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From: Paul Wilkins <pwilkins@tpnet.co.nz>
Subject: Re: <><><><>Can ANYONE do this Math Problem, Please?<><><><>
Date: 1996/08/17
Message-ID: <32149793.61E@tpnet.co.nz>#1/1
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Bill Risher wrote:
> 
> Nobody In Particular wrote:
> >
> >     //|    / __   /_   __   __ /        WANTS YOU AND YOUR CREATIVITY
> >    // |   / /  ) /  ) /  ) /  / /  /  Social Computing 4-U*By-U*About-U
> >   //  |  / (__/ (__/ (__/ (__/ (__/  It's FREE! A way to fund the arts,
> >  //   | /  ___In Particular___   /  Charity & YOU! Magazine & Tape Club
> > //    |/________________________/      <http://www.mind.net/nobody>
> >
> > Here's the problem: If you tell  2 people about our  webpage,
>                                    ^-(guy 1 and 2,at point 1)
> >                     and  they each tell two  people, and they
>                                           ^-(3,4,5,6,at 2)
> >                     tell two  people, and so  on and so forth,
>                            ^-(7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,at 3)
> >                     how many people would know after 20 times?
> question: do guy 1 and 2 tell two more people at point 3? or do they
> only tell 3-6 at point 2?
> --
>  _ _ _ _   _ ____ ____    _ __ ____ ___      billr1@midwest.net
> | | | | |_| |_  _|__  |  | / /|_  _|   \     Of all the things I've
> | | | | ._. |_||_ ,',' ==|  <  _||_| |) )    ever lost, I miss my
>  \_,_/|_| |_|____|____|  |_\_\|____|___/     mind the most.

It should be 2^(n+1)-2
Then when n=1, people = 2
          n=2, people = 6
          n=3, people = 14
etc...
for 20 lots of this you'd end up with 1,048,574 people, presuming each
one tells only 2 poeple who haven't been told before.