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MMO 192 Moscow MO 1951 chain of 150 links each weighing 1g

Source:

August 7, 2019
combinatoricsalgebraweighings

Problem Statement

a) Given a chain of 6060 links each weighing 11 g. Find the smallest number of links that need to be broken if we want to be able to get from the obtained parts all weights 11 g, 22 g, . . . , 5959 g, 6060 g? A broken link also weighs 11 g.
b) Given a chain of 150150 links each weighing 11 g. Find the smallest number of links that need to be broken if we want to be able to get from the obtained parts all weights 11 g, 22 g, . . . , 149149 g, 150150 g? A broken link also weighs 11 g.