UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI

J.P. RIZAL EXT. WEST REMBO, MAKATI CITY

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

GEMMW

APPORTIONMENT

Submitted by:
Mondija, Erica M.
I - AINS

Submitted to:
Prof. Angelyn Pangilinan

Date of Submission
October 14, 2019
 APPORTIONMENT

Apportionment involves dividing something up, just like fair division. In

fair division we are dividing objects among people while in apportionment
we are dividing people among places. Also like fair division, the
apportionment processes that are widely used do not always give the best
answer, and apportionment is still an open field of mathematics.

Apportionment is used every day in American politics. It is used to

determine the size of voting districts and to determine the number of
representatives from each state in the U.S. House of Representatives. Another
example of how apportionment can be used is to assign a group of new fire
fighters to the fire stations in town in an equitable way. Overall,
apportionment is used to divide up resources (human or otherwise) in as fair
a way as possible.

Apportionment rules
1. The things being divided up can exist only in whole numbers.

2. We must use all of the things being divided up, and we cannot use
any more.

3. Each group must get at least one of the things being divided up.

4. The number of things assigned to each group should be at least

approximately proportional to the population of the group. (Exact
proportionality isn’t possible because of the whole number
requirement, but we should try to be close, and in any case, if Group
A is larger than Group B, then Group B shouldn’t get more of the
things than Group A does.)

HAMILTON PLAN
 Alexander Hamilton proposed the method that now bears his name. His
method was approved by Congress in 1791, but was vetoed by President
Washington. It was later adopted in 1852 and used through 1911. He begins
by determining, to several decimal places, how many things each group
should get. Since he was interested in the question of Congressional
representation, we’ll use the language of states and representatives, so he
determines how many representatives each state should get. He follows these
steps:

Hamilton’s Method

1. Determine how many people each representative should represent.

Do this by dividing the total population of all the states by the total
number of representatives. This answer is called the divisor.

2. Divide each state’s population by the divisor to determine how

many representatives it should have. Record this answer to several
decimal places. This answer is called the quota.

Since we can only allocate whole representatives, Hamilton resolves

the whole number problem, as follows:

3. Cut off all the decimal parts of all the quotas (but don’t forget what
the decimals were). These are called the lower quotas. Add up the
remaining whole numbers. This answer will always be less than or
equal to the total number of representatives (and the “or equal to”
part happens only in very specific circumstances that are incredibly
unlikely to turn up).

4. Assuming that the total from Step 3 was less than the total number
of representatives, assign the remaining representatives, one each,
to the states whose decimal parts of the quota were largest, until the
desired total is reached.
EXAMPLE 1:

The state of Delaware has three counties: Kent, New Castle, and Sussex. The
Delaware state House of Representatives has 41 members. If Delaware wants
to divide this representation along county lines. The populations of the
counties are as follows (from the 2010 Census):

COUNTY POPULATION

Kent 162,310

New Castle 538,479

Sussex 197,145

TOTAL 897,934

SOLUTION:

1. Determine the divisor.

𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 𝑃𝑂𝑃𝑈𝐿𝐴𝑇𝐼𝑂𝑁 897,934
D= 𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 𝑁𝑈𝑀𝐵𝐸𝑅 = = 21,900.82927
41
𝑂𝐹 𝑅𝐸𝑃𝑅𝐸𝑆𝐸𝑁𝑇𝐴𝑇𝐼𝑉𝐸𝑆

2. Determine each county’s quota by dividing the county’s population by

the divisor.
COUNTY POPULATION QUOTA

Kent 162,310 7.4111

New Castle 538,479 24.5872

Sussex 197,145 9.0017

TOTAL 897,934 41
3. Remove the decimal parts of the quotas.

COUNTY POPULATION QUOTA LOWER

QUOTA
Kent 162,310 7.4111 7

New Castle 538,479 24.5872 24

Sussex 197,145 9.0017 9

TOTAL 897,934 41 40

4. We need 41 representatives and this only gives 40. The remaining

one goes to the county with the largest decimal part, which is New
Castle:

COUNTY POPULATION QUOTA LOWER FINAL

QUOTA
Kent 162,310 7.4111 7 7

New Castle 538,479 24.5872 24 25

Sussex 197,145 9.0017 9 9

TOTAL 897,934 41 40 41
EXAMPLE 2:

Hamiltonia, a small country consisting of six states is governed by a senate

with 25 members. The number of senators for each state is proportional to
the population of the state. The following table shows the population of
each state as of the last census.
STATE POPULATION
Alpha 24,000
Beta 56,000
Gamma 28,000
Delta 17,000
Epsilon 65,000
Zeta 47,000
TOTAL 237,000

SOLUTION:

1. Determine the divisor.

𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 𝑃𝑂𝑃𝑈𝐿𝐴𝑇𝐼𝑂𝑁 237,000
D= 𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 𝑁𝑈𝑀𝐵𝐸𝑅 = = 9480
25
𝑂𝐹 𝑅𝐸𝑃𝑅𝐸𝑆𝐸𝑁𝑇𝐴𝑇𝐼𝑉𝐸𝑆

2. Determine each state’s quota by dividing the state’s population by the

divisor.
STATE POPULATION QUOTA

Alpha 24,000 2.532

Beta 56,000 5.907

Gamma 28,000 2.954

Delta 17,000 1.793

Epsilon 65,000 6.857

Zeta 47,000 4.958

TOTAL 237,000 25.001

3. Remove the decimal parts of the quotas.

STATE POPULATION QUOTA LOWER

QUOTA
Alpha 24,000 2.532 2
Beta 56,000 5.907 5

Gamma 28,000 2.954 2

Delta 17,000 1.793 1

Epsilon 65,000 6.857 6

Zeta 47,000 4.958 4

TOTAL 237,000 25.001 20

4. This gives 20 but we need 25 members. Distribute the remaining to the

first 5 state with the largest decimals and these are Zeta, Gamma, Beta,
Epsilon and Delta.
STATE POPULATION QUOTA LOWER FINAL
QUOTA
Alpha 24,000 2.532 2 2

Beta 56,000 5.907 5 6

Gamma 28,000 2.954 2 3

Delta 17,000 1.793 1 2

Epsilon 65,000 6.857 6 7

Zeta 47,000 4.958 4 5

TOTAL 237,000 25.001 20 25

 JEFFERSON PLAN

Thomas Jefferson proposed a different method for apportionment. After

Washington vetoed Hamilton’s method, Jefferson’s method was adopted, and
used in Congress from 1791 through 1842. Jefferson, of course, had political
reasons for wanting his method to be used rather than Hamilton’s. Primarily,
his method favours larger states, and his own home state of Virginia was the
largest in the country at the time. He would also argue that it’s the ratio of
people to representatives that is the critical thing, and apportionment
methods should be based on that. But the paradoxes we saw also provide
mathematical reasons for concluding that Hamilton’s method isn’t so good,
and while Jefferson’s method might or might not be the best one to replace
it, at least we should look for other possibilities.

The first steps of Jefferson’s method are the same as Hamilton’s method.
He finds the same divisor and the same quota, and cuts off the decimal parts
in the same way, giving a total number of representatives that is less than the
required total. The difference is in how Jefferson resolves that difference.
He says that since we ended up with an answer that is too small, our divisor
must have been too big. He changes the divisor by making it smaller, finding
new quotas with the new divisor, cutting off the decimal parts, and looking
at the new total, until we find a divisor that produces the required total.
 Jefferson’s Method

1. Determine how many people each representative should

represent. Do this by dividing the total population of all the states
by the total number of representatives. This answer is called the
standard divisor.

2. Divide each state’s population by the divisor to determine how

many representatives it should have. Record this answer to several
decimal places. This answer is called the quota.

3. Cut off all the decimal parts of all the quotas (but don’t forget
what the decimals were). These are the lower quotas. Add up the
remaining whole numbers. This answer will always be less than or
equal to the total number of representatives.

4. If the total from Step 3 was less than the total number of
representatives, reduce the divisor and recalculate the quota and
allocation. Continue doing this until the total in Step 3 is equal to
the total number of representatives. The divisor we end up using is
called the modified divisor or adjusted divisor.

EXAMPLE 1:

Using Jefferson’s method, apportion the 75 seats Of Rhode Island’s House of

Representatives among its five counties: Bristol, Kent, Newport, Providence
and Washington.

COUNTY POPULATION

Bristol 49,875

Kent 166,158

Newport 82,888

Providence 626,667

Washington 126,979

TOTAL 1,052,567
SOLUTION:

1. Determine the standard divisor.

𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 𝑃𝑂𝑃𝑈𝐿𝐴𝑇𝐼𝑂𝑁 1,052,567
SD = 𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 𝑁𝑈𝑀𝐵𝐸𝑅 = = 14,034.22667
75
𝑂𝐹 𝑆𝐸𝐴𝑇𝑆

2. Determine each state’s quota by dividing the state’s population by the

divisor.
COUNTY POPULATION QUOTA
Bristol 49,875 3.5538
Kent 166,158 11.8395
Newport 82,888 5.9061
Providence 626,667 44.6528
Washington 126,979 9.0478
TOTAL 1,052,567 75

3. Remove the decimal parts of the quotas.

COUNTY POPULATION QUOTA LOWER
QUOTA
Bristol 49,875 3.5538 3
Kent 166,158 11.8395 11
Newport 82,888 5.9061 5
Providence 626,667 44.6528 44
Washington 126,979 9.0478 9
TOTAL 1,052,567 75 72

4. Pick a new modified divisor and recalculate the quota and allocation.
Repeat until the correct number of seats are apportioned.
Let d = modified divisor
We need 75 representatives and we only have 72, so we need to use a smaller
divisor.
If d = 13, 500
COUNTY POPULATION QUOTA LOWER
QUOTA
Bristol 49,875 3.6944 3
Kent 166,158 12.3080 12
Newport 82,888 6.1399 6
Providence 626,667 46.4198 46
Washington 126,979 9.4059 9
TOTAL 1,052,567 77.968 76

Since 76 is little bit larger than 75, we need a larger divisor.

If d = 13, 700
COUNTY POPULATION QUOTA LOWER FINAL
QUOTA
Bristol 49,875 3.6405 3 3
Kent 166,158 12.1283 12 12
Newport 82,888 6.0502 6 6
Providence 626,667 45.7421 45 45
Washington 126,979 9.2685 9 9
TOTAL 1,052,567 76.8296 75 75
This gives the required 75 representatives.
 EXAMPLE 2:
A college offers tutoring in Math, English, Chemistry and Biology. The
number of students enrolled in each subjects is listed below. If the college
can only afford to hire 21 tutors, determine how many tutors should be
assigned to each subject using Jefferson’s method.

SUBJECTS ENROLMENT

Math 360

English 315

Chemistry 135

Biology 80

TOTAL 890

SOLUTION:

1. Determine the standard divisor.

890
SD = = 42.38095238095238
21
2. Determine each quota by dividing the enrolment to the divisor.

SUBJECTS ENROLMENT QUOTA

Math 360 8.494
English 315 7.433
Chemistry 135 3.185
Biology 80 1.888
TOTAL 890 21
3. Remove the decimal parts of the quotas.

SUBJECTS ENROLMENT QUOTA LOWER

QUOTA
Math 360 8.494 8
English 315 7.433 7
Chemistry 135 3.185 3
Biology 80 1.888 1
TOTAL 890 21 19

4. Pick a new modified divisor and recalculate the quota and allocation.
Repeat until the correct number of tutors are apportioned.

We need 21 tutors and we only have 19, so we need to use a smaller divisor.

If d = 42

SUBJECTS ENROLMENT QUOTA LOWER

QUOTA
Math 360 8.571 8
English 315 7.5 7
Chemistry 135 3.214 3
Biology 80 1.905 1
TOTAL 890 21.19 19

This still gives 19, so we still need to use a smaller divisor than 42.
If d = 40

SUBJECTS ENROLMENT QUOTA LOWER FINAL

QUOTA
Math 360 9 9 9
English 315 7.875 7 7
Chemistry 135 3.375 3 3
Biology 80 2 2 2
TOTAL 890 22.25 21 21
The modified divisor 40 gives the required numbers of tutors.
 HUNTINGTON-HILL PLAN

In 1920, no new apportionment was done, because Congress couldn’t

agree on the method to be used. They appointed a committee of
mathematicians to investigate, and they recommended the Huntington-Hill
Method. They continued to use Webster’s method in 1931, but after a second
report recommending Huntington-Hill, it was adopted in 1941 and is the
current method of apportionment used in Congress.

The Huntington-Hill Method is similar to Webster’s method, but attempts

to minimize the percent differences of how many people each representative
will represent.
Huntington-Hill Method

1. Determine how many people each representative should represent. Do

this by dividing the total population of all the states by the total number
of representatives. This answer is called the standard divisor.

2. Divide each state’s population by the divisor to determine how many

representatives it should have. Record this answer to several decimal
places. This answer is called the quota.

3. Cut off the decimal part of the quota to obtain the lower quota, which
we’ll call n. Compute √𝑛(𝑛 + 1), which is the geometric mean of the lower
quota and one value higher.

4. If the quota is larger than the geometric mean, round up the quota; if
the quota is smaller than the geometric mean, round down the quota.
Add up the resulting whole numbers to get the initial allocation.

5. If the total from Step 4 was less than the total number of
representatives, reduce the divisor and recalculate the quota and
allocation. If the total from step 4 was larger than the total number of
representatives, increase the divisor and recalculate the quota and
allocation. Continue doing this until the total in Step 4 is equal to the
total number of representatives. The divisor we end up using is called
the modified divisor or adjusted divisor.
EXAMPLE 1:

Consider a small country with 5 states, two of which are much larger than the
others. We need to apportion 70 representatives. Apportion using the
Huntington-Hill method.

STATE POPULATION
A 300,500
B 200,000
C 50,000
D 38,000
E 21,500
TOTAL 610,000

SOLUTION:

1. Determine the standard divisor.

610,000
SD = = 8714.286
70

2. Determine each quota by dividing the enrolment to the divisor.

STATE POPULATION QUOTA

A 300,500 34.48361
B 200,000 22.95082

C 50,000 5.737705

D 38,000 4.360656

E 21,500 2.467213

TOTAL 610,000 70.000004

3. Round down to find the lower quota, then calculate the geometric mean
based on each lower quota. If the quota is larger than the geometric
mean, round up the quota; if the quota is smaller than the geometric
mean, round down the quota. Add up the resulting whole numbers to
get the initial allocation.
STATE POPULATION QUOTA LOWER GEOMETRIC FINAL
QUOTA MEAN
A 300,500 34.48361 34 34.49638 34
B 200,000 22.95082 22 22.49444 23
C 50,000 5.737705 5 5.477226 6
D 38,000 4.360656 4 4.472136 4
E 21,500 2.467213 2 2.44949 3
TOTAL 610,000 70.000004 67 69.389672 70
Since these allocations gives the required 70 representatives, therefore, it’s
done.

EXAMPLE 2:

In the city of Adamstown, 42 new firefighters have just completed their

training. They are to be assigned to the five firehouses in town in a manner
proportional to the population in each fire district. The populations are listed
in the following table.
District POPULATION
I 25,010
II 8,762
III 11,590
IV 9,026
V 15,080
TOTAL 69,468
SOLUTION:

1. Determine the standard divisor.

𝟔𝟗,𝟒𝟔𝟖
SD = = 1654
42

2. Determine each quota by dividing the population to the divisor.

District POPULATION QUOTA
I 25,010 15.121
II 8,760 5.296
III 11,590 7.007
IV 9,025 5.456
V 15,080 9.117
TOTAL 69,468 41.997

3. Round down to find the lower quota, then calculate the geometric mean
based on each lower quota. If the quota is larger than the geometric
mean, round up the quota; if the quota is smaller than the geometric
mean, round down the quota. Add up the resulting whole numbers to
get the initial allocation.

District POPULATION QUOTA LOWER GEOMETRIC INITIAL

QUOTA MEAN
I 25,010 15.121 15 15.492 15
II 8,762 5.297 5 5.477 5
III 11,590 7.007 7 7.483 7
IV 9,026 5.457 5 5.477 5
V 15,080 9.117 9 9.487 9
TOTAL 69,468 41.999 41 43.416 41
4. Reduce the modified divisor and recalculate the quota and allocation.

If d = 1625
District POPULATION QUOTA LOWER GEOMETRIC FINAL
QUOTA MEAN
I 25,010 15.391 15 15.492 15
II 8,762 5.391 5 5.477 5
III 11,590 7.132 7 7.483 7
IV 9,026 5.554 5 5.477 6
V 15,080 9.280 9 9.487 9
TOTAL 69,468 42.748 41 43.416 42
The modified divisor 1625 gives the required allocation of 42.
 HAMILTON PLAN
ACTIVITY

1. Use Hamilton method to determine the apportionment of 25 student

council seats.

CLASS CLASS SIZE

I 470
II 240
III 200
TOTAL 910

2. Apportion 40 peso coins to Lester, Kevin, and Vincent if Lester paid Php
4500, Kevin paid Php 7900 and Vincent paid Php 1350.

Lester 4500
Kevin 7900
Vincent 1350
TOTAL 13750
 JEFFERSON PLAN
ACTIVITY

1. Elizabeth harvested 120 oranges, she wants to distribute it to her five

children according to their final average grade.

GRADE
Jelai 92
Vicente 79
Onyok 75
Ikang 99
TOTAL 345

2. Layla saw Php 1000 somewhere down the road, she wants to share it with
her 2 friends by their points in “Bato-bato Pick”.

POINTS
Layla 12
Claude 3
Clint 7
TOTAL 22
 HUNTINGTON-HILL PLAN
ACTIVITY

1. The City of McCorny wants to conduct a seminar about HIV Awareness in

four districts. 15 guest speakers will be allocated proportionally to the
population in each district.

DISTRICT POPULATION
I 11,250
II 9,895
III 7,120
IV 12,100
TOTAL 40,365

2. Apportion the regions for a house size of 16.

Beach 16,100
Forest 12,230
Plains 5,780
Swamp 7,920
TOTAL 42,030
 ANSWER KEY
HAMILTON PLAN
𝟗𝟏𝟎
1. D = = 36.4
25

CLASS CLASS SIZE QUOTA LOWER FINAL

QUOTA
I 470 12.912 12 13
II 240 6.593 6 7
III 200 5.495 5 5
TOTAL 910 25 23 25

𝟏𝟑𝟕𝟓𝟎𝟎
2. D = = 343.75
40

QUOTA LOWER FINAL

QUOTA
Lester 4500 13.091 13 13
Kevin 7900 22.982 22 23
Vincent 1350 3.927 3 4
TOTAL 13750 40 38 40

JEFFERSON PLAN
3𝟒𝟓
1. D = = 2.875
120

GRADE QUOTA LOWER d=2.826 FINAL

QUOTA QUOTA
Jelai 92 32 32 32.554 32
Vicente 79 27.478 27 27.954 27
Onyok 75 26.087 26 26.539 26
Ikang 99 34.435 34 35 35
TOTAL 345 120 119 122.047 120
 22
2. D = = 0.022
1000

POINTS QUOTA LOWER d=0.02196 FINAL

QUOTA
Layla 12 545.455 545 546.448 546
Claude 3 136.363 136 136.612 136
Clint 7 318.182 318 318.761 318
TOTAL 22 1000 999 1001.821 1000

HUNTINGTON-HILL PLAN
𝟒𝟎,𝟑𝟔𝟓
1. D = = 2,691
15

DISTRICT POPULATION QUOTA LOWER GEOMETRIC INITIAL

QUOTA MEAN
I 11,250 4.181 4 4.472 4
II 9,895 3.677 3 3.464 4
III 7,120 2.646 2 2.449 3
IV 12,100 4.496 4 4.472 5
TOTAL 40,365 15 13 14.857 16

d=2,900

DISTRICT POPULATION QUOTA LOWER GEOMETRIC FINAL

QUOTA MEAN
I 11,250 3.879 3 3.464 4
II 9,895 3.412 3 3.464 3
III 7,120 2.455 2 2.449 3
IV 12,100 4.172 4 4.472 5
TOTAL 40,365 15 12 13.849 15
 𝟒𝟐,𝟎𝟑𝟎
2. D = = 2,626.875
16

QUOTA LOWER GEOMETRIC FINAL

QUOTA MEAN
Beach 16,100 6.129 6 6.481 6
Forest 12,230 4.656 4 4.472 5
Plains 5,780 2.200 2 2.449 2
Swamp 7,920 3.015 3 3.464 3
TOTAL 42,030 15 12 16.866 16
 REFERENCES

https://www.coconino.edu/resources/files/pdfs/academics/arts-and-
sciences/MAT142/Chapter_9_Apportionment.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weGGVmy9yLc&feature=share

http://www-
users.math.umn.edu/~kling202/metro/math110/Chapter4.pdf

https://www.avon-
schools.org/cms/lib/IN01001885/Centricity/Domain/3488/FA%20Ch%20
4%20Notes%20-%20Leahy.pdf