How to Solve Word Problems: Guessing and Checking

A Step-by-step Guide to Solving Word Problems: Guessing and Checking

Here’s a step-by-step process on how to apply this method:

Step 1: Understand the Problem

Read the problem carefully and understand what you’re being asked to find. Identify the variables and the constants. For instance, if the problem is asking for the age of a person given certain conditions, the person’s age would be the variable.

Step 2: Make an Educated Guess

Based on the information provided, make an initial educated guess for the variable. For example, if you’re asked to guess a person’s age and you know they’re older than 20 but younger than 40, an initial guess might be 30.

Step 3: Check Your Guess

Plug your guessed value back into the problem to see if it satisfies the conditions given. If it does, you’ve found the answer. If not, take note of whether your guess was too high or too low.

Step 3: Refine Your Guess

Based on whether your initial guess was too high or too low, make a new guess that is closer to the correct answer.

Step 4: Repeat the Process

Continue this process of guessing and checking until you find a value that satisfies all the conditions of the problem. It can be iterative and time-consuming, but it’s a strategy that works when other methods might not be obvious.

Step 5: Verify Your Answer

Once you believe you’ve found the correct answer, it’s essential to double-check all the conditions of the problem to make sure you haven’t missed anything and that your answer is indeed correct.

Remember, this method can be particularly useful when you have no idea where to start or when more sophisticated mathematical approaches are not applicable. But keep in mind that it may not be the most efficient way for all types of problems. Other problem-solving strategies like forming equations, drawing diagrams, or logical reasoning might be more appropriate depending on the specific situation.