Putnam Boxes and Balls

#1

Post by bgschiller » Fri, Sep 20, 2013, 3:31 AM UTC

Putnam Boxes and Balls
brianschiller.com

Re: Putnam Boxes and Balls

#2

Post by gxs » Fri, Sep 20, 2013, 4:09 AM UTC

This was awesome, thanks for sharing. I was a math major in college and this brought back great memories.

I don't know remember much, but I so remember the problem solving skills in general. Start with a smaller more palatable example. Convince yourself that what they are proposing is true (or false). Lastly, keep trying because no matter how hard the problem you will eventually find the solution and it will feel awesome.

Re: Putnam Boxes and Balls

#3

Post by twiceaday » Fri, Sep 20, 2013, 8:33 AM UTC

> Okay, so if n is 2, for example, there are 4020 boxes.

Last word should be "balls".

Re: Putnam Boxes and Balls

#4

Post by bgschiller » Fri, Sep 20, 2013, 3:13 PM UTC

twiceaday wrote: post #3

> Okay, so if n is 2, for example, there are 4020 boxes. Last word should be "balls".

Good catch! I've fixed it now.

Re: Putnam Boxes and Balls

#5

Post by bgschiller » Fri, Sep 20, 2013, 3:13 PM UTC

gxs wrote: post #2

This was awesome, thanks for sharing. I was a math major in college and this brought back great memories. I don't know remember much, but I so remember the problem solving skills in general. Start with a smaller more palatable example. Convince yourself that what they are proposing is true (or false). Lastly, keep trying because no matter how hard the problem you will eventually find the solution and it will feel awe…

I'm glad you enjoyed it!