Problem Solving Heuristics

SFBA ARML – 1 May 2010

How do people approach a problem that they don’t know how to solve? There are a few heuristic
strategies when looking for a method to attack a problem. For more information, see Pólya’s classic
book How to Solve It.
Before you begin:
• Be confident. Believe in yourself.
• Be creative.
• Be persistent.
• Be courageous: “Fearless courage is the foundation to all success.”
• If you worry then you will fail. . . so don’t worry!
• Be brave and try it.
First, understand the problem:
• What are we trying to find?
• What information are we given?
• What conditions do we have on the problem?
• Get your hands dirty: plug in numbers, draw a diagram, do some simple calculations.
Next, try to find a solution:
• Try some special cases: plug in simple numbers, extremal values, guess and check.
• Estimate. Order of magnitude estimate, draw a careful diagram.
• Choose convenient notation
• Pursue symmetry, in geometry, in algebraic expressions, and in notation.
• Find a pattern, make a hypothesis. Can you prove it?
• Work backwards, go back to the definitions, wishful thinking.
• Have you used all of the data and conditions? Can you do a more general problem?
• Change the data and the conditions. How much can they vary?
• Have you seen the problem before? Do you know of a related problem?
• Look at the problem in a different way: convert between different topics in math.
• Divide and conquer: Separate into easier subproblems and attack each separately.
• “If you can’t solve a problem, then there is an easier problem you can solve: find it.”
Once you’ve solved the problem: Check your answer.
• Check your work. Are you sure that every step is correct? Is every step valid?
• Estimate. Is the answer reasonable?
• Do you see another way to solve the problem? Does it give the same result?

A great discovery solves a great problem but there is a grain of discovery in the
solution of any problem. Your problem may be modest; but if it challenges your
curiosity and brings into play your inventive faculties, and if you solve it by your
own means, you may experience the tension and enjoy the triumph of discovery.
– George Pólya, How to Solve It

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 A Collection of Problems
These problems require minimal technical knowledge. They only require ingenuity to solve.
1. Find positive integers n and a1 , a2 , . . . , an such that a1 + a2 + · · · + an = 1000 and the product
a1 a2 · · · an is as large as possible.
2. If x is a positive integer and x(x + 1)(x + 2)(x + 3) + 1 = 3792 , compute x. (1989 ARML I-1)
x 2002 a
3. Compute the least solution to = . Write your answer in the form , where a and b
bxc 2003 b
have no common factors. (2003 ARML Tiebreaker 2) √
4. Let n be an integer. Of all fractions n1 , the fractional part of 123456789 is closest to one such
fraction. Compute that value of n. (2003 ARML I-6)
5. Compute the four complex solutions of (x − 1)4 + (x − 5)4 + 14 = 0. (2008 ARML Local T-10)
6. When expanded as a decimal, the fraction 1/97 has a repetend (the repeating part of the decimal)
that begins right after the decimal point and is 96 digits long. If the last three digits of the
repetend A67, compute the digit A. (1990 ARML T-3)
7. In parallelogram ABCD, point M is on AB so that AM 17
AB = 1000 and point N is on AD so that
AN 17 AC
AD = 2009 . Let P be the point of intersection of AC and M N . Find AP . (2009 AIME-I 4).
8. Compute: 1999199819972 − 2 · 1999199819942 + 1999199819912 . (1998 ARML I-5)
9. Compute
√ √ the √ smallest positive
√ integer value of a such that the set
{ a, a + 1, a + 2, . . . , a + 2008} contains exactly three integers. (2008 ARML Local I-8)!
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10. For 0 < x < 1, let f (x) = (1 + x)(1 + x4 )(1 + x16 )(1 + x64 )(1 + x256 ) · · · . Compute f −1 .
5f ( 83 )
(2001 ARML I-8)
11. The solutions of 64x3 − 96x2 − 52x + 42 = 0 form an arithmetic progression. Compute the
difference between the largest and smallest of the three solutions. (2010 ARML Local I-6)
12. A circle with radius 5 and center (a, b) is tangent to the lines y = 6 and y = 0.75x. Compute
the largestppossible value of a + b. (2008 ARML Local I-7)
13. Compute (111, 111, 111, 111)(1, 000, 000, 000, 005) + 1. (1992 ARML T-7)
(1990)3 − (1000)3 − (990)3
14. Compute . (1990 ARML I-1)
(1990)(1000)(990)
15. Compute all real numbers a such that the equation x3 − ax2 − 2ax + a2 − 1 = 0 has exactly one
real solution in x.
16. There are 5 computers, A, B, C, D, and E. For each pair of computers a coin is flipped. If it
is heads, then a link is built between the two computers; if it is tails, there’s no link between
the two. Every message that a computer receives is sent to every computer to which it is
linked. Compute the probability that every computer is able to receive messages from every
other computer. (2006 ARML I-8)
17. Let a and b be real numbers such that a3 − 15a2 + 20a − 50 = 0 and 8b3 − 60b2 − 290b + 2575 = 0.
Compute a + b. (2009 ARML T-9)
18. Equilateral triangle 4ABC has side lengths 1. Circle O is tangent to sides AB and BC, and is
tangent to the perpendicular bisector of BC at M. If the cevian PC passes through M, compute
the area of triangle 4AP C. (2010 ARML Local Tiebreaker)
19. ABCD is a trapezoid and P is the intersection of the diagonals. AB is parallel to CD. E is
drawn on AD such that EP is parallel to AB. F and G are drawn on CD such that EF and
P G are perpendicular to CD. AB = 8 and CD = 32. If EP GF is a square, compute the height
of ABCD. (2005 ARML I-4)
20. A rabbit climbs out at its hole, and walks 1 mile in a straight line. Then, the rabbit repeatedly
turns π/3 radians (clockwise) and walks half of the distance it just walked. How far away from
the rabbit’s hole is the point at which the rabbit’s location converges?
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