Re: King's Dilemma dilemma
WindDragon, on host 209.129.155.253
Wednesday, April 17, 2002, at 09:43:17
Re: King's Dilemma dilemma posted by mpythongirl on Tuesday, April 16, 2002, at 22:23:38:
> > > Could you remind me of what the problem is, and I'll give you a hint about it? > > > > Here is the poem that's on the bulletin board. How do I solve it? I don't know where to being. It's not fun having a disability. > > > > " -- The King's Dilemma -- > > > > King Llewellyn, from his palace > > Sensed designs of jealous malice > > From the neighboring lands of gloom. > > Called to arms a host of gallant > > Warriors, schemers, men of talent > > Banded 'gainst the pending doom. > > > > All those gathered, silent, solemn, > > Then were ranked by row and column, > > Equal numbers to each file. > > Though the king tried rows of seven, > > Then thirteen, and yes, eleven, > > Five were extra, every trial. > > > > Sighing deeply in frustration, > > Tried one final combination, > > Found success in rows of five. > > Tell me, if it not encumber > > Thee too much, to count the number > > Of the men who did arrive. > > > > Anonymous " > > > > All help appreciated! > > This problem involves LCMs. The king tried rows of 13, 7, & 11, but had 5 left over each time. When he tried it in rows of 5, it worked. You need a number that's common to the 1st 3 numbers; then, with a little logic and some trial-and-error, you can find the number of people the king had. I rmemeber it's a 4-digit #. > --mpython"got this in about 5 minutes with my trusty TI-86 calculator; it has an LCM function!"girl
TI-86. Lucky. Anyway.
I got it in one minute, and that's because it's early. Note that we're looking for x and that x-5 *must* have factors of 5, 7, 11, and 13. Note also that all of those are prime. That should be all you need.
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