Problem Solving Activity April 18,
2022
MTH 101-Mathematics in the Modern World
General Directions: Solve the following problems. You may work in
groups of 4. If the number of officially enrolled students in your class is not
exactly divisible by 4 then some groups may have 5 members. Indicate in
your output the contribution of each member in your group.
1. Inductive and Deductive Reasoning: Tower of Hanoi
The Tower of Hanoi is “logical puzzle, frequently studied in
cognitive
psychology and used as a test of problem-solving ability, consisting of 3
pegs, on one of which are placed a number of discs of varying diameter,
the largest at the bottom and the smallest at the top. The problem is to
move the tower of disks over to one of the other pegs in the smallest
number of moves, moving one disc at a time and using the third peg as a
temporary way station as required, and never placing a larger disc on
top of a smaller one.” (Oxford Reference)
The puzzle was popularized by French mathematician Edouard
Lucas (1842-91) and marketed as a toy in 1883. A legend that comes
with it says, “There is a temple in the vicinity of the Kashi Vishwanath
shrine (famous pilgrimage center of Lord Shiva and the river Goddess
Ganga) in Varanasi, India, where there are three long-time worn posts
located in a large room inside the temple. The posts are surrounded by
64 golden disks, which have to be moved by Bhramin priests as per
command of an ancient prophecy serving the incontrovertible rules of
Lord Bhrama. The legend further says that when the last move of this
puzzle would be completed, the world shall come to an end.” (From, DE
Parville, La Nature, 1884, part I, pp. 285-286; as translated in W. W.
Rouse Ball and H. S. M. Coxeter, Mathematical Recreations and Essays,
13 edition, Dover, NY, 1987, p. 317.)
“We will say immediately that it would be necessary to perform
successively a number of moves equal to 18 446 744 073 709 551 615
which would require more than five billion centuries!” (Lucas, as cited in
Stockmeyer, 1998).
2. There was a jar of chocolate chip cookies on the table. James and
Monica were very hungry because they hadn’t had anything to eat
since breakfast, so they ate half of the cookies. Then Victor came
along ang noticed the cookies. He ate a third of what was left in the
jar. Sharon, who was waiting around nearby, decide to take a fourth
of the cookies left in the jar. Then Tiffany came rushing up and took
one cookie to munch on her class. When Valerie looked at the cookie
jar, she saw there two cookies left. How many cookies were in the jar
to begin with?
3. Every GOOP is a GORP. Half of all GORGS are GORPS. Half of all
GORPS are GOOPS. There are 40 GORGS and 30 GOOPS. No GORG is
a GOOP. How many GORPS are neither GOOPS or GORGS?
4. On a balance scale, two spools and one thimble balance 8 buttons.
Also, one spool balances one thimble and one button. How many
buttons will balance one spool?
5. The four children in Cordova family are Reynaldo, Ramiro, Shakira,
and Sasha. The ages of the two teenagers are 13 and 15. The ages of
the younger children are 5 and 7. From the following clues, determine
the age of each of the children.
a. Reynaldo is older than Ramiro.
b. Sasha is younger than Shakira.
c. Sasha is 2 years older than Ramiro.
d. Shakira is older than Reynaldo.
6. THE HANDSHAKE PROBLEM. Mr. and Mrs. Adams recently attended
a party at which there were three other couples. Various handshakes
took place. No one
shook hands with his/her own spouse, no one shook hands with the
same person
twice, and of course, no one shook his/her own hand. After all the
handshaking
was finished, Mr. Adams asked each person, including his wife, how
many hands he/she had shaken. To his surprise, each gave a different
answer. How many hands did Mr. Adams shake?
Prepared by:
FRANCIS O. PANTINO, LPT, Ph. D.
Faculty-in-Charge