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    The Kangaroo Project

    Uploaded by

    Louie Lam
    The document discusses solving the "Kangaroo Conundrum" of moving kangaroo families from one side to another using the minimum number of steps. Section A describes a method using 3 steps for 1 family, 8 steps for 2 families, and derives a formula of n^2 + 2n steps for n families. Section B derives the formula mathematically and graphs it as a parabola. It then expands the method to any family size and derives expressions for the number of steps (x+y) and jumps (xy) needed, combining to give the total minimum steps as x + y + xy. This is graphed as an interesting 3D shape.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    The Kangaroo Project

    Uploaded by

    Louie Lam
    15 views5 pages
    The document discusses solving the "Kangaroo Conundrum" of moving kangaroo families from one side to another using the minimum number of steps. Section A describes a method using 3 steps for 1 family, 8 steps for 2 families, and derives a formula of n^2 + 2n steps for n families. Section B derives the formula mathematically and graphs it as a parabola. It then expands the method to any family size and derives expressions for the number of steps (x+y) and jumps (xy) needed, combining to give the total minimum steps as x + y + xy. This is graphed as an interesting 3D shape.

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    The document discusses solving the "Kangaroo Conundrum" of moving kangaroo families from one side to another using the minimum number of steps. Section A describes a method using 3 steps for 1 family, 8 steps for 2 families, and derives a formula of n^2 + 2n steps for n families. Section B derives the formula mathematically and graphs it as a parabola. It then expands the method to any family size and derives expressions for the number of steps (x+y) and jumps (xy) needed, combining to give the total minimum steps as x + y + xy. This is graphed as an interesting 3D shape.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    15 views5 pages

    The Kangaroo Project

    Uploaded by

    Louie Lam
    The document discusses solving the "Kangaroo Conundrum" of moving kangaroo families from one side to another using the minimum number of steps. Section A describes a method using 3 steps for 1 family, 8 steps for 2 families, and derives a formula of n^2 + 2n steps for n families. Section B derives the formula mathematically and graphs it as a parabola. It then expands the method to any family size and derives expressions for the number of steps (x+y) and jumps (xy) needed, combining to give the total minimum steps as x + y + xy. This is graphed as an interesting 3D shape.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    The Kangaroo Conundrum

    Section A:
    1:
    The question can be solved with a minimum of 3 steps following the below steps:

    2:
    The question can be solved with a minimum of 8 steps following the below steps:

    3:
    The question can be solved with a minimum of 15 steps following the below steps:
    4:
    On the first step, move the kangaroo from either family that’s closest to the middle, which in this
    case we’ll call the family Family A, to the middle, opening a hole in between two kangaroos of Family
    A. Then, move the kangaroo from Family B into that hole. After that, move the kangaroos of Family B
    so that there is exactly one hole between the kangaroos. This allows the kangaroos of Family A to
    slowly jump through the holes to reach the end. But while you move Family A to the end, you must
    also consider Family B. So when the last kangaroo of Family A reaches a hole, Family B’s kangaroo
    that’s closer to Family A’s side will move towards the end. Finally, use the same method we used on
    Family A on Family B so the kangaroos in both families can reach the end.

    5:
    Use the method explained above but consider when Family B should begin moving to ensure the use
    of minimum steps.

    Section B:
    1:
    While trying to find an expression for this question, I noticed a pattern in the numbers, shown in the
    table below:

    Size of Kangaroo Minimum Steps Pattern of MSR


    Families(SoKF) Required(MSR)
    1 3 1+2
    2 8 1+2 ×2+3
    3 15 1+2 ×2+3 ×2+ 4

    As you can see in the pattern, which I have arranged the numbers in a specific ascending order, all
    MSR numbers can be shown as a series of addition, with multiplication included in it. The addition
    starts with 1, and ends with the SoKF number + 1. All natural numbers in between them, if they were
    in ascending consecutive order, need to be multiplied by 2. Using this pattern, I derived a formula,
    shown below with the SoKF number as n.

    1+2 ×2+3 ×2 …+2 n+¿ )


    Then, I began simplifying the formula to make it easier to use. Using the consecutive number sum
    formula(shown below as expression A), I simplified the formula in the following steps(shown below
    as expression B), assuming the MSR number is x.

    Expression A:

    ( 1+n ) n
    1+2+3+…+ n=
    2
    Expression B:

    1+2 ×2+3 ×2 …+2 n+¿ )¿ x


    1+2+3+ ⋯+n+ ( n+ 1 )+ 2+3+ …+n=x

    ( 1+ n+1 )( n+1 ) ( 2+n ) ( n−1 )


    + =x
    2 2
    ( 2+ n ) ( n+1 ) + ( 2+n ) ( n−1 )
    =x
    2
    ( 2+ n ) ( n+1+n−1 )
    =x
    2
    ( 2+ n ) ( 2n )
    =x
    2
    ( 2+n ) n=x
    2
    n +2 n=x
    After simplifying the formula, I tested it with the original numbers, which worked. So in conclusion,
    the formula is n2 +2 n=x, where n is the size of the kangaroo families, and x is the minimum steps
    required. Below is also a graph of the equation:

    As you can see in the graph, it is a parabola, due to the


    formula being in the form of a x 2 +bx+ c , which is the
    standard form of parabolas.
    (Generated using Desmos)

    2:
    Using the same strategy described in Section A Question
    4. No matter what size the families are, the question
    can still be solved easily in the minimum steps.

    3:
    After testing the aforementioned strategy with different
    combinations, I realized that there is an exact
    expression for how many times a normal step or a jump
    is required. For steps, every kangaroo, after jumping,
    would still need one more step to reach the end, except
    the first kangaroo that moved, which moves a step at
    the start. So assuming Family A has x kangaroos and
    Family B has y kangaroos, the expression for steps will
    be:

    x+ y

    For jumps, since every kangaroo needs to jump for


    times of the other family’s number of kangaroos. The
    expression will be:

    xy
    Then, piecing the two expressions together, we can get the expression:

    x + y + xy
    The special thing about this expression is that we need to create a 3D graph if we wanted to graph it.
    Below is the 3D graph:
    (Generated by GeoGebra)

    As you can see, the two shapes resemble a 2d part cut out of a cone, which I find very interesting.

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