JosephLoo

9/22/14
Math4
BrokenEggsWriteUp
Problem
Afarmeristakingsomeeggstoamarket,butaftersheranoverapothole,alloftheeggsare
destroyed.Shegoestoheragent,butwhenheragentaskshowmanyeggsshehad,shesaysshe
doesntremember.However,whatshedoesrememberisthatwhenshegroupedtheeggsingroupsof
twotosixeggs,shehadoneeggleftover.Whenshehadgroupsofseven,shehadnoeggsleftover.
SomeofthethingsIhadtosolvewithmygroupincludeinvestigatingwhatcanthefarmerfigureoutfrom
thisinformationabouthowmanyeggsshehadandifthereismorethanonepossibilityforthesolution.

Process
SomeofthewaysIapproachedthisproblemwithmygroupincludecreatingformulasandlisting
multiplesoftwotoseven.WhenmygroupandIstartedworkingonthisproblem,westartedbylisting
allofthemultiplesoftwotoseven.Next,welookedatthedifferentmultiplesandcrossoutany
multiplesthatwouldnotfittheinformationgiven.Then,mygrouptriedtolookforanypatternsinanyof
theremainingmultiples.Inoticedthatallperfectsquaresarenotoutofthelist.Unfortunately,wedidnot
findanydiscoveriesusingthatmethod.
Thenextthingwedidiscreatingformulasusingourlistofmultiplesthatcouldmatchupwiththe
probleminfo.Thewayweapproachedtheformulasisthatwelookedatthedifferentgroupnumbers
andwecameupwithformulasthatcanfitthedetailsoftheproblem.Someoftheformulasthatmy
groupcameupwithinvolvedsquaringthegroupnumberandthesubtractingonefromthetotal.Other
formulasthatmygroupdevelopedinvolvedfindingAsmygroupwasworkingonthisproblem,one
observationIhadwasthatthesolutionshouldbeanumberthatisamultipleofseven,butitshouldalso
befactorablebytwotosix.OnethingthatInoticedthatoneofthefactorsshouldbeaprimenumber.
Primenumbersarenumbersthatcanonlybedividedbyitselfandone.BasedonwhatobservationsI
found,mygroupandItestedoutdifferentprimenumberstoseeifoneoftheprimenumberssatisfiesthe
informationgiventomygroup.

Solution
Oursolutiontothisproblemis301eggs.301eggsisthesolutionbecausewetestedif301is
theanswerbydividing301bytwoandallthewaytoseven.Asaresult,thetwotosixsolutionswould
allhavearemainderofoneandsevenwouldhaveawholeprimenumber,whichis43.Thiswasour
onlypossiblesolutiontothisproblembecausedoublingthisresultwouldresultintheprimefactorof43
tonotbeprimeanymore.Asaresult,thenewresultwouldnotmeettheproblemrequirements.

SelfAssessmentandReflection
OnethingIlearnedfromthisproblemiskeeptestingoutideas.Whileworkingwithmygroup,I
wasstartingtofindmyobservations,butIwasthinkingthatthesolutionwouldjustbesomeconditions
thatwouldfitaninfinitenumberofsolutions.Butoncesomeofmygroupmembersstartedimplementing
myideas,thefoundtheactualsolution.Ihavelearnedthatyoushouldnotjumptoconclusionsearly.IfI
hadtoassignagradeformyself,Iwouldgivemyselfaten.IwouldgetatenbecauseIhelpedoutmy
groupwithfindingnewobservationsinordertomoveforwardwithfindingthesolution.Ialsomademy
explanationsclearformygrouptounderstandmyideas.OneMathematicalPracticeandExpectation
thatIcanrelatetoisMakesenseofproblemsandpersevereinsolvingthem.MygroupandIcan
relatethisproblemtothisMathematicalPracticeandExpectationbecauseweusedittoconstantlyfind
interestingobservationsandtotryandimplementourobservationsintofindingthesolution.For
example,meandTessexchangedsomeideasandobservationsthatwediscoveredwitheachotherin
ordertofindingfurtherideasandsolutions.