Three holy men (let’s call them Anselm, Benjamin, and Caspar) put little stock in material things; their only earthly possession is a small purse with a bit of gold dust. Each day they get together for the following bizarre bonding ritual: Each of them takes his purse and gives his gold away to the two others, in equal pans. For example, if Anselm has 4 ounces one day, he will give 2 ounces each to Benjamin and Caspar. a. If Anselm starts out with 6 ounces, Benjamin with 1 ounce, and Caspar with 2 ounces, find formulas for the amounts a ( t ) , b ( t ) , and c ( t ) each will have after r distributions. Hint : The vectors [ 1 1 1 ] , [ 1 − 1 0 ] , and [ 1 0 − 1 ] will be useful. b. Who will have the most gold after one year, that is, after 365 distributions?
Three holy men (let’s call them Anselm, Benjamin, and Caspar) put little stock in material things; their only earthly possession is a small purse with a bit of gold dust. Each day they get together for the following bizarre bonding ritual: Each of them takes his purse and gives his gold away to the two others, in equal pans. For example, if Anselm has 4 ounces one day, he will give 2 ounces each to Benjamin and Caspar. a. If Anselm starts out with 6 ounces, Benjamin with 1 ounce, and Caspar with 2 ounces, find formulas for the amounts a ( t ) , b ( t ) , and c ( t ) each will have after r distributions. Hint : The vectors [ 1 1 1 ] , [ 1 − 1 0 ] , and [ 1 0 − 1 ] will be useful. b. Who will have the most gold after one year, that is, after 365 distributions?
Solution Summary: The author explains how three holy men, Anselm, Benjamin, and Caspar, put little stock in material things. Each day they get together for a bizarre bonding ritual.
Three holy men (let’s call them Anselm, Benjamin, and Caspar) put little stock in material things; their only earthly possession is a small purse with a bit of gold dust. Each day they get together for the following bizarre bonding ritual: Each of them takes his purse and gives his gold away to the two others, in equal pans. For example, if Anselm has 4 ounces one day, he will give 2 ounces each to Benjamin and Caspar. a. If Anselm starts out with 6 ounces, Benjamin with 1 ounce, and Caspar with 2 ounces, find formulas for the amounts
a
(
t
)
,
b
(
t
)
, and
c
(
t
)
each will have after r distributions. Hint: The vectors
[
1
1
1
]
,
[
1
−
1
0
]
, and
[
1
0
−
1
]
will be useful. b. Who will have the most gold after one year, that is, after 365 distributions?
Quantities that have magnitude and direction but not position. Some examples of vectors are velocity, displacement, acceleration, and force. They are sometimes called Euclidean or spatial vectors.
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