EmilyVierling

September4,2015
POW#1
ProblemoftheWeek

Fortheproblemoftheweek,wewereinstructedtothinkofacreativesolutiontoarigorously
challengingproblem.Thetaskwastofindthenumberofpossibilitiesofnotwopeoplestandingupnext
toeachotherifeightpeoplewereinthecircleandtheyeachhadtoflipacoinonceandifyourcoin
landedonheadsyouwouldstandupandifyoulandedontailsyouwouldstaysittingdown.The
problemthisweekwasfocusedonprobabilityandthepossibilitiesthatlaywithinthequestion.Iknew
howtoworkthroughbasicprobabilityproblems,butthisoneIhadtolookatdifferentlytomakesenseof
it.Thiswasaparticularlydifficultproblemtostartoffwith,especiallybecauseitrequiredacritical
analysistosolveit.IhadtoworkthroughmanydifferentwaystosolvetheproblemuntilIfoundonethat
couldleadtoasolution,whichwithananalyticaleyeandacreativethinkingprocessIwasabletoreacha
conclusionthatIfeelconfidentin.

TocometothesolutionthatIused,Ihadtostartbygoingthroughtheeasiestprocess,mapping
outtheproblem.Istartedtogothrougheachpossibility,butthenIrealizedthattheremustbeaneasier
waytofigureoutthesolution.Mymainobjectivewastocomeupwithasimplesolutioninordertogetto
theanswerthroughafasterandeasierprocess.Istartedtomapoutthenumberofoutcomeswithno
consecutiveheadsoutof2^Noutcomes(Nbeingthenumberofpeopleinthecircle).

Foronepersoninthecirclethereweretwooutcomesinwhichnotwopeoplewouldbestandingupnext
toeachother
2^1=2
2^2=3
2^3=5
2^4=8
2^5=13
2^6=21
2^7=34
2^8=55

Sincethereareeightpeopleinthecircle,therewouldbe55outcomesinwhichnotwopeoplewouldbe
standingupnexttoeachother,ornoconsecutiveheadsoutof2^8outcomes.

IthenrealizedprettyearlyonthattheoutcomeswereformingaFibonaccisequence,whichgot
meveryexcited.AFibonaccisequenceisasequenceinwhichthenextnumberisequaltothesumofthe
previoustwonumbers.

1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,andsoon.Youcanseethat1+1=2,and2+1=3,andthatsamepatterncontinues
onindefinitely.

IcontinuedtoconfirmtheoutcomesandtheFibonaccisequencetheywereforming.Ieventuallyfigured
outaroughprobabilityestimate:

Fibonaccisequence:2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55
55outcomeswithnoconsecutiveheadsoutof2^8outcomes(again,8isthenumberofpeopleinthe
circle)

Roughestimate:P=55/2^8=>55/256=21.5%probabilityofnotwoneighborsstandingup.

However,thisproblemwouldonlypertaintoaline.SincetheFibonaccisequenceonlycalculates
thenumberofoutcomesofnonconsecutiveheadsinastraightline,itdoesntsubtractoutthe
possibilitiesthatdontworkifitwereacircle.EventhoughtheFibonacciSequenceatthatpointdidnt
technicallywork,therewasapatternwithintheFibonaccithatsubstitutedforthecircle.Ilookedatitwith
Kyleandwasskepticalonwhetheritwouldworkornotbecausewewouldhavetosubtractthecorrect
numberofpossibilitiesinordertoconfiscateforthecircle.Whenlookingatitmorecloselywerealized
thattheremaybeapatternwithintheFibonaccisequencethatwouldleadtoasimpleformula,which
turnedouttobecorrect.WithintheFibonaccitherewasanotherFibonacci,exceptthisFibonacciwas
pertainingtotheamountthatyouhadtosubtracttogettherightanswer.Wefiguredthisoutthrough
doingthesameprocess,listingoutthepossibilitiesandeliminatingthesequencesthatdidnotworkin
circleform.BylistingthemoutwewereabletoconfirmthatwithintheFibonacci,therewasanother
Fibonaccisequencewhichgotusthecorrectnumberofoutcomes.UsingthepatternwithintheFibonacci
sequencewewereabletocondensetheanswertothequestionintoasimpleformula:

(F=TheFibonacci)
P(N)=F(N+2)F(N2)/2^N
Theanswertotheproblemoftheweekwouldbe:P(8)=5.5(8+2)4(42)/2^8
=>P(8)=(5.5(10)4(2))/256=>P(8)=(558)/256=>
P(8)=47/256P(8)=18.4%

IfeelconfidentinmysolutionbecauseIlookedattheproblemwithacriticaleyeandcameup
withasimplesolutiontoachallengingproblem.ThePOWscontextcouldberightintheintersection
zoneofthetopandbottomFibonaccisequences.ThetopbeingthenormalFibonaccitreecreatedfrom
thecointossesandthebottomsequenceisanothertreeofpossibilitiesyouhavetosubtractinorderto
accountforthecircle.ThereasonitisaFibonacciisbecauseitisatreeproblemandFibonacci
sequencesdealwiththesetypeofproblems.