University of Makati

J.P Rizal Ext., West Rembo, Makati City

Mathematics in the Modern World

Apportionment

Submitted by:
Sotero, Franzes Joy Y.
I-BN

Prof. Angelyn M. Pangilinan

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.

Hamilton’s Plan of Apportionment

The apportionment method suggested by Alexander Hamilton was approved by Congress

in 1791, but was subsequently vetoed by president Washington - in the very first exercise of the
veto power by President of the United States. Hamilton's method was adopted by the US
Congress in 1852 and was in use through 1911.

The Hamilton method of apportionment is actually a largest-remainder method which uses the
Hare Quota. It is named after Alexander Hamilton, who invented the largest-remainder method
in 1792. It was first adopted to apportion the U.S. House of Representatives every ten years
between 1852 and 1900.

Hamilton’s Method:

Step 1: Calculate each state’s lower quota.

Step 2: Round the standard quota’s down and give to each state its lower quota.

Step 3: Give the surplus seats (one at a time) to the states with the largest residues (fractional
parts) until there are no more surplus seats.
Procedure:
Total Population
Let D = Number of items to be apportioned

State Population
Then for each state, State Quota = , rounded down.
D

Keep track of fractional remainders.

Assign each state its State Quota of Representatives and then distribute the remaining seats
according to the size of the remainders, until the surplus of seats is exhausted.

Example #1

Use Hamilton method to divide the total population of 20,000 of France by the number of 25
representatives. The number of representatives is to be apportioned according to the states’
respective populations.

State Population
Brittany 12,311
Centre 1,798
Corsica 1,581
Normandy 2,917
Occitanie 1,393
Total 20,000

total population 20,000

𝑆tandard Divisor (SD) = = = 800
number of allocation 25

the population of a subset of the Population

Standard Quota (SQ) =
Standard Divisor
State Population Standard Quota Number of Representatives

12,311
Brittany 12,311 SQ = = 15.38875 15 15
800
1,798
Centre 1,798 SQ = = 2.2475 2 2
800
1,581
Corsica 1,581 SQ = = 1.97625 1 2
800
2,917
Normandy 2,917 SQ = = 3.64625 3 4
800
1,393
Occitanie 1,393 SQ = = 1.74125 1 2
800

Total 20,000 22 25

Using Hamilton method, Brittany should have 15 representatives, Centre, Corsica, and
Occitanie should have 2 representatives each, and there should be 4 representatives from
Normandy.

Example #2
A teacher wishes to distribute 10 identical pieces of candy among 4 students, based on how
many pages of a book they read last mont, using Hamilton’s metho. The table below lists the
total number of pages read by each student.

CHILD PAGES

Alan 580

Antonio 230

Alex 180

Lucas 130
Answer the following questions. Round to 4 decimal places.
Find the divisor = 112
Find the quota for Antonio = 2.0536
Find the initial apportionment for Antonio. = 2
NAME PAGES QUOTA INITIAL FINAL
Alan 580 5.1786 5 5
Antonio 230 2.0536 2 2
Alex 180 1.6071 1+1 2
Lucas 130 1.1607 1 1
Total 1,120 10 9 10

1,120
Divisor = = 112
10
Jefferson’s Plan of Apportionment

Jefferson’s method was the first method used to apportion the seats in the U.S. House of
Representatives in 1792. It was used through 1832. That year, New York had a standard quota of
38.59 but was granted 40 seats by Jefferson’s method. At that time, John Quincy Adams and
Daniel Webster each proposed new apportionment methods but the proposals were defeated and
Jefferson’s method was still used. Webster’s method was later chosen to be used in 1842 but
Adams’s method was never used. Webster’s method and Hamilton’s method often give the same
result. For many of the years between 1852 and 1901, Congress used a number of seats for the
House that would result in the same apportionment by either Webster’s or Hamilton’s methods.
After Hamilton’s method was finally scrapped in 1901, Webster’s method was used in 1901,
1911, and 1931. There were irregularities in the process in 1872 and just after the 1920 census.
In 1941, the House size was fixed at 435 seats and the Huntington-Hill method became the
permanent method of apportionment.

Jefferson’s Method:

1. Compute the quotas of each state.

2. Round down the quotas. (Step 1 and 2 are identical to the that in Hamilton’s methods) 3.
3. Determine critical divisor of each state. 4.
4. The state with LARGEST critical divisor gets an extra seat.
5. Compute the NEW critical divisor of that state just won a new seat.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all the leftover seats have been assigned.

Procedure:
Total Population
Let D = Number of items to be apportioned

State Population
Decrease D by some d so that when State Quota = D−d
is rounded down for every state,

these values add to the correct number of House seats.

Example #1:

A country school board dividing teachers between its five high school. The country can hire 175
teachers.

HIGH STUDENT STANDARD MINIMUM TEACHERS

SCHOOL POPULATION QUOTAS QUOTA ASSIGNED
Owen 875 31.992687 31 31
East 1150 42.047532 42 42
Lincoln 1200 43.875686 43 43
Laurel 725 26.508227 26 26
Dale 925 33.820841 33 33
Total: 4875 175 175

4875
Standard Divisor = 27.8571429
175

Modified Divisor = 27.35

standard divisor
To get the Quota: population of each county

Take Note: Adjust the Modified Divisor to get the exact minimum quota needed.
Example #2

The legislature in a state has 57 seats. Apportion these seats to the six counties below using
Jefferson’s method.

COUNTY POPULATION QUOTA INITIAL FNAL

Adams 283,000 13.941 13 13

Grant 153,000 7.537 7 7

Colton 108,000 5.320 5 5

Davis 346,000 17.044 17 17

Hayes 223,000 10.985 10 10

McKinley 116,000 5.714 5 5

Total 1,229,000 57 57

1,229,000
Standard Divisor = 21,651.404
57

Modified Divisor
standard divisor
To get the Quota: population of each county

Take Note: Adjust the Modified Divisor to get the exact initial needed.
Huntington Hill’s Plan of Apportionment

The Huntington-Hill method is a modified version of the Webster method. The Huntington-Hill
method uses a slightly rounded method. The Huntington-Hill method uses a geometric mean to
place any additional seats. The Huntington-Hill method wasn't the first method used by Congress
even though it is the current one used. Some of the other methods used by Congress include the
Jefferson, Adams, Vinton, and Webster method. The Jefferson method and Adams method
violates the quota fairness rule. The Jefferson was used from 1790 to 1840 to find the
apportionment for Congress. In the 1850's Vinton's method was used and stayed until the 20th
century. In 1901 and 1930 the Webster Method was used for census. Edward Huntington first
found out about Joseph Hill after his work with the United States Army after the First World
War He revised the work of Joseph Hill to make a new method.

Huntington Hill’s Method

Step 1: Find the Divisor

Step 2: Find the State Quota

Step 3: Compare the State Quota to the geometric mean

Step 4: If the State Qouta exceeds the geometric mean give that state a extra seat

Step 5: Adjust the Divisor to make sure all seats are apportioned

Procedure:
Total Population
Let D = Number of items to be apportioned

State Population
Find the State Quota = D
for each state. Round the quota down and call this rounded

number n.

Geometric Mean = √n(n + 1)

Example # 1

A city has four districts – North, South, East, and West. The city council has 10 members
allocated according to population with at least one member from each district. Given the
populations below, calculate the quota for each district and use the Huntington-Hill method to
determine the number of councilors to represent each district.

DISTRICT POPULATION QUOTA GEOMETRIC ROUND

MEAN

North 3900 1.3 √1.2 =1.414 1

East 4800 1.6 √1.2 = 1.414 2

Westt 18,000 6 √6.7 = 6.481 6

South 3300 1.1 √1.2 = 1.414 1

Total 30,000 10 10

Standard Divisor 30,000/10 = 3000

North: 3900/3000

East: 4800/3000
To ge the quota
West: 18,000/3000

South: 3300/3000

Geometric Mean: √n(n + 1)

Take Note: If the sum of the round number has been too small, try smaller divisor.

If the sum of the round number has been too big, try bigger divisor.
Example #2

A college offers tutoring in Math, English, Chemistry, and Biology. The number of students
enrolled in each subject is listed below. The college can only afford to hire 22 tutors. Using
Huntington-Hill’s method, determine the apportionment of the tutors

SUBJECT ENROLLMENT QUOTA LOWER GEOMETRIC FINAL

QUOTA MEAN ALLOCATION

Math 380 10.270 10 10.488 10

English 240 6.486 6 6.481 7

Chemistry 105 2.838 2 2.449 3

Biology 55 1.486 1 1.414 2

Total 780 22

Standard Divisor 780/22 = 35.4545

Geometric Mean: √n(n + 1)

ACTIVITY
HAMILTON’S METHOD

Name: ______________________________________________ Section: _______________

Date: __________________ Corrected By: _________________ Score: _________________

Solve the following. Show your solution.

1. Consider a country with 4 states and 30 seats in Congress and populations distributed as in the
table below.

POPULATION QUOTA INITIAL FINAL

State A 27,500

State B 38,000

State C 46,500

State D 76,700

TOTAL:
ACTIVITY
JEFFERSON’S METHOD

Name: ______________________________________________ Section: _______________

Date: __________________ Corrected By: _________________ Score: _________________

Solve the following. Show your solution.

A college offers tutoring in Math, English, Chemistry, and Biology. The number of students
enrolled in each subject 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.

Enrollment Quota Initial Final

Math 360
English 315
Chemistry 135
Biology 80
Total
ACTIVITY
HUNTINGTON-HILL’S METHOD

Name: ______________________________________________ Section: _______________

Date: __________________ Corrected By: _________________ Score: _________________

Solve and show your solution.

According to the 2010 census, the population was:

STATE POPULATION QUOTA GEOMETRIC ROUND

MEAN

Montana 994,416

Alaska 721,523

Florida 18,900,773

West Virginia 1,859,815

TOTAL: 22,476,527
SOURCES:

https://sites.google.com/site/huntingtonhillmethod/the-huntington-hill-method

https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/apportioning-representatives-in-the-united-
states-congress-jeffersons-method-of-apportionment

https://youtu.be/YWfEqWLz9pc

https://youtu.be/weGGVmy9yLc

https://youtu.be/2eNohh3KIYo

https://youtu.be/l74j-auLjZE
COMPONENTS:

JUSTIFIED 10 PTS. -

1 INCH MARGIN 10 PTS. -

1.5 SPACE 10 PTS. -

REFERENCE 10 PTS. -

CONTENT 50 PTS. -

TOTAL 100 PTS. =