Thread: Applications in insight

From the book: "Suppose you weigh 170 pounds and you eat two Taco Bell chicken burritos for lunch. What combination of 30-minute activities could you do to burn all the calories in the burritos?"

The book lists the burritos as containing 345 calories each.

30-minute activities to choose from:

Indoor activities
130 Vacuuming
135 Mopping floors
135 Shopping for food
145 Ironing clothes

Outdoor activities
200 Chopping wood
235 Ice skating
330 Cross-country skiing
350 Shoveling snow

First I multiplied one of the burritos calories by two, discovering how many calories I would need to burn: 700

Second, I added all the 30-minute exercises to see how much potential for burned calories was available: 1,660

Third, 1,660 - 700 = 960 calories that I would not need to burn.

Fourth, I picked through the list, finding the 30-minute exercises that would burn at least 960 calories when added up. These are the exercises I would not need.

350
330
145
135
___
960

Fourth, I was left with four 30-minute exercises that would burn all the calories in the burritos, and the problem was solved.

235 Ice skating
200 Chopping wood
135 Mopping floors
130 Vacuuming
___
700

Afterward, I realized I could have simply (1) multiplied one of the burritos calories by two, discovering how many calories I would need to burn, afterward (2) picking through the list, finding the 30-minute exercises that would burn at least 700 calories when added up, solving the problem in fewer steps.

One is not always required to walk around the house, crawl over the fence, and use the backdoor. Sometimes, it is fine to simply walk right in the front door.