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Showing posts with label boy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boy. Show all posts

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Boys and Girls around the table

$(n+1)$ boys and $n$ girls are seated around a circular table playing a game. One boy started to put a stone on the table, and they subsequently went around the table clockwise. At each child's turn, if that child is a boy, he puts a stone on the table, but if that child is a girl, she takes away one stone from the table. They're finished when everyone has had one turn. If the table ever becomes empty (except before the first boy put his stone), they all lose the game.

Prove that there is a boy such that if he starts, they can complete the round without losing.

Furthermore, prove that there is only one such boy. That is, if any other boy starts, they would lose the game.

Harder version: suppose you now have $m+n$ boys and $n$ girls, with $m$ positive. Prove that there are exactly $m$ boys who could start a non-losing game.