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special partitions of the 100 stones in k piles

Source: Mathematics Regional Olympiad of Mexico Center Zone 2011 P5

November 11, 2021
combinatorics

Problem Statement

There are 100100 stones in a pile. A partition of the heap in kk piles is called special if it meets that the number of stones in each pile is different and also for any partition of any of the piles into two new piles it turns out that between the k+1k + 1 piles there are two that have the same number of stones (each pile contains at least one stone). a) Find the maximum number kk, such that there is a special partition of the 100100 stones into kk piles. b) Find the minimum number kk , such that there is a special partition of the 100100 stones in kk piles.