Problems

Suppose there is an \(7 \times 7\) grid. We would like to travel from the bottom left corner to the top right corner in exactly 14 steps. A step is from one point on the grid to another point via a segment of length 1. How many paths are there? The picture below shows one possible path on the grid.

In an office, at various times during the day, the boss gives the secretary a letter to type, each time putting the letter on top of the pile of the secretary’s in-box. When there is time, the secretary takes the top letter off the pile and types it. There are nine letters to be typed during the day, and the boss delivers them in the order \(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9\). While leaving for lunch, the secretary tells a colleague that letter 8 has already been typed, but says nothing else about the morning’s typing. The colleague wonders which of the nine letters remain to be typed after lunch and in what order they will be typed. Base upon the above information, how many such after-lunch orders are possible? (That there are no letters left to be typed is one of the possibilities.)

A library keeps track of its books by a code with two (not necessarily different) letters taken from A to Z, followed by a three digit number from 000 to 999. What is the maximum number of books one can keep in the library and still tell them apart by looking at their codes?

Let \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\) be the three side lengths of a triangle. Does there exist a triangle with side lengths \(a+1\), \(b+1\) and \(c+1\)? Does it depend on what \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\) are?

There is a triangle with side lengths \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\). Can you form a triangle with side lengths \(\frac{a}{b}\), \(\frac{b}{c}\) and \(\frac{c}{a}\)? Does it depend on what \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\) are? Give a proof if it is always possible or never possible. Otherwise, construct examples to show the dependence on \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\).
Recall that a triangle can be drawn with side lengths \(x\), \(y\) and \(z\) if and only if \(x+y>z\), \(y+z>x\) and \(z+x>y\).

There is a triangle with side lengths \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\). Does there exist a triangle with side lengths \(|a-b|\), \(|b-c|\) and \(|c-a|\)? Does it depend on what \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\) are?
Recall that a triangle can be formed with side lengths \(x\), \(y\) and \(z\) if and only if all the inequalities \(x+y>z\), \(y+z>x\) and \(z+x>y\) hold.

There is a triangle with side lenghts \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\). Does there exist a triangle with sides of lengths \(a^2+bc\), \(b^2+ca\) and \(c^2+ab\)? Does it depend on the values of \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\)?

Suppose you meet a person inhabiting this planet and they ask you “Am I a Goop?" What would you conclude?

On this planet you meet a couple called Tom and Betty. You hear Tom ask someone: “Are Betty and I both Goops?"
What kind is Betty?

You learn that one of the aliens living on this planet is a wizard. You learnt that by overhearing a certain question being asked on the planet. What question could that have been?