Cutting K Trees out of N

Calculus Level 3

There is a field with N N trees, and each one gets R R meters taller every year. However, at the end of every year, exactly K K of the trees--randomly selected--get cut down to their stump (but they don't die).

At the end of a year after an infinite amount of time passes, what will be the average height of all the trees?

For example, with N = 3 , K = 1 , N = 3, K = 1, and R = 1 , R = 1, the following is a possible scenario:

  • Year 0: Tree heights = [ 0 , 0 , 0 ] = [0,0,0]
  • Year 1: Tree heights = [ 1 , 0 , 1 ] = [1,0,1] ( \Big( #2 was cut, and the average height is 2 3 ) \frac23\Big)
  • Year 2: Tree heights = [ 2 , 1 , 0 ] = [2,1,0] ( \Big( #3 was cut, and the average height is 3 3 ) \frac33\Big)
  • Year 3: Tree heights = [ 3 , 2 , 0 ] = [3,2,0] ( \Big( #3 was cut, and the average height is 5 3 ) \frac53\Big)
  • Year 4: Tree heights = [ 4 , 0 , 1 ] = [4,0,1] ( \Big( #2 was cut, and the average height is 5 3 ) \frac53\Big)
  • Year 5: Tree heights = [ 0 , 1 , 2 ] = [0,1,2] ( \Big( #1 was cut, and the average height is 3 3 ) \frac33\Big)
  • Year 6: Tree heights = [ 1 , 2 , 0 ] = [1,2,0] ( \Big( #3 was cut, and the average height is 3 3 ) \frac33\Big)
  • Year 7: Tree heights = [ 0 , 3 , 1 ] = [0,3,1] ( \Big( #1 was cut, and the average height is 4 3 ) \frac43\Big)
  • \quad \vdots
R × N K \frac{R\times N}{K} R × ( N K ) R\times (N-K) R × ( N K 1 ) R\times\left(\frac{N}{K} - 1\right) R × ( 2 N K ) N \frac {R\times (2N-K)}{N}

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