AS. A Puzzle From Peter Winkler

May 13, 2006 · answers, guests, math puzzles, The Mathcast, Topology and geometry · Permalink

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Peter Winkler, author of “Mathematical Puzzles: A Connoisseur's Collection”, asks how many coins are needed to cover a table.

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1 Comment »

  1. Shawn said,

    March 26, 2012 at 2:41 am

    If all of the coins are of the same denomination, it seems to be that even an optimal strategy would be insufficient to give the first player a strictly greater total than the second player, assuming there is an even number of coins. However, a more interesting version of the game might be played with each coin being of a different currency, and the winner being the person who’s total is highest when the values of the coins they collected is converted to some predetermined comparison currency using current exchange rates.

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