Inspiration - thanks to Michael Huang for posting the first problem.
A positive integer is written on a board. We repeatedly erase its unit digit and add times that digit to what remains.
Consider the sequence of numbers generated in this manner. What is the eventual behaviour of this sequence?
One or more of the following can happen: depending on the initial number on the board, the sequence...
Code the options you think are possible as a seven-digit binary number, and enter its decimal equivalent as your answer. For example, if you think the first, third and fifth options are possible, your binary number would be and you would enter as your answer.
[An example to clarify the answer options: if instead we looked at repeatedly summing the digits of a positive number, the only correct option would be the third one - it will always tend to a fixed, single digit value]
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The correct answer is 3 8 = 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 .
One of three things can happen to the sequence:
The length 4 2 cycle is made up of all the numbers 1 to 4 8 excluding multiples of 7 .
To prove nothing else can happen, consider the map: we take a number of the form 1 0 a + b (where b is a single digit and a is a non-negative integer) and replace it with a + 5 b .
The difference of these is Δ = 1 0 a + b − ( a + 5 b ) = 9 a − 4 b . The largest b can be (as a single digit) is 9 ; so if a > 4 then Δ > 0 , meaning that any number larger than 4 9 is mapped to a smaller number. Eventually the terms must fall into the range 1 to 4 9 and become periodic (or fixed) as described above.