Lesson 5: Polya’s Problem –

Solving Strategies
Objectives
•At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1.Enhance problem solving skills.
2.Use the desired strategy in solving Mathematical
problems.
George Pólya was a Hungarian mathematician. He
was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940
at ETH Zürich and from 1940 to 1953 at Stanford
University.

George Polya of Hungary (1965) stated that “a

question is considered a problem if the procedure
or method of solution is not immediately known
but requires one to apply creativity and previous
knowledge in new and unfamiliar situation”
Polya’s Four – Step Problem – solving Strategy

1. Understand the problem.

2. Devise a plan.
3. Carry out the plan.
4. Review the solution.
1. Understand the Problem
This part of Polya’s four – step strategy is often overlooked. You
must have a clear understanding of the problem. To help you focus on
understanding the problem, consider the following questions.
Can you restate the problem in your own words?
Can you determine what is known about these types of problems?
Is there missing information that, if known, would allow you to solve
the problem?
Is there extraneous information that is not needed to solve the
problem?
What is the goal?
2. Devise a Plan
Successful problem solvers use a variety of techniques
when they attempt to solve a problem. Here are some
frequently used procedures.
Make a list of the known information.
Make a list of information that is needed.
Draw a diagram.
Make an organized list that shows all the possibilities.
Make a table or a chart.
Work backwards.
Try to solve a similar but simpler problem.
Look for a pattern.
Write an equation. If necessary, define what each
variable represents.
Perform an experiment.
Guess at a solution and then check your result.
3. Carry Out the Plan
Once you have devised a plan, you must carry it
out.
Work carefully.
Keep an accurate and neat record of all your
attempts.
Realize that some of your initial plans will not work
and that you may have to devise another plan or
modify your existing plan.
4. Review the Solution
Once the solution is found, check it again.
Does it agree with the facts of the problem?
Does it match your expected output?
Interpret the solution in the context of the problem.
Write or speak in your own words the implication of the
solution to the problem.
Are there generalizations of the solution that can be
applied to other problems?
Example 1: There are 480 marbles in a box whose color is either black or white.
If there are 46 more black marbles than there are white, how many black
marbles are there in the box? How many white marbles are there in the box?

SOLUTION
Understand the problem. The problem sounds simple enough. The
problem is asking us how many black marbles and how many white
marbles are there in the box. All in all there are 480 marbles. We are
given an additional information: there are 46 more marbles than there
are white. This means if is the quantity of black marbles and the
quantity of white marbles,
and
In particular,
Devise a plan. Let us produce an equation. Since
and , by substitution this implies,

Where y is the quantity of white marbles. So what

do we do? First, solve for y, then use the value of y
to obtain a value of x.
Carry out the plan. Our plan is to solve the equation for y.

There are 217 white marbles. How about black marbles?

There are 263 black marbles in the box.

Review the solution. Does our solution match our
expectation? Does it fit what the problem asks us to
produce? Let us check it out. Let us obtain and .

Its solution is black marbles and white marbles.

Example 2: GSW basketball team won three out of their last six
games. In how many different orders could they have attained
three wins and three losses in six games?
Solution

Understand the problem

• What is asked?
In how many different orders could they have attained three wins and three
losses in six games?
• What are the necessary information or data?
There are many different ways. GSW may have won three straight wins
and three losses (WWWLLL). Or they lost in the first three games and won in the
last three games (LLLWWW). And of course, there are other several orders.
Devise a Plan
We can organize a list of all the possibilities making sure that no entry will be duplicated.

Carry Out the Plan

Three wins must be present in every entry without duplication, here are the results.
WWWLLL WWLLLW
WWLWLL WLLLWW
WWLLWL WLLWWL
WLWWLL LLWWWL
WLWLWL LWWWLL
LLLWWW LWWLLW
LLWLWW LWLLWW
LLWWLW LWLWLW
Review the solution.
The list is organized and has no duplicates, so there
are 16 different orders in which a basketball team can
win exactly three out of six.
Example 3: An agency charged PhP 15,000 for a 3 – day and 2 – night tour in Macau and
PhP 20, 000 for the same tour with a side trip to Hong Kong (HK). Ten persons joined the
trip, which enable them to collect PhP 170, 000. How many tourists made a side trip to
Hong Kong?

Solution
Understand the problem.
• What is asked?
How many tourists made a side trip to Hong Kong?
• What are necessary information/data?
Two types of trip:
1. Stayed purely in Macau charges PhP 15, 000,
2. Made a side trips to Hong Kong charges PhP 20,000

Devise a Plan
In this case we can use the second strategy which is making a table and Trial
and error as well to organized the two trips with their corresponding charges.
Carry out the Plan
Trip Number of people Charge Total
going

Stayed purely 3 15,000 45,000

in Macau Since the total money collected is
185,000 which is more than
Made a side 7 20,000 140,000
trips to Hong
170,00 then we make another
Kong table.

Total 10 35,000 185,000

Trip Number of people Charge Total

going

Stayed purely in Macau 4 15,000 60,000

Made a side trips to Hong 6 20,000 120,000
Kong

Total 10 35,000 180,000

Trip Number of people going Charge Total

Stayed purely in Macau 5 15,000 75,000

Made a side trips to Hong Kong 5 20,000 100,000

Total 10 35,000 175,000

Let’s try for another number of people going.

Trip Number of Charge Total
people going
Stayed purely in 6 15,000 90,000
Macau
Made a side trips to 4 20,000 80,000
Hong Kong
Total 10 35,000 170,000
Review the Solution
The last table shows
6 x 15,000 = 90,000
4 x 20,000 = 80,000
170,000
Therefore 4 people who made a side trip to Hong Kong
Example 4: 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
Understand the problem
We need to determine three distinct counting numbers, from the list 13, 14,
15, 16, 17, 18 and 19, that have a product of 4590.

Devise a plan
If we represent the ages by then . We are unable to solve this equation, but
we notice that 4590 ends with zero. Hence, 4590has a factor of 2 and a factor of 5,
which means that at least one of the numbers we seek must be an even number
and at least one number has 5 as a factor. The only number in our list that has 5 as
a factor is 15. thus 15 is one of the numbers, and at least one of the other numbers
must be an even number. At this point we try to solve by guessing and checking.
Carry out the plan
No. This product is too small.
No. This product is too small.
Yes. This is the correct product

The ages of the teenagers are 15, 17 and 18.

Review the solution

Because and each of the ages represents the age of a teenager,
we know our solution is correct. None of the numbers 13, 14, 16, and
19 is a factor (divisor) of 4590, so there are no other solutions.
Activity: Use Polya’s four-step problem-solving strategies
procedures presented in this section to solve each of the
following exercises. (1 whole sheet of yellow pad)
1. There are 364 first-grade students in Park Elementary School. If there are 26 more
girls than boys, how many girls are there?
2. If two ladders are placed end to end, their combined height 31.5 feet. One ladder is
6.5 feet shorter than the other ladder. What are the heights of the two ladders?
3. The number of ducks and pigs in a field totals 35. The total number of legs among
them is 98. Assuming each duck has exactly two legs and each pig has exactly four
legs, determine how many pigs are in the field?
4. A basketball 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?
5. Find the next number in the sequence 2, 6, 18, 54, 162, 486,…
6. A shirt and a tie together cost $50. The shirt costs $30 more than the tie. What is
the cost of the shirt?