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Problem:

There are three kinds of liquids X, Y , Z,. Three jars J1, J2, J3 contain 100 ml of liquids X, Y , Z, respectively. By an operation we mean three steps in the following order:

  • stir the liquid in J1 and transfer 10 ml from J1 into J2 ;
  • stir the liquid in J2 and transfer 10 ml from J2 into J3 ;
  • stir the liquid in J3 and transfer 10 ml from J3 into J1 ;

After performing the operation four times, let x, y, z be the amounts of X, Y , Z, respectively, in J1. Then
(A) x > y > z
(B) x > z > y
(C) y > x > z
(D) z > x > y

My approach:
I can't think of any way except performing all the operations manually and computing the result each time. Is there an easier and shorter way to find the answer to this question?

oshhh
  • 2,632

1 Answers1

1

Let us call $x_0$ the amount of X in J1 at the beginning and $x_n$ the amount of X in J1 after the $n^{th}$ operation. If we analyze the changes from $x_0$ to $x_1$ in the first operation we can note that the amount of X in J1:

  • is reduced by a factor $9/10\,$ in the first step;
  • is not directly affected by the second step;
  • increases by a small quantity given by $ \frac{x_0}{10 \cdot 11 \cdot 11}\,\,\,\,$ in the third step (this is because, in the first three steps, $1/10\,$ of $x_0$ is moved to J2, then $1/11\,$ of this is moved to J3, and finally $1/11\,$ of the remaining quantity is moved back to J1).

So, after the first operation, we have

$$x_1=\frac{9}{10} x_0 + \frac{x_0}{1210}$$

Similar considerations can be made for the successive operations, where the only difference is that some additional amount of X arrives to J1 in the third step (although it is not necessary to exactly determine this to answer the problem, we can note that, for the $n^{th}$ operation, this additional quantity $K_n$ is $1/11\,$ of the amount of X in J3 at the beginning of the operation). This leads to

$$x_n=\frac{9}{10} x_{n-1} + \frac{x_{n-1}}{1210} + K_n$$

Since this implies $x_n>\frac{9}{10} x_{n-1}\,\,$, we get that after $4$ operations

$$x_4>\left(\frac{9}{10} \right)^4 x_{0}\,\, \approx 0.656 \, x_{0}$$

and then

$$ x_4>65.6\, \text{ml}$$

This shows that, after $4$ operations, X still accounts for the largest proportion of the liquid in J1, i.e. $x>y\,$ and $x>z\,$.

Note that a similar procedure can be used to show that, after $4$ operations, Y still accounts for the largest proportion of the liquid in J2 and Z still accounts for the largest proportion of the liquid in J3. In fact, the amount of Y in J2 during any operation does not change or increases in the first step (10 ml of some mixture moved from J1 to J2) and is reduced by a factor $10/11\,$ in the second step. In the same manner, the amount of Z in J3 during any operation does not change or increases in the second step (10 ml of some mixture moved from J2 to J3) and is reduced by a factor $10/11\,$ in the third step. This means that, for each operation, the final amount of Y and Z in the second and third jar, respectively, is larger than $10/11$ of the initial one. So, after $4$ operations, the amount of Y and Z in the second and third jar, respectively, is $>(10/11)^4 \cdot 100\, \text{ml}\,\,\,\,\,$, that is to say $>68.3\, \text{ml}\,\,\,$.

Taking into account these considerations, to determine which is the largest between $y$ and $z\,$, it is sufficient to note that, in each of the first $4$ operations, the third step moves from J3 to J1 $10$ ml of mixture that is necessarily composed by a predominant proportion of Z (i.e., it moves to J1 a larger amount of Z than Y). Also, the first step of each operation removes from J1 an equal proportion ($1/10 \,$) of all liquids. Since J1 starts with a zero amount of Y and Z, the final result is that $z>y\,\,$. Therefore, we conclude that the correct answer is B, i.e.

$$x>z>y$$

I tested this result by a brief algorithm written in QB and got the following values after $4$ operations:

$$x\approx 66.834894... \text{ml}$$ $$y\approx 6.159210...\text{ ml}$$ $$z\approx 27.005895... \text{ml}$$

Anatoly
  • 17,079