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Math Problem

Blogs > motbob
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-06 15:06:49
February 06 2009 13:49 GMT
#1
So I've got this set "S" of non-negative integers. I can add two numbers from this set "S" in order to get every integer 0-100 (I can add numbers to themselves, for example 9+9 to get 18). For example, my set "S" has both 99 and 1, so the number 100 is covered. So is the number 98 since my set has the numbers 89 and 9. My set has 19 elements in it. Is there a set that I can come up with that has fewer elements?

My set:
+ Show Spoiler +
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, 99



*
ModeratorGood content always wins.
ninjafetus
Profile Joined December 2008
United States231 Posts
February 06 2009 14:15 GMT
#2
Hmmm... interesting question! That set seems minimal to me, but I'm note sure how to show it. I'll think about it.
minus_human
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
4784 Posts
February 06 2009 14:50 GMT
#3
I don't understand your problem
motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
February 06 2009 15:07 GMT
#4
On February 06 2009 23:50 minus_human wrote:
I don't understand your problem

OK, I tried to clarify it.
ModeratorGood content always wins.
o3.power91
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
Bahrain5288 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-06 15:27:01
February 06 2009 15:26 GMT
#5
hmm... interesting question.

edit: i just noticed i have the exact same comment as the first reply XD
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
February 06 2009 15:49 GMT
#6
no
my set:
S{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}
and 10n+a from n=1 to n=9 where a is an integer between -1 and 10
FaCE_1
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
Canada6184 Posts
February 06 2009 16:20 GMT
#7
^ I don't think this fallow the ops rules O_o
n_n
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
February 06 2009 16:28 GMT
#8
how so...
Divinek
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Canada4045 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-06 16:35:27
February 06 2009 16:30 GMT
#9
On February 07 2009 01:28 Saracen wrote:
how so...


because his set has to be able to add every number to get 1-100, not multiply it afterwards to do so.

er right, you need 0 for 1, duh.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Oh goodness me, FOX tv where do you get your sight? Can't you keep track, the puck is black. That's why the ice is white.
huameng
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
United States1133 Posts
February 06 2009 16:34 GMT
#10
Yeah, he needs the 0 to be able to make 1, 19, 29, etc.

To the OP: I think you have the correct solution
skating
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
February 06 2009 16:35 GMT
#11
On February 07 2009 01:30 Divinek wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 07 2009 01:28 Saracen wrote:
how so...


because his set has to be able to add every number to get 1-100, not multiply it afterwards to do so.

also op why do you have 0 in your set, is that required?

which is what my set does
{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80,90}
or
{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,21,31,41,51,61,71,81,91}
or
{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,12,22,32,42,52,62,72,82,92}
...
and yes, 0 is required
LTT
Profile Blog Joined March 2003
Shakuras1095 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-06 16:42:23
February 06 2009 16:41 GMT
#12
There is more than 1 solution. You can also get it with

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 26, 35, 44, 53, 62, 71, 80, 89, 98
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, 99
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21, 32, 43, 54, 65, 76, 87, 98
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 23, 35, 47, 59, 71, 83, 95
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 25, 38, 51, 64, 77, 90

There are also variations of those. Take his example using 0-9 as his "base".
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90

All of the above have 19 terms.

The total possible summations for a set S(n) containing n elements is C(n,2) + n. From this we can gather tht the absolute minimum of terms to even get 100 summations is 14.

C(14,2) + 14 = 105

You will need at least 14 elements to even have a chance of covering 0-100. Whether any below 19 elements can actually cover...dunno.
blapsd
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
England121 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-06 16:54:13
February 06 2009 16:42 GMT
#13
Ok, look at how many numbers you get in your set:

First im going to split the set up into 2 subsets the 1st subset consists of the consecutive numbers 0 - 9 and the second subset consists of the rest.

We can change the number of integers in our first set and this directly affects how many integers we need in our second. I'm going to call the number we go up to in our first set x (in your case this is 9)

ok now lets count how many numbers we have

x + 1 in the first subset (the +1 is because of the 0)

Now we need to make 101 numbers in total (101 because of the 0 remember) and we now have 101 - x numbers left to make. Now we need a number in our second subset for every x+1th number from x to 100.....for example you needed a number every 9+1 times in your 2nd subset.

Now we add up the total number of integers we have:

x+1 (from the first subset) + (100 - x)/(x + 1) (from the second subset)

now form the equation :

y = x + 1 + (100-x)/(x+1) This is the equation for the number of integers in our set. we need to MINIMISE this

To do this we simply differentiate to get (TIP: USE THE QUOTIENT RULE)

dy/dx = 1 + (-101)/((x+1)^2)

put this equal to zero and you finally get x is around 9.05 rounded up a little.

This therefore means for the number of integers in your set to be minimum you need x = 9

NOTE: we are only working in integers and you are allowed to round down due to there being remainders when you divide 101-x by x+1. If you're not convinced just test it for x = 9 and x=10 because i've proved the answer lies between 9 and 10

so you were right x = 9 or putting it back into the equation for y, y = 19.1 (which we are allowed to round down to the nearest integer also) so the minimum number of integers is 19.

which means your set is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, 99

also note theres other sets that allow 19 numbers but no sets that contain less than 19

Hope that wasnt too hard to follow.
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
February 06 2009 16:46 GMT
#14
On February 07 2009 01:41 LTT wrote:
There is more than 1 solution. You can also get it with

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 26, 35, 44, 53, 62, 71, 80, 89, 98
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, 99
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21, 32, 43, 54, 65, 76, 87, 98
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 23, 35, 47, 59, 71, 83, 95
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 25, 38, 51, 64, 77, 90

no you can't
unless you can repeat numbers, but then you wouldn't need 0
motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
February 06 2009 16:54 GMT
#15
Thanks everyone. I think if no one came up with a set of fewer elements then there probably isn't one. I knew about the other solutions using 19 elements, but I wasn't sure if there was some crazy outside-the-box way of doing it that I hadn't thought of.
ModeratorGood content always wins.
motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
February 06 2009 16:55 GMT
#16
On February 07 2009 01:46 Saracen wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 07 2009 01:41 LTT wrote:
There is more than 1 solution. You can also get it with

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 26, 35, 44, 53, 62, 71, 80, 89, 98
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, 99
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21, 32, 43, 54, 65, 76, 87, 98
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 23, 35, 47, 59, 71, 83, 95
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 25, 38, 51, 64, 77, 90

no you can't
unless you can repeat numbers, but then you wouldn't need 0

One, you can repeat numbers (it's in the OP) and two, you need zero for 1 (0+1).
ModeratorGood content always wins.
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-06 16:58:27
February 06 2009 16:55 GMT
#17
Cooler constraint: pick three numbers from the set to add up to any integer between 1 and 100
the numbers don't have to be non-negative

!

On February 07 2009 01:55 motbob wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 07 2009 01:46 Saracen wrote:
On February 07 2009 01:41 LTT wrote:
There is more than 1 solution. You can also get it with

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 26, 35, 44, 53, 62, 71, 80, 89, 98
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, 99
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21, 32, 43, 54, 65, 76, 87, 98
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 23, 35, 47, 59, 71, 83, 95
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 25, 38, 51, 64, 77, 90

no you can't
unless you can repeat numbers, but then you wouldn't need 0

One, you can repeat numbers (it's in the OP) and two, you need zero for 1 (0+1).


missed that sorry :\
StRyKeR
Profile Blog Joined January 2006
United States1739 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-06 17:01:50
February 06 2009 17:00 GMT
#18
On February 07 2009 01:42 blapsd wrote:
Ok, look at how many numbers you get in your set:

First im going to split the set up into 2 subsets the 1st subset consists of the consecutive numbers 0 - 9 and the second subset consists of the rest.

We can change the number of integers in our first set and this directly affects how many integers we need in our second. I'm going to call the number we go up to in our first set x (in your case this is 9)

ok now lets count how many numbers we have

x + 1 in the first subset (the +1 is because of the 0)

Now we need to make 101 numbers in total (101 because of the 0 remember) and we now have 101 - x numbers left to make.


This isn't true because the (x+1) numbers in the first subset account for more than x+1 numbers from 0 to 101. For example, having {0, 1, 4, 6} hits the set {0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12}, since you are allowed to double numbers and also take pairs of numbers. In this case, while you have 4 elements from 0 to 9, you actually need to cover only 101 - 10 = 91 numbers now.

There are issues with the rest of your argument because of this fact -- a set of numbers can generate more than its own size.
Ars longa, vita brevis, principia aeturna.
StRyKeR
Profile Blog Joined January 2006
United States1739 Posts
February 06 2009 17:03 GMT
#19
You can show that you need at least 14, but it's still up in the air as to whether 19 is minimal.
Ars longa, vita brevis, principia aeturna.
blapsd
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
England121 Posts
February 06 2009 17:08 GMT
#20
+ Show Spoiler +
This isn't true because the (x+1) numbers in the first subset account for more than x+1 numbers from 0 to 101. For example, having {0, 1, 4, 6} hits the set {0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12}, since you are allowed to double numbers and also take pairs of numbers.

Now we need a number in our second subset for every x+1th number from x to 100.....for example you needed a number every 9+1 times in your 2nd subset.

There are other issues with the rest of the argument because of this fact -- a set of numbers can generate more than its own size.


yes but remember you are only allowed to make one addition. If you doubled 6 to get 12 for example, you could never add 12 to any other numbers since we've used our 1 addition already. The first subset needs to be a list of numbers you can still add to the others in the 2nd subset, and hence cant be made by doubling or adding.

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