ZGE 1104 Learning Material #1(Midterm)

Problem Solving and Reasoning

Viral Math Problem
Examples
1. 6 / 2 ( 1 + 2 ) =
2. 1 + 4 = 5
2 + 5 = 12
3 + 6 = 21
8 + 11 = ?
3. x + x + x = 60
x + y + y = 30
y – 2z = 3
x+y+z=?
What is problem solving?
A problem is a question that motivates a person to search for an answer.
Prolem solving is finding solutions and not just answers to problems.
SOLUTION = METHOD + ANSWER
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
1. Inductive reasoning is the process of reaching a general conclusion by
examining specific examples.
A conclusion based on inductive reasoning is called a conjecture.
A conjecture may or may not be correct.
2. Deductive reasoning is the process of reaching a conclusion by applying
general assumptions, procedure or principles.
Example: Consider the following procedure:
1. Choose a number.
2. Multiply the number by 8.
3. Add 6 to the product.
4. Divide the sum by 2.
5. Subtract 3.
Complete the above procedure for several different numbers. Use inductive
reasoning to make a conjecture about the relationship between the original
number and the resulting number.
Example: Consider the following procedure:
1. Choose a number.
2. Multiply the number by 8.
3. Add 6 to the product.
4. Divide the sum by 2.
5. Subtract 3.
Use deductive reasoning to show that the following procedure produces a
number that is four times the original number.
Problem Solving with Patterns
A sequence is an ordered list of numbers. Each number in a sequence is called
a term of the sequence.
One solution to find the next term of the sequence is by using the difference
table – a table which shows the differences between successive terms of the
sequence.
Examples
1. 1,2,3,4,5,?,?
2. 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 10 , ? , ?
3. 3 , 6 , 9 , 12 , 15 , ? , ?
4. O,T,T,F,F,S,S,?,?
5. J,A,S,O,?,?
Use a difference table to predict the next term in the sequence.
1. 5 , 14 , 27 , 44 , 65 , ...
2. 2 , 7 , 24 , 59 , 118 , 207 , ...
3. 1 , 14 , 51 , 124 , 245 , 426 , ...
4. 1 , 8 , 27 , 64 , 125 , ...
Venn Diagram
Venn diagrams are the principal ways of showing sets diagrammatically. The
method consists primarily of entering the elements of a set into a circle or
circles.
Examples:
1. There are a total of 150 freshmen students.
85 were enrolled in a Mathematics in the Modern World(MMW) class
70 were enrolled in a Purposive Communications(PC) class
50 were enrolled for both MMW and PC

a. How many signed up for an MMW class only?

b. How many signed up for a PC class only?
c. How many signed up for MMW or PC?
d. How many signed up neither for MMW nor PC?
 2. At a breakfast buffet, 93 people chose coffee and 47 people chose juice.
Twenty – five people chose both coffee and juice. If each person chose at
least one of these beverages, how many people visited the buffet?
3. 100 students were interviewed.
28 took Spanish, 31 took Mandarin, 42 took Nihongo
9 took Spanish and Mandarin, 10 took Spanish and Nihongo, 6 took
Mandarin and Nihongo
4 took all three subjects.
a. How many students took none of the three subjects?
b. How many students took Spanish but not Mandarin or Nihongo?
c. How many students took Mandarin and Spanish but not Nihongo?
Logic Puzzles
Examples
1. Each of the 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.
a) Maria gets home from work after the banker but before the dentist.
b) Sarah who is the last to get home from work, is not the editor.
c) The dentist and Sarah leave for work at the same time.
d) The banker lives next door to Brian.

2. 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 tresurer.
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.
 3. Each of the Little League teams in a small rural community is sponsored by
a different local business. The names of the teams are the Dodgers, the
Pirates, the Tigers, and the Giants. The businesses that sponsor the teams
are the bank, the supermarket, the service station, and the drugstore. From
the following clues, determine which business sponsors each team.
a) The Tigers and the team sponsored by the service station have winning
records this season.
b) The Pirates and the team sponsored by the bank are coached by the
parents of the players, whereas the Giants and the team sponsored by
the drugstore are coached by the director of the community center.
c) Jake is the pitcher for the team sponsored by the supermarket and
coached by his father.
d) The game between the Tigers and the team sponsored by the drugstore
was rained out yesterday.
Tree Diagram
It is used to list all possibilities of a sequence of events in a systematic way.
It is also called the “listing method”.
Examples
1. Suppose that a couple wants to have three children. Using tree diagram,
find all possible outcomes for the gender of the children(except that the
chances of having a twins).

2. Your school cafeteria offers chicken or tuna sandwiches; chips or fruit; and
milk, apple juice, or orange juice. If you purchase one sandwich, one side
item and one drink, how many different lunches can you choose?

3. The UAAP Men’s Basketball Championship is between De La Salle Green

Archers(DLSU) and UE Red Warriors(UE). Determine the number of possible
outcomes of the game if a team must win two out of three games.
Polya’s Problem Solving Strategy
Step One: Undestand the problem
Step Two: Make a plan
Step Three: Do the plan
Step Four: Look back
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?
Reference:
Auffmann et al.(2018) Mathematical Excursions

Assignment
Submit examples(with solutions) of
1. Viral Math Problem
2. Problem Solving with Patterns
3. Venn Diagram
4. Logic Puzzles
5. Tree Diagram