MathDB

A regular octagon is drawn on the patio floor. Emiliano writes in the vertices the numbers from

1

8

in any order. Put a stone at point

1

. He walks towards point

2

, having traveled

1/2

of the way he stops and leaves the second stone. From there he walks to point

3

, having traveled

1/3

of the way, he stops and leaves the third stone. From there he walks to point

4

, having traveled

1/4

of the way, he stops and leaves the fourth stone. This goes on until, after leaving the seventh stone, he walks towards point 8 and having traveled

1/8

of the way, he leaves the eighth stone. The number of stones left in the center of the octagon depends on the order in which you wrote the numbers on the vertices. What is the greatest number of stones that can remain in that center?

Problem Statement