On a strange railway line, there is just one infinitely long track, so overtaking is impossible. Any time a train catches up to

Question

lina2011 [118]

2 years ago

13

On a strange railway line, there is just one infinitely long track, so overtaking is impossible. Any time a train catches up to

the one in front of it, they link up to form a single train moving at the speed of the slower train. At first, there are three equally spaced trains, each moving at a different speed. You watch, and eventually (after all the linking that will happen has happened), you count the trains. You wonder what would have happened if the trains had started in a different order (but each of the original three trains had kept its same starting speed). On average (averaging over all possible orderings), how many trains will there be after a long time has elapsed? what if at the start there are 4 trains (all moving at different speeds)? or 5? or n?

SAT