Manglo, John Andrae B.

Platon, Philip Jerald A.

A18

Exercise 1.1

1. To address the problem of traffic in a big city, several straight roads are being constructed. It was
noted that two roads will have at most one junction, three roads will have at most three junctions, and
so on.

a. Complete the table below. Identify the pattern on the maximum number of junctions for each
given number of straight roads.

No. of roads 2 3 4 5 6
No. of 1 3 6 10 15
intersections
(at most)
b. At most how many junctions are expected to be constructed if there will be seven roads in the
city? Ans: 21

2. Why are numbers important in our life? Explain your answer.

From very early years of our life, we get to learn the importance of numbers. The effective manipulation
of numbers opens the door to a detailed understanding of nature, smooth political action and a well-
functioning distribution network for maintaining a high standard of living. Almost all the things we do
involve numbers and Mathematics. Whether we like it or not, our life revolves in numbers since the day
we were born. There are numerous numbers directly or indirectly connected to our lives like calculating
your daily budget for your food, transportation, and other expenses, telling time you spent on work or
school, computing the interest you gained on your business and using elevators to go places or
floors in the building.
3. Other than those mentioned in the section, enumerate five (5) situations where you have to use
numbers.

a. Looking at the price of discounted items in a shopping mall.

b. The score on your test paper

c. Your daily cash flow

d. Cooking, or anything that involves the idea of proportion and percentage.

e. Weighing fruits, vegetables, meat, chicken, and others in market.

4. Other than those mentioned in the section, describe three other patterns of shapes that you in
nature. Discuss briefly the “mathematics” behind such patterns.

a. Humans exhibit Fibonacci characteristics. The Golden Ratio is seen in the proportions in the
sections of a finger. We have 8 fingers in total, 5 digits on each hand, 3 bones in each finger, 2 bones in 1
thumb, and 1 thumb on each hand.
 b. A starfish has 5 arms in which 5 is the 5th Fibonacci number. If a regular pentagon is drawn
and diagonals are added, a five-sided star or pentagram is formed. Where the sides of the pentagon are
one unit in length, the ratio between the diagonals and the sides is Phi, or the Golden Ratio. This five-
point symmetry with Golden proportions is found in starfish.

c. Also, the shell of the chambered Nautilus which has Golden proportions. It is a logarithmic
spiral.

5. Identify and describe at least one pattern that you observe in your locality or within nearby
environment.

Pattern refers to recurring structures, objects and events, although they can also be used as designs,
blueprints, models or templates in the construction of other structures, objects. It is observable in
buildings in which architects usually uses “Golden ratio” in form of geometric shapes in order to establish
a sense of harmony and proportion in design. This usually appear in city halls and museums.