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How to play the triangle game

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2017

Tony Crilly*
Affiliation:
10 Lemsford Road, St Albans AL1 3PB e-mail: t.crilly@btinternet.com

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We are given n sticks of lengths 1, 2, 3, …, n and three are selected at random. Which selections enable a triangle to be formed?

This question can be written in the form of a game: you win if a triangle can be formed from the three numbers interpreted as side lengths, you lose if they do not.

We let ℕn = {1, 2, 3, …, n}, and see there are two variants of the game:

  • • From ℕ n draw at random three numbers sequentially. At each stage do not replace the drawn number.

  • • From ℕ n a number is drawn at random and is recorded. In three stages three numbers are drawn. Replace the number at each stage.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Mathematical Association 2017