is, you may have decided that there is only one
way to approach the solution, or perhaps you made an incorrect assumption about the given
information. If you reach this point, it often helps to read the problem once again and try to
change your point of view.
Example:

You have four pieces of chain with three links a piece. A jeweller will charge you ₱2
to open a link and ₱3 to close the link. How can you have the four pieces joined together to
form a continuous-chain bracelet for only ₱15?

Solution:

Many people are baffled by this problem because they may think of the four pieces
as fixed units. If one link at each if the four “corners” of this arrangement is opened then
closed, the total cost would be ₱20.

Obviously, a change of approach is needed. Consider cutting apart one of the pieces
to get three individual links, and the solution becomes more apparent.

Open all three links of one piece of chain. Use this three links to join ends of the
remaining pieces. The cost to open and close just three links is ₱15.

10. Using a Formula. It is a problem solving strategy that we use to find answers to
math problems involving geometry, percents, measurements, algebra and many more. To
solve these problems, we must choose the appropriate formula and substitute data in the
correct places of a formula.
Example:

One bag of fertilizer will cover 500 of lawn. Your rectangular lawn is 70 meters
by 50 meters. How many bags of fertilizer will you need to cover it?

Solution:

Since we need to find the area of a rectangle, we can use this formula:

where,
A = area of the rectangle
l = length
w = width
Find the area of the lawn:
 For every , you need one bag of fertilizer. So, we need to see how many times
goes into to find the number of bags of fertilizer needed.

Therefore, it needs 7 bags of fertilizer.

11. Divide and conquer. If a problem can’t be solved right away, divide it into parts,
and solve one part at a time. A problem which at first seems difficult becomes easier if you
divide it into parts and solve one part at a time.
Example:

Five children in the Santos Family- Gil, Alex, Din, Ron and Al. Gil is twice as old as
Alex. Alex is 3 years younger than Din. Ron is 5 years younger than Din. Al is twice as old as
Ron. Gil is 16 years old. What are the ages of the remaining children?

Solution:

Write and solve the equation to find Alex’s age: 16 ÷ 2= n; n= 8; Alex is 8 years old.
Use your solution in problem 1 to write and solve a new
equation to find Din’s age: 8 + 3= n; n= 11; Din is 11 years old.
Use your solution in problem number 2 to write and solve new
equation to find Ron’s age: 11 – 5= n; n= 6; Ron’s age
Use your solution in problem number 3 to write and solve new
equation to find Al’s age: 6 ᵡ 2= n; n= 12; Al’s age
Therefore, Alex’s age is 8, Din is 6 years old, Ron is 6 years old and Al is 12 years old.
Recreational Problem Solving
Number Problems

Example 1

There are two numbers whose sum is 72. One number is twice the other. What are the
numbers?

Solution:
Let = smaller number
= larger number
Set-up the equation:

Compute:

The smaller number is 24 and the larger number is 48.

Consecutive Numbers

If is any number, the and are consecutive numbers. For instance, 7 and 8 are
consecutive numbers.

Example 2

The sum of two consecutive numbers is 159, find the numbers.

Solution:
Let = number
= next number
Set-up the equation:

Compute:

2
2

The two consecutive numbers are 79 and 80.

Consecutive Even Numbers

If is any number, the and are consecutive even numbers. For instance, 2
and 4 are consecutive even numbers.
Example 3

The sum of two even consecutive numbers is 194, find the numbers.

Solution:
Let = even number
= next even number
Set-up the equation:

Compute:

1.
The two consecutive even numbers are 96 and 98.

Consecutive Odd Numbers

If is any number, the and are consecutive odd numbers. For instance, 3 and 5
are consecutive odd numbers.

Example 4

The sum of two odd consecutive numbers is 228, find the numbers.

Solution:
Let = odd number
= next odd number
Set-up the equation:

Compute:

The two consecutive odd numbers are 113 and 115.

Number Problems using Two Variables

If and be two numbers, their sum can be expressed as , the difference is ,

and the product is .

Example 4

If the sum of two numbers is 44 and their difference is 22, find the numbers.

Solution:
Let = number
= other number
Set-up the equation:

Compute:

The two numbers are 33 and 11.

Mixture Problem

Example

A mixture containing 6% boric acid is to be mixed with 2 quarts of a mixture which is

15% acid in order to obtain a solution which is 12% acid. How much of the 6% solution
must be used?

Solution:

Let the number of quarts of 6% solution needed.

Set-up the equation:

Compute:

So, 1 quart of 6% boric acid solution must be used.

Age Problem

Example

Mary’s father is four times as old as Mary. Five years ago he was seven times as old.
How old is each now?
Solution:

Set up the table

Now Five years ago

Mary
Mary’s Father

The problem states that 5 years ago, Mary’s father’s age, was equal to seven
times Mary’s age, .

Set-up the equation: .

Compute:

Mary’s current age is 10 years old, and her father’s age is 40 years old.

Work Problem

When a word problem has information about getting a job done, then you know the
equation you want to use as a setup is the following.
Work = (Rate of work) x (Time worked) or W = RT

The rate of work refers to a per hour rate (how much of the job gets done in one
hour). For example, the rate of work for a person who completes a job in 3 hours is 1 job/3
hours or 1/3 of the job per hour. In general, if a job can be completed in t hours, then
the rate of work is 1/t of the job per hour.

Example 1
Liza can paint the kitchen in 5 hours. David can paint the same kitchen in 3
hours. If they work together, how long will it take to paint the kitchen?
Liza's work + David's work = total work

Solution:
Let total work = 1 (whole job done)
time working together = t
Liza's rate of work =
David's rate of work =

Set-up equation:

Compute: (multiply each term by LCD which is 15)

It will take Liza and David hours to paint the kitchen together.
Example 2

An Olympic sized pool can be filled by pipe A in 18 hours and by pipe B in 12

hours. There is also a drain pipe that drains the entire pool in 8 hours. If the valves of pipe
A, pipe B and the drain pipe are open, how long will it take to fill the pool?

Pipe A and Pipe B will fill the pool = water is being added.
The drain pipe will empty the pool = water is being taken away.

Pipe A work + Pipe B work - Drain pipe work = 1 (total job)

Solution:

Let time together = t

Pipe A rate of work =
Pipe B rate of work =
Drain pipe rate of work =

Set-up equation:

Compute: (multiply each term by LCD which is 72)

It will take 72 hours to fill the pool.

Motion Problem

Example

A freight train starts from Los Angeles and heads for Chicago at 40 mph. Two hours later
a passenger train leaves the same station for Chicago traveling 60 mph. How long before
the passenger train overtakes the freight train?

It is a time, rate, and distance problem. (Use )

Solution:

Let the time it takes the passenger train to overtake the freight train

the number of hours the freight train had travelled when overtaken.

Draw a sketch and make a table.

Set-up Equation: When the passenger train overtakes the freight train, they have both
traveled the same distance. Write each of their distances in terms of rate time (as seen in
the table above), then set them equal to each other to create an equation. Then solve the
equation.

Compute:

It takes the passenger train 4 hours to overtake the freight train.