http://mathfactor.uark.edu/2009/09/gd-the-math-circus-is-coming-to-town/ The Math Factor Podcast Site Fri, 08 Aug 2014 12:52:06 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.25 http://mathfactor.uark.edu/2009/09/gd-the-math-circus-is-coming-to-town/comment-page-1/#comment-593 Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:11:44 +0000 http://mathfactor.uark.edu/?p=786#comment-593 Thanks.
 
Yeah, it is simple. It didn’t seem so at first, though.

]]> http://mathfactor.uark.edu/2009/09/gd-the-math-circus-is-coming-to-town/comment-page-1/#comment-592 Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:10:26 +0000 http://mathfactor.uark.edu/?p=786#comment-592 Yes, that is the game; it has a very simple solution, even not knowing N ahead of time…

]]> http://mathfactor.uark.edu/2009/09/gd-the-math-circus-is-coming-to-town/comment-page-1/#comment-591 Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:07:00 +0000 http://mathfactor.uark.edu/?p=786#comment-591 I found the quiz statement just a little bit confusing. Is this an equivalent version, and if not, how not?
You are given the number 1. You are then offered the numbers 2..N, one at a time. You don’t know the value of N until the end. For each new number 2..N you can replace the number you hold (initially 1) with the new number, or you can keep the old number.
The problem is to make the hold/discard choices such that each number 1..N has a 1/N chance of being held at the end.

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