Problem Solving Set #2

3. The pie chart shows a percentage breakdown of 1000 votes in a student election. How many votes did Sue receive?

To solve this question, you must change all the percentages to the number of votes. To do so, all you have to do is take the percentage and multiply by 1000. This gives you 200 votes for Jim and 450 Votes for Jane. Now, you add 200 and 450, which equals 650. Then you take 1000 and subtract by 650 to get the number of votes Sue got. This is my favorite because i could figure it out without a calculator and it required very less thinking too.

Problem Solving Set #1

11. Twelve balloons are arranged in a circle as shown. Counting clockwise, every third balloon is popped. C is the first one popped. This continues around the circle until two unpopped balloons remain.

My favorite question was number 11. I like this question because it was more of a fun question. I figured this question out by starting at D because C was the first to be popped. Then, i just kept counting clockwise and crossing out the popped ones until I'm left with 2 remaining balloons, which were E and J

What Does It Mean To Be Good In Math?

The 3 qualities that are important for good math learning are:

- Perseverance

-Double checking

-Thinking outside the box

First, Its good to persevere and never give up because math can be frustrating and if you never persevere and try to find the answer to the problem, then you'll never learn anything and will just keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

Its always good to double check your work. There are always those silly mistakes that you never catch when doing your work the first time. Its also a skill thats useful for other things, not just math. So its good to practice it now and make it useful in the future.

Math is full of oddly arranged questions, its almost like another language. Thinking outside the box will enable you to deeply think the questions through to find those tricky, hidden meanings. For example, problem solving questions especially need thought outside the box. Even though the way to solve the questions are the same, it can be worded completely different and trick you.

Pascal Contest

Pick you're favorite question and write about it.

My favorite question was number 8.
"The areas of three squares are 16 49, and 169. What is the average of their side lengths?"
I liked this question because you just square root the numbers, add them, then divide by 3. It's nice to take a break from the challenging questions once in a while.

Canadian Math Contest

For the contest, I was a little nervous, but it was definitely not the feeling I get when doing an exam. The time limit did pressure me to become more focused because I wanted to try to go through all the questions and do the ones I could. At the beginning, I took my time because I knew that I had an hour. When i reached the half way point, i started to work a little faster, guessed a few questions and kept looking back at the clock. When I got near the end, i started to rush and I couldn't even concentrate anymore, making me leave most of the last page questions blank. I felt relieved when we were going over the questions because the questions that i guessed were right. :)

Tower of Hanoi

Tower of Hanoi was quite confusing. I was very frustrated and wanted to give up. I didn't use a specific strategy for it, because i couldn't find one, so i just used guess and check. After getting some help from my classmates, i realized the strategy. If the number of discs are even, then the littlest disc would go in the middle pole, and if the number of discs are odd, then the littlest discs would go in the right pole.