- #1
maxsthekat
- 55
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I'm completely stumped on how to begin a discrete math proof, and I'm looking for a little advice on what might be a good way to approach this.
In a previous problem I did a proof by contradiction to show that at least one of the real numbers a1, a2, ... an is greater than or equal to the average of these numbers.
This was done by a1 + a2 + ... + an < nA.
By definition, A = (a1 + a2 + ... + an)/n, which is a contradiction of the assumption, and therefore proving a1, a2, ... an [tex]\le[/tex] average of these numbers.
However, now I'm supposed to use this info to prove that if the first 10 integers are placed around a circle, in any order, there exists three integers in consecutive locations around the circle that have a sum greater than or equal to 17.
I have no idea where to go with this. Can someone give me a pointer that could help me start?
Thanks!
-Max
In a previous problem I did a proof by contradiction to show that at least one of the real numbers a1, a2, ... an is greater than or equal to the average of these numbers.
This was done by a1 + a2 + ... + an < nA.
By definition, A = (a1 + a2 + ... + an)/n, which is a contradiction of the assumption, and therefore proving a1, a2, ... an [tex]\le[/tex] average of these numbers.
However, now I'm supposed to use this info to prove that if the first 10 integers are placed around a circle, in any order, there exists three integers in consecutive locations around the circle that have a sum greater than or equal to 17.
I have no idea where to go with this. Can someone give me a pointer that could help me start?
Thanks!
-Max