Problem:
You start with a number. Every second, you can add or subtract any number of the form to your current number to get a new number. In how many ways can you get from to in seconds? ( is defined as , so , , , , etc.)
Problem:
You start with a number. Every second, you can add or subtract any number of the form to your current number to get a new number. In how many ways can you get from to in seconds? ( is defined as , so , , , , etc.)
Solution:
To get to , you have to use one number which is at least , because , which is less than . If you use or anything larger, you need to get back from to (or further) in three seconds. Since , there is no way to do this in seconds. This means you have to use at least once. The remaining numbers must get you from to .
If you use three numbers all at most , you can move by at most . This means you have to use . From , there are two ways to get to : adding then subtracting , or adding twice. So, to get to from in four seconds, you must either add , subtract , add , and subtract , or add , subtract , and add twice. You can do these steps in any order, so the first sequence yields paths and the second sequence yields .
Answer: