Stormy: MEREPEAT= repeat after me
Monkey with a coconut was sitting in a tree.
Monkey with a coconut was making fun of me.
I told him that I'd like to have a coconut too.
He said if you want it this is what you've gotta do.
He said clap clap clap.
He said clap clap clap.
Monkey with a coconut was sitting way up high,
And the silly monkey had a twinkle in his eye.
I said I want a coconut, I'm hungry don't you see?
He said if you want it, then you've got to follow me.
He said stomp stomp stomp.
He said stomp stomp stomp.
Monkey with a coconut was sitting on a limb.
Monkey with a coconut had made me mad at him.
I said don't try to stop me, I'll leave no matter what.
He said wait a minute if you want a coconut.
He said jump jump jump.
He said jump jump jump.
Monkey with a coconut was sitting in a tree.
Monkey with a coconut had got the best of me.
I told him that I'm leaving and I've made up my mind,
He said 'fore you leave me won't you try it one more time.
Ok, so nobody figured out the monkey problem, this is not surprising seeing as how it's been 80 years in the making.
I therefore put forward a starter answer to see if it can be beaten. (Which I very much doubt)
Martin Gardner said that the Monkey and the Coconuts is "probably the most worked on and least often solved" algebraic puzzle.
According to the OMNI magazine (April 1991), this puzzle caused quite a commotion when it is said that some 2000 letters came to the Saturday Evening Post offices the week after the "Coconuts" appeared, all requesting the puzzle solution.
The smallest number of coconuts there could have been in the original pile is (drum roll)
..
3121.
How so I hear you ask
Code:
Time Starting Pile = Monkey + Share + New Pile
---- ------------- ------ ----- --------
1 3121 = 1 + 624 + 2496
2 2496 = 1 + 499 + 1996
3 1996 = 1 + 399 + 1596
4 1596 = 1 + 319 + 1276
5 1276 = 1 + 255 + 1020
6 1020 = 0 + 204 + 816
The 3,121 coconuts would be divided as follows:
Monkey would get 5 coconuts
First man would get 828 coconuts
Second man would get 703 coconuts
Third man would get 603 coconuts
Fourth man would get 523 coconuts
Fifth man would get 459 coconuts
To try to see where this comes from, write down the equations that describe the problem.
We might want to use the letters A through G to represent the sizes of the pile of coconuts,
A the beginning size, B through F the sizes after each sailor takes a share.
To preserve the pattern, we will let G be the number of coconuts left in the final pile after the monkey and the last sailor have taken theirs.
In that case, the following relationships hold:
B = A - 1 - ( A - 1 ) / 5 = (4/5) * ( A - 1 )
C = B - 1 - ( B - 1 ) / 5 = (4/5) * ( B - 1 )
D = C - 1 - ( C - 1 ) / 5 = (4/5) * ( C - 1 )
E = D - 1 - ( D - 1 ) / 5 = (4/5) * ( D - 1 )
F = E - 1 - ( E - 1 ) / 5 = (4/5) * ( E - 1 )
G = F - 0 - ( F - 0 ) / 5 = (4/5) * ( F - 0 )
Using some algebra (and this is not pretty!), substitute back through the equations. You would obtain:
4096 * A - 15625 * G = 33616
Now, the smallest integer values that make this equation true are: A = 3,121 and G = 816.
The following computer program may well solve the problem:
Code:
set talk on
f=1
do while f <= 1000
g=(4*f)/5
if int(g)=g
* continue
e=(5*f+1)/4
if int(e)=e
* continue
d=(5*e+1)/4
if int(d)=d
* continue
c=(5*d+1)/4
if int(c)=c
* continue
b=(5*c+1)/4
if int(b)=b
* continue
a=5*b+1
if int(a)=a
display memory
wait
endif
endif
endif
endif
endif
endif
f=f+1
enddo
Or this; using following ABAP code:
data total type i value 0.
data formonkey type i.
data count type i value 0.
data newtotal type i.
data subtotal type i.
do 10000 times.
newtotal = total.
do 6 times.
count = count + 1.
formonkey = newtotal mod 5.
if formonkey = 1 AND count ne 6.
subtotal = ( newtotal - 1 ) / 5.
newtotal = newtotal - subtotal - 1.
elseif formonkey = 0 AND count = 6.
write: 'total is ', total.
else.
exit.
endif.
clear formonkey.
clear subtotal.
enddo.
clear count.
clear newtotal.
total = total + 1.
enddo.
Happy Mothers Day to all of you who are, erm
mothers!
TTH wrote, "I can't understand you."
Estne tibi forte magna feles fulva et planissima?
Hi Etc, good to see you are still about.
The company that Mark works for just finished a new product. They wanted to promote it across the country. Mark was asked to travel by car to each of the 48 contiguous U.S. states to promote the product.
He was told that he could visit each state in whatever order he chose, but the company wanted him to start in Delaware, at their headquarters.
They asked that he visit each state only once. He could not go back into a state he had already visited - this was the "Don't Look Back" product tour.
So, Mark sat down at his desk and began to plan his trip.
He realized immediately that it was going to be one long car trip. At that moment, his boss stopped by and said, "Hey, I'm going to join you when you reach your last state. I was born there and I've been looking for a reason to go back and visit. You can leave your rental car there, and I'll fly you back in my private plane."
You can well imagine how excited Mark was at the thought of a flight in a Stearman PT-17 Kaydet Crop Duster. However;
Since Mark hadn't planned his trip yet, how did his boss know which state was going to be Mark's last state
And, which state would that be
Needless to say, Mark is banned from answering this question for obvious reasons. If the reasons are not that obvious to TTH, then the reason is because; he already knows the answer.
So as not to be left out, a little something for Mark and his ilk:
The number 2583 is one of only two positive integers equal to the sum of the cubes of the digits in its square, plus the digits in its cube.
What may I ask is the other
WILWINOWDS
Are there any of these still outstanding?
