Garnet Smith

Understanding the problem

In this problem we were shown a video of man purchasing 23 bags of candy at 3
different stores along with a tupperware and measuring beaker/cup. He then began empting
certain quantities of the candy into his large tupperware. Sometime he would empty the whole
bag, sometimes he would count out a certain amount and sometimes he would measure the
candy is milliliters and then put a certain amount of those quantities into the tupperware. Our job
was to search throughout the video of the different weights of the bags of candy, and find how
much candy he had put in the tupperware based on those weights. The main challenges
involved in completing this POW is the lack of long periods in which candy bag weights are
visible and understanding percentages and decimals in order to accurately find the amounts of
each candy added to the tupperware. Most of the times the gram amount of a bag would be
visible it would only stay that way for a second or less, making it difficult to complete this
problem.
Process
The process I used is quite simple from a logical and mathematical perspective.
Everytime he opened a new bag that he was partly or completely emptying into the tupperware
is wrote down a number. This number would be the order in which he opened the bags (ie the
first bag he opened is 1 and the 17th bag he opened is number 17.) I then looked at the candy
and remembered key elements of the bag label, art and colors. From this knowledge of package
labeling I searched around the video trying to find the same candy package and record its
weight in grams. I wrote this weight down next to bag number, and continued to complete the
problem. Next I figured out if this candy bag would be either completely dumped out or partially
dumped out by either quantity of candy or ml of candy. I then calculated for each bag of candy
the actual weight from the bag of candy, and wrote it at the end of the bag number lines. For
instance if he opened a 40 gram bag of candy and set it all on the table, I counted the pieces of
candy in the pile. I then counted how many pieces he took out of the pile and put in the
tupperware. I then would divide the number of candy by the grams of candy in the bag. After this
I took the outcome number and multiplied it by the amount of candies he put in the tupperware
to find the grams of candy he put in the tupperware. I continued this until I reached the end of
the video and added all of my final candy weights together to find the total amount of candy in
the tupperware.
Answer
My final answer for the weight of candy that is in the tupperware at the end of the video
is 1,295.52 grams. This answer is extremely close to the actual answer which is posted the
homework page. Given that the video give little actual information about the candy weights my
answer, 1,295.52 grams, was only 112.1 grams away from the actual answer, 1,183.42. I only
looked at the answer video after I had come to a final conclusion on the weight of the candy. I
am however extremely satisfied with the answer I came to conclusion to and am very proud of
the work I put into this POW.

Justification
I firmly believe that my answer, 1,295.52, is as correct as possible when it comes to the
margin of error allowed in this POWs final answer. I know that all my calculations are correct
because I did each of the candy bag calculations twice and then double checked my answers
after I completed them all. I have a good understanding of both decimals and percentages
which came in largely in the completion of this POW. Many of the bags of candy were
completely emptied, for those bags I firmly know that the final amount weight of candy in the
tupperware from the bag is correct. I will justify one of the scenarios that happened during the
POW completion. For many bags I had to find how much each candy piece weighed by dividing
the number of candy pieces by the weight of the candy (candy piecesweight of all candy in
bag=weight of each piece of candy) I then would multiply the weight of each candy piece by the
number of pieces put in the tupperware (candy piece weightpieces put in tupperware=weight
of candy put in tupperware). This attributed to a relatively precise answer with these well
completed calculations.
10 - I really appreciate how thorough you were in describing your process and justifying why you
went about the problem in the way that you did. Good job!