practice problems pending

Q1. Ten 1's and ten 2's are written on a blackboard. In one turn, a player may erase any two figures. If the two figures erased are identical, they are replaced with a 2. If they are different, they are replaced with a 1. The first player wins if a 1 is left at the end, and the second player wins if a 2 is left.


S1.
Only P2 can win.

Why?

1. There are total 19 moves since in every move the count of total numbers goes down by 1. At the end we will have a single number.

2. Let's say P1 plays the first move, then he will also play the 19th move. Let C1, C2 denote count of 1s and 2s at any given time.

3. For P1 to win, after the 18th move we need C1 = 1, C2 = 1. For P2 to win C1 = 0, C2 = 2 or C1 = 2, C2 = 0.

4. Let's focus on P1's win. That means that in the initial 18 moves both C1 and C2 should decrease by 9 each.

5. What happens in every move?

Case 1: Two 1s replaced by 2 => C1 -= 2, C2 += 1

Case 2: Two 2s replaced by 2 => C1 += 0, C2 -= 1

Case 3: One 1 and One 2 replaced by 1 => C1 += 0, C2 -= 1

So C1 changes by 0 or 2 and C2 changes by +1 or -1.

For P1 to win C1 has to change by 9 which is not possible with changes of 0,2

Hence P1 cannot win.

For P2 to win there are two cases:

C1 -10, C2 -8 or C1 -8, C2 -10. Both are possible.

So only P2 can win.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IOQM 2024 Paper solutions (Done 1-21, 29)

Image
Q1 (number-theory). The smallest positive integer that does not divide 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 × 5 × 6 × 7 × 8 × 9 is: Solution : This product has all the integers from 1 to 9. So smallest integer not dividing it would be the next prime after 9. Which is 11. Answer: 11 Q2 (combinatorics): The number of four-digit odd numbers having digits 1, 2, 3, 4, each occurring exactly once, is: Solution: Last digit has to be 1 or 3: 2C1 Choosing remaining 3 digits: 3C3 Arranging those 3 digits: 3! Answer: 2C1*3C3*3! = 12 Q3 (number-theory): The number obtained by taking the last two digits of \(5^{2024}\) in the same order is: Solution: To get last 2 digits from number, divide by 100 and take the remainder. So we have to compute mod 100. 25 mod 100 = 25 25.5 mod 100 = 125 mod 100 = 25 5^3.5 mod 100 = 25.5 mod 100 = 25 5^4.5 mod 100 = 25.5 mod 100 = 25 ..... So: 5^2024 mod 100 = 25. Q4 (geometry): Let ABCD be a quadrilateral with \(\angle ADC = 70^\circ\), \(\angle ACD = 70^\circ\), \(\angle ACB = 10^\circ\...
Read more

Simon's factoring trick(complete the rectangle)

  "Complete the Rectangle" , also called Simon’s Favorite Factoring Trick , is a clever algebraic method for factoring expressions of the form: x y + a x + b y + c xy + ax + by + c Or more commonly, you'll see it used in a simpler form: x y + a x + b y + d xy + ax + by + d But especially when we’re given something like: x y + a x + b y + a b xy + ax + by + ab It becomes very easy to factor. Let me walk you through it step-by-step. 💡 The Key Idea We add and subtract a constant to turn the expression into a perfect rectangle (a.k.a. a factorable quadratic or product of binomials). The “complete the rectangle” version of this trick usually works best on expressions like: x y + a x + b y + a b xy + ax + by + ab We treat it like this: x y + a x + b y + a b = ( x + b ) ( y + a ) xy + ax + by + ab = (x + b)(y + a) ✅ Step-by-Step Example Factor: x y + 3 x + 2 y + 6 xy + 3x + 2y + 6 Step 1: Rearrange the terms: Group like this: x y + 3 x + 2 y + 6 xy + 3x + ...
Read more

IOQM 2023 solutions

Image
Q1. Let n be a positive integer such that 1 ≤ n ≤ 1000 . Let M n be the number of integers in the set X n = { 4 n + 1 , 4 n + 2 , … , 4 n + 1000 } . Let a = max ⁡ { M n : 1 ≤ n ≤ 1000 } , and b = min ⁡ { M n : 1 ≤ n ≤ 1000 } . a = \max\{M_n : 1 \leq n \leq 1000\}, \quad \text{and} \quad b = \min\{M_n : 1 \leq n \leq 1000\}. Find a − b a - b . Solution: Quick tip: If n^2 = k then (n+1)^2 = k + (2n + 1) We will use this here. Also as the numbers grow larger the gap between 2 perfect squares becomes less and less. For. e.g. there are 10 perfect squares between 1 and 100 but only 4 perfect squares between 101 and 200. So X1 = {sqrt(5) ... sqrt(1004)} will have the most number of perfect squares. While X1000 = {sqrt(4001)...sqrt(5000)} will have the least. In X1 the first integer square root is 3 and we know that 1024 is the square of 32 so the last integer will be 31. Total: 31 - 3 + 1 = 29 integers in X1. In X1000, We know that 64^2 = 4096 so 64 is the first integer. 70^2 = 4900 and ...
Read more