MathDB

Alex and Zev are two members of a group of

2017

friends who all know each other. Alex is trying to send a package to Zev. The delivery process goes as follows: Alex sends the package randomly to one of the people in the group. If this person is Zev, the delivery is done. Otherwise, the person who received the package also randomly sends it to someone in the group who hasn't held the package before and this process repeats until Zev gets the package. What is the expected number of deliveries made?

Problem Statement