TCS Ignite Open Lab

TCS Ignite Open Lab

The Craft of Problem Solving - 1

I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.

[Type the author name] - Confucius

[TypeChinese
the company
name](551 479 BC)
philosopher
[Pick the date]

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Cover Page:
Lifting of Govardhan Hill
The hand drawn image on the cover depicts the lifting of Govardhan hill by Krishna as
found in Krishna Mandapa in Mammalapuram near Chennai. Trainees here at Ignite are
called to a life of humility, patience and calmness to bring out their fuller self and
overcome obstacles.
Krishna and the Govardhan Hill by J.P. Ignite, TCS

The Artist
J Prabhakar, known as J.P., is a Chennai based artist who specializes in pen-and-ink
line drawings. With no formal education in art, J.P. is entirely self-schooled. Although
his work is focused exclusively on the sacred arts and his themes tend to be temples,
monuments and sculptures, he innovates constantly in terms of technique, technology,
materials, form and content. His pursuit of excellence is a constant source of
inspiration.

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The TCS Ignite Open Lab The Craft of Problem Solving - 1

The Challenge
In the following problems, = 20 + units digit of your day of birth. For example, if you
were born on April 1st, then = 20 + 1 = 21. If you were born on March 30th, then = 20
+ 0 = 20. You can solve any three of the seven given problems.
1. Alok and Bhanu play the following game on arithmetic expressions. Given the
expression
N = ( + A)/B + ( + C + D)/E
where A, B, C, D and E are variables representing digits (0 to 9), Alok would like to
maximize N while Bhanu would like to minimize it. Towards this end, they take turns in
instantiating the variables. Alok starts and, at each move, proposes a value (digit 0-9)
and Bhanu substitutes the value for a variable of her choice. Assuming both play to their
optimal strategies, what is the value of N at the end of the game? Also find a sequence
of moves (digits by Alok and variables by Bhanu) that would yield this value.
Note: Moves that lead to a divide-by-zero condition are disallowed. A non-optimal
sequence of moves is (5 B, 6 C , 3 D, 2 E, 0 A) and the expression
evaluates to /5 + (+9)/2.
2. The mean, unique mode, median and range of 21 positive integers is 21. What is the
largest value that can be in this sequence? Also find such a sequence.
Note: Given a sequence of numbers a(1) a(2) ... a(n),

The median of the sequence is the middlemost value in the sequence if n is

odd and the average of the two middle values if n is even.

The mode is the most occurring value in the sequence

The range is the difference between the largest and the smallest values, i.e.
a(n) - a(1).

For example, the sequence 2, 3, 4, 6, 6, 9 has mean = (2 + 3 + 4 + 6 + 6 + 9)/6 = 5,

median = (4+6)/2 =5, mode = 6, and range = 9 2 = 7.

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3. A secret message is divided into parts and each part is shared with a different
person. People communicate with each other using two-way phone calls and, in each
communication, share all the information they know until that point. What is the minimum
number of communications required for all of them to know the secret? Find a
sequence of communications that achieves this minimum.
4. An equilateral triangle ABC with sides of length cm is placed inside a square AXYZ
with sides of length 2* cm so that side AB of triangle is along the base of the square
(as shown). The triangle is rotated clockwise about B, then C and so on along the sides
of the square until the points A, B and C return to their original positions. Find the length
of the path (in cm) traversed by point C.

5. A bag contains printed articles of 4 different kinds: periodicals, novels, newspapers

and hardcovers. When 4 articles are drawn from the bag without replacement, the
following events are equally likely:

the selection of 4 periodicals

the selection of 1 novel and 3 periodicals

the selection of 1 newspaper, 1 novel and 2 periodicals and

the selection of 1 article of each kind

What is the smallest number of articles in the bag satisfying these conditions? How
many of these are of each kind?
6. Given a 9 x chessboard, a rook is placed at the lower left corner. Players A and B

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take turns moving the rook. A plays first and each turn consists of moving the rook
horizontally to the right or vertically above. The last person to make a move wins the
game. At the completion of the game, the rook will be at the top right corner. For
example, the figure below shows a 3 x 4 chessboard and the sequence of moves that
leads to a win for player A.
Does player A have a winning strategy in the given 9 x chessboard? If so, what is the
strategy? If not, what is player B's winning strategy?

7. A spaceship on an inter-galactic tour has to transfer some cargo from a base camp to
a station 100 light sec away through an asteroid belt. The ship can carry a maximum of
100 kgs of cargo and, as a result of colliding against the asteroids, every 2 light sec of
travel causes it to lose 1 kg of cargo. There are 300 kgs of cargo available at the base
camp. Find the maximum amount of cargo (in kg) that the ship can transfer to the
station? Assume that the spaceship can store the cargo at any intermediate point along
the way and that stored cargo is not depleted by the asteroids.
Prerequisites

Scope and Effort

Total expected effort is about 1 person day. This means that one person will be able to
solve these problems in a day.

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Prerequisites
Any science graduate registered in Open Ignite can attempt this challenge. The
challenge only requires knowledge of basic mathematics and a general mathematical
thinking ability.
Submission Process
You will need to submit a document containing the solution to the problems as well as
the steps you have followed to arrive at the solution. The submissions can be in txt, .doc
or .pdf format
Evaluation
You will be evaluated based on the following parameters.
S.No.
1.

Parameter
Problem comprehension

2.

Correctness of solution

3.

Elegance of your solution