Mathematics
Problem Of the Week
Spring
2004
POW 10
Jelly Bean Game
Let’s play a
game. Start with n jellybeans placed around the circumference of a
circle. To play, one of us removes from the circle either one
jellybean or two adjacent jellybeans. We alternate turns. The
person removing the last jellybean from the circle wins (and gets to eat all
the jellybeans). Do you want to go first, or should I? What is your
winning strategy?
Solutions
should be submitted to Dr. Dan Gagliardi’s mailbox in
the Math office or sent via e-mail to dgagliardi@stlawu.edu.
Presentation counts! The prize-winning entry will
be selected from all correct submissions, based on the clarity, creativity and
elegance of the solution.
Look
for the SLU POW on the Web at http://it.stlawu.edu/~math/activities/