A Combinatorial Explosion Puzzle ...
This problem (again) came thru roomie. It took some unsuccessful scramblings on paper & I succumbed to the desire of solving it empirically i.e. by making a C - program. Apart from proving how stupid I am, the program did give some insights but NO SOLUTION AS YET :(Right now I'm thinking about some more/better set of constraints for the program or preferrably a theoretical solution.
The problem `looks` "interestingly simple"; want to put here while its still fresh in my head...
There are two positive integers x & y (both greater than 1).
And there are two guys A & B.
A knows the sum of x & y and B knows their product.
They have this conversation ...
A says "You dont know the numbers"
B says "Now I know the numbers"
A replies "Now I also know the numbers"
Find x & y.
posted by Praveer @ Monday, October 11, 2004
3 Comments:
Solved it finally. I had a small bug in my program.
I'm not posting the answer as of now, just some clues...
1. A & B dont know the answer before they start talking.
2. Only one answer for Sum < 50 & exactly 3 answers for Sum < 100
3. It uses Goldbach's Conjecture.
And ...Each of the three statements translates into a valid mathematical constraint.
SPOILER: [ROT 13: www.rot13.com]
Gur ahzoref ner guvegrra naq sbhe. Vg purpxf bhg. Pbeerpg an?
Thats Correct Vikram :-). Bingo !
However I think u must be knowing there are more than one answers...
btw ... Did u make a C program ?
Probably u may give an brief explaination also :)
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