Problem of the Week 8

Due Friday, December 11

Four mathletes, Brianna, Andy, Courtney and Brandon, competed in the finals of the Animas High
School Math Bowl. Prizes were awarded for the top three competitors as follows: first place
received an anniversary Math Faculty Pink Tie, second place received a book of Brain Teasers, and
third place received an I Love Math T-shirt.
Three staff members of AHS predicted how the prizes would be awarded.
Lauren predicted that Brandon would win the pink tie, Andy would win the book and
Courtney would win the T-shirt.
Hannah predicted that Brianna would win the pink tie, Brandon would win the book and
Courtney would win the T-shirt.
Aliza predicted that Andy would win the pink tie, Brianna would win the book and Brandon
would win the T-shirt.
It turns out that each staff member predicted exactly one prize winner correctly.
Determine precisely how the prizes were awarded.
1. For this problem I need to find the correct person from each teacher in order to find the
right prize winners. The problem is asking me to find which student wins what, and what
student was chosen by which teacher.
2. The process for this particular problem may require me to redo everything that I have done
already if one person is wrong or I guessed which teacher picked each person wrong. I
started by making a table of all the teachers and who they choose as the predicted
winners:

Lauren:
Brandon=tie
Andy=book
Courtney=shirt

Hannah:
Brianna=tie
Brandon=book
Courtney=shirt

Aliza:
Andy=tie
Brianna=book
Brandon=shirt

IthencrossedoffastudentifIpickedthemasawinnerfromeachteacherandlist,suchas:ifI
chooseBrandonforwinningthetiethenIwillcrosshimoffalloftheteacherlistswithhisname,
aswellascrossoutalltiewinnersbecausethetiecannolongerbegivenasaprize.Ifthe
predictedwinnersthatIpickedwereincorrectordidntworkwiththeotherstudents,thenI
wouldrestart,choosingadifferentwinnerforeachprizeuntilthesolutionworkedwiththe
question.
3.Thesolutiontothisproblemis:

BriannawinsPinktie
AndywinsBrainTeaserbook
BrandonwinsTshirt

4.Theanswerwasdefinitelynotclosetomyprediction,becauseIthoughtCourtneywasgoing
towintheshirtbecauseshewaspredictedbytwodifferentteachers.Butintheproblemit
statesthatonlyonepersonwaspredictedcorrectlyforeachteacher,becauseifLaurenpicked
Courtneycorrectly,thensodidHannah,thereforetheyarebothwrong.Andwhilethisisalittle
confusing,mysolutiontotheproblemiscorrect,thereforemypredictionwaswrong,and
Courtneyisabsolutelynowhereinthesolution.EvenafterIthinkthatIhadfoundtheanswer,I
wentbackafewtimestoseeifIhaddoneitcorrectly,sometimesIwouldcomeupwithan
answerIthoughtwascorrectaswell,untilIdoubledcheckeditandfoundthatitwasnot.Atfirst
thequestionseemedprettychallenging,butafterthinkingthroughit,Iwasableunderstandwhat
thequestionwasaskingofmeandhowIcouldgoaboutfindingthesolution.