Problems

Age
Difficulty
Found: 14

The Scattered Scientist constructed a device consisting of a sensor and a transmitter. The average life expectancy of the sensor part is 3 years, the average lifetime of the transmitter is 5 years. Knowing the distribution of the lifetime of the sensor and the transmitter, the Scattered Scientist calculated that the average lifetime of the entire device is 3 years 8 months. Was the Scattered Scientist wrong in his calculations?

An ant goes out of the origin along a line and makes \(a\) steps of one unit to the right, \(b\) steps of one unit to the left in some order, where \(a > b\). The wandering span of the ant is the difference between the largest and smallest coordinates of the ant for the entire length of its journey.

a) Find the largest possible wandering range.

b) Find the smallest possible range.

c) How many different sequences of motion of the ant are there, where the wandering range is the greatest possible?