Problem Solving Activity April 29, 2022
MTH 101-Mathematics in the Modern World Due on May 13, 2022
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. As usual you have to convert your file to pdf format before you
upload it in our Brightspace Classroom. If you have clarifications just course them
through our Telegram channel.
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.
Prepared by:
FRANCIS O. PANTINO, LPT, Ph. D.
Faculty-in-Charge