PRO BLEM S O LVIN G

STRATEGIES/
HEURIS TICS
PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES/ HEURISTICS
 Working Backwards
 Guess and Check
 Make a List
 Look for a Pattern
Make a Diagram
 Divide and Conquer
 Solve a Simpler Problem
 Act It Out
 Adopting a Different Point of View
 W ORKING
B ACKWARDS
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 1:
In a math quiz bee, all the competitors were on stage
together. After three minutes, a fifth of the students had made
mistakes and were excluded from the competition. In the
next five minutes half of those remaining were eliminated
because of difficult questions. Two minutes later four students
were found cheating and were sent home. After fifteen
minutes of the competition half of the remaining students
had made mistakes and left the stage. In the last few minutes
one more competitor made unfortunate mistake and one
contestant was left as the winner of the competition. How
many students originally entered the competition?
SOLUTION: Start at the end and reverse the process.

Winner
A few minutes before the end there was one
more contestant 2 students
Fifteen minutes into the competition, double the number 4 students
Two minutes into the competition, add four to the number 8 students
Five minutes into the competition double the number 16 students
Three minutes into the competition a fifth of the
competitors had been eliminated so
16 students = 4/5 of the total.

Therefore, there were 20 students entered in the math quiz bee.

E XAMPLE 2 :
When Angela climbs on board there are already
some people sitting the multicab. At the first stop,
an additional five people get on and two people get
off. On the second stop, seven people get on. All 15
people get off the multicab at the terminal. How
many were on the multicab when Angela climbed
on?
SOLUTION:
Angela gets on, + 1
1st stop, + 5, −2
2nd stop, +7
Total getting off the multicab 15

By working backwards,
Therefore, there were
• 𝟏𝟓 − 𝟕 = 𝟖 four people in the
• 𝟖+𝟐−𝟓=𝟓 multicab at the
• 𝟓−𝟏=𝟒 beginning.
 GUESS & 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.
 GUESS AND CHECK
Essential features:

 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 this procedure until the correct
answer is obtained.
E XAMPLE 1 :
Four men are walking late at night. Together they have one
flashlight with a weak battery, so that it can only light the
immediate vicinity. They come to a bridge, which is so rickety that
only two can cross at the same time. Thus in order to get to the
other end of the bridge, two must cross with the flashlight and
one must walk back across the bridge to return the flashlight
(they cannot risk throwing it), until all are over. The men can walk
at different maximum rates. The slowest needs 10 minutes to
cross the bridge, the next 5 minutes, the next 2 minutes and the
quickest 1 minute. When two walk together, they must proceed
at the pace of the slower. They need to get everyone across the
bridge in 17 minutes. Can they do it? How?
SOLUTION:
Let :
A be the man who takes 10 minutes to cross
B be the man who takes 5 minutes to cross
C be the man who takes 2 minutes to cross
D be the man who takes 1 minute to cross

The key is to minimize the time wasted by the two slowest

people by having them cross together and because you’ll need
a couple of return trips with the flashlight, you’ll want the
fastest available people to do so.
SOLUTION:
Steps Time Consumed
1. C and D go across 2 minutes
2. D goes back with the flashlight 1 minute
3. D gives the flashlight to A and B cross 10 minutes
together
4. A and B give the flashlight to C and C 2 minutes
goes back with it
5. C and D cross together 2 minutes
TOTAL 17 minutes
E XAMPLE 2:
The product of the ages, in years, of three
teenagers is 4590. None of the teens are
the same. What are the ages of the
teenagers?
SOLUTION:
• The possible ages of the teenagers are 13, 14, 15,
16, 17, 18, 19. From this list, we choose three
numbers whose product is 4590.

• If we let x, y, and z be the ages, then 𝑥𝑦𝑧 = 4590.

• Note that the product ends in a zero, so, has 2 and 5

as factors, which means that at least one of the
numbers must be even and/or must be 5 as a factor.
SOLUTION:
Age 1 Age 2 Age 3 Product
15 16 18 4320 Too small
15 16 19 4560 Too small
15 17 18 4590 Correct

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

 MAKE A DIAGRAM
The diagram represents the problem in a way
we can see it, understand it , and think about it
while looking for the next step.
E XAMPLE 1:
Mark used a shovel to dig his own swimming pool. He
figured he needed a pool because digging it was a hard
work and he could use it to cool off after working on it
all day. He also planned to build a rectangular concrete
deck around the pool that would be 6 feet wide at all
points. The pool is rectangular and measures 14 feet by
40 feet.What is the area of the deck?
SOLUTION:
• Draw the figure.
E XAMPLE 2:
A gardener is asked to plant 10 trees
in five rows, with each row containing
four trees. How did he do this?

Star
 MAKE
A LIST
Making a list is a systematic method of
organizing information in rows and/or columns.
By putting given information in an organized list,
you can clearly analyse this information and
then solve the problem by completing the list.
E XAMPLE 1:
Carla is planning to bake a cake for a
birthday party. She decided to bake three
layered cake with different flavors. She bakes
chocolate cake, carrot cake, and blueberry
cake. In how many ways can Carla arranged
the flavors into three layered cake?
SOLUTION:
Make an organized list to help you solve the problem.

• Chocolate, Carrot, Blueberry

• Chocolate, Blueberry, Carrot
• Carrot, Chocolate, Blueberry
• Carrot, Blueberry, Chocolate
• Blueberry, Chocolate, Carrot
• Blueberry, Carrot, Chocolate
Therefore, there are 6 different ways to arrange the
flavors into three layered cake.
E XAMPLE 2:
If ten people meet in a room and each
person shakes hand with each of the
others, how many handshakes take
place?
SOLUTION:
Make an organized list to help you solve the problem.

Suppose their names are A,B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and

J, then the results could be recorded as follows
(where AB represents A shaking hands with B)
AB
AC BC
AD BD CD
AE BE CE DE
AF BF CF DF EF
AG BG CG DG EG FG
AH BH CH DH EH FH GH
AI BI CI DI EI HI GI HI
AJ BJ CJ DJ EJ FJ GJ HJ IJ

Therefore, there are 45 handshakes to take place.

 L OOK FOR A PATTERN
This strategy entails looking for patterns in the
data in order to solve the problem, that is, the
solver looks for items or numbers that are
repeated, or a series of events that repeat.
E XAMPLE 1:
The Valenzona family are working on a fitness
program. On the first day, they jog around the
VSU oval three times; on the second day,
seven times; and on the third day, eleven times,
and so on. How many days must they exercise
before they reach their goal of jogging around
the oval 35 times?
EXAMPLE 2:
Find the sum of all the whole numbers
between 1 and 200 inclusive.
SOLUTION:
There’s a repetitive pattern if we add the 1st number to
the last number and add the 2nd number to the 2nd last
number etc.

1 + 2 + 3+. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +198 + 199 + 200

SOLUTION:
1 + 200 = 201
2 + 199 = 201 We have 200 numbers. If
3 + 198 = 201 we pair up the numbers
we get 100 pairs.
etc,

Since each pair adds to 201 the total is 201 × 100 = 20,100
 D IVIDE 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.
E XAMPLE 1:
Shasha is planning to paint an abstract
painting. She used 30% green paint, 45 %
red paint, and 25% blue paint. If 100 mL of
blue paint are added to 500 mL of the
mixture, what is the percentage of blue
paint in the new mixture?
SOLUTION: We divide the solution into parts.

a. Find the volume of blue paint in the original mixture:

25% 𝑜𝑓 500 𝑚𝐿 𝑖𝑠 125 𝑚𝐿 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡
b. Find the total volume of blue paint:
125 𝑚𝐿 + 100 𝑚𝐿 = 225 𝑚𝐿
c. Find the total volume of the whole mixture:
500 𝑚𝐿 + 100 𝑚𝐿 = 600 𝑚𝐿
d. Calculate the new percentage:
225
600
× 100 = 37.5

Thus, 𝟑𝟕. 𝟓% of the new mixture is blue paint.

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 1:
It takes 15 children ten hours to
complete half of a group project, how
long will it take four children to
complete the other half?
SOLUTION:
Let’s start by taking a simpler example:

If it takes two children ten hours to complete a task, how

long will it take four children?
If two children take ten hours, then one child would take
20 hours.
2 × 10 = 20 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
How long would it take four children?
20 ÷ 4 = 5
Four children would take five hours.
SOLUTION:
Now start working out how long it would take one child to
complete the work.

15 children complete their half of the task in ten hours.

One child would complete half the task in 150 hours
10 × 15 = 150 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠

Thus, four children would need 37.5 hours to

complete the other half of the task.
𝟏𝟓𝟎 ÷ 𝟒 = 𝟑𝟕. 𝟓 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔
E XAMPLE 2:
If nine fours are all multiplied together (for
example, 4 × 4 × 4 × 4 . . .) what is the
remainder when the answer is divided by six.
 ADOPTING A DIFFERENT
POINT OF VIEW
 Sometimes, a problem can be solved in a more efficient
and interesting manner if we approach it from a
different point of view.
 That is, instead of considering the problem in the most
direct and obvious manner, a different approach may
yield the answer quickly and more efficiently.
 It also might reveal some interesting reasoning.
E XAMPLE 1:
There are 16 children entered in the ping-pong
tournament at Visca Elementary School. The
tournament is a single elimination tournament.
This means that if you lose a game, you’re out of
the tournament. If you win a game, you move on
the next round. How many games must be played
to have a winner.
SOLUTION:
Instead of counting directly the number of games
by making a diagram of the possible matchups, one
may focus on the winner’s point view. Noting that
the tournament is a single-elimination – once you
lose, you are out, and the tournament proceeds
until one person is left. This means that to have a
winner, 15 players should be eliminated and that
requires 15 games.
Hence, there will be 15 games in the tournament.
 ACT IT OUT
Act out the problem by trying to do what
the people or things in problem do. This
strategy works because you are actually
doing the problem.
E XAMPLE 1 :
Five students are sitting in a row of chairs along
one side of the room. Jennifer sits besides Alison
but not beside Peta. Steven sits in the second seat
on the left. Alison sits between (but not
necessarily next to) David and Peta. Steven sits
beside David.Who sits in the middle seat?

Solution: Jennifer sits in the middle seat.

David, Steven, Jennifer, Alison, Peta
EXAMPLE 2:
Two adults and two children have been
stranded on an island in a river. They must
cross the wide river to safety, but they only
have one canoe. The canoe can either take
one adult or two children at a time. How can
they safely reach the other side?
SOLUTION:
Suppose we let A for each adult and C for each
child.

Let us create three areas. One for the island, the

second for crossing the river and the third for the
safe river bank.
Remaining on the Crossing the river Safe river bank
island
AA remain CC CC
AAC C C
AC A AC
ACC C A
A CC ACC
AC C AC
C A AAC
CC C AA
CC AACC
ANSWER THE PROBLEM:
A teacher bought five flags of different countries, to
use in a class activity. She added them to the flags she
already had in the classroom. She borrowed four
more flags, but two of these weren’t used. In the end
ten flags were used in the activity. How many flags
were there in the classroom already?