On the board there are numbers , , , , and . In every step Juku deletes some two numbers and on the board and writes on the board instead. He repeats such steps until there is only one number on the board. Find all possibilities what could be the last number on the board.
Solutions — 2
Solution 1
Since , where is a number that would be written on the board instead of and , the product of the numbers that are greater by than the numbers on the board does not change in the process. In the beginning the product is or . Consequently the only number that can be on the board in the end is .
Solution 2
Let us define for every two numbers and , then in each step Juku substitutes some and with . The binary operation is commutative and associative, due to which the final result is independent on the order the numbers are being deleted. Therefore in the end the board will contain one number that equals .
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