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We do many tasks on a daily basis without even thinking about – or decomposing – them, such as brushing our teeth.

Example 1: Brushing our teeth

To decompose the problem of how to brush our teeth, we would need to consider:

• which toothbrush to use
• how long to brush for
• how hard to press on our teeth
• what toothpaste to use

Example 2: Solving a crime

It is only normally when we are asked to do a new or more complex task that we start to think about it in detail – to decompose the task.

Imagine that a crime has been committed. Solving a crime can be a very complex problem as there are many things to consider.

For example, a police officer would need to know the answer to a series of smaller problems:

• what crime was committed
• when the crime was committed
• where the crime was committed
• what evidence there is
• if there were any witnesses
• if there have recently been any similar crimes

The complex problem of the committed crime has now been broken down into simpler problems that can be examined individually, in detail.