84.0k views
2 votes
Your spaceship crash-lands on Neptune. On Neptune, there are three different species of beast, each of which, remarkably, resembles a delicious, wholesome dessert back here on Earth. Our scientists have accordingly named them the blancmange, the halo-halo, and the mousse. In a particular colony, scientists observed 36 blancmanges, 37 halo-halos, and 38 mousses. These extraterrestrial confections have a curious property: when any two individuals of different species touch, they both spontaneously transform into the third type. (So for example, a halo-halo and a mousse would become two blancmanges.) Is it possible that all the creatures eventually become the same species? (Hint: there is an invariant modulo

User Dfortun
by
7.7k points

1 Answer

5 votes

Answer:

it is impossible for all creatures to become the same species.

Step-by-step explanation:

According the exercise:

blancmange=36

halo-halo=37

mouses=38

if one blancmange and one halo-halo have contact with each other, I will have:

blancmange=36-1=35

halo-halo=37-1=36

mouses=38+2=40

if you want to keep the population of mice on the rise, this proportion must continue, therefore:

blancmange=36-36=0

halo-halo=37-36=1

mouses=38+36+36=110

The maximum amount of mouses is 110. According to these data, it is impossible for all creatures to become the same species.

User Rendy Eko Prastiyo
by
8.5k points
Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.