A probability problem: Difference between revisions

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A student  asked a member of the Dartmouth math department  the following problem:
A Dartmouth student  asked his math teacher Dana Williams if he could solve the following problem:
<blockquote>
QUESTION: We start with n ropes and gather their 2n ends together. <br>
Then we randomly pair the ends and make n joins. Let E(n) <br>
be the expected  number of loops. What is E(n)?
</blockquote>


QUESTION: We start with n ropes and gather their 2n ends together.
You might  be interested in trying to solve this problem.  You can check your answer [http://www.dartmouth.edu/chance/ForWiki/here.
Then we randomly pair the ends and make n joins. Let E(n) be the expected
number of loops. What is E(n)?
 
You might  be interested in trying to solve this problem.  You can check your answer here.

Revision as of 17:46, 16 July 2005

A Dartmouth student asked his math teacher Dana Williams if he could solve the following problem:

QUESTION: We start with n ropes and gather their 2n ends together.
Then we randomly pair the ends and make n joins. Let E(n)
be the expected number of loops. What is E(n)?

You might be interested in trying to solve this problem. You can check your answer [http://www.dartmouth.edu/chance/ForWiki/here.