Problem 8. Suppose I have 50 strings. At every step, I randomly pick 2 ends of strings (they could be the ends of the same string) and tie them together. At each step, I could make either a longer string or a loop. a) What is the expected number of steps it takes me to turn all the strings into loops? b) What is the expected number of loops? (Express this as a sum)

A First Course in Probability (10th Edition)
10th Edition
ISBN:9780134753119
Author:Sheldon Ross
Publisher:Sheldon Ross
Chapter1: Combinatorial Analysis
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Problem 8. Suppose I have 50 strings. At every step, I randomly pick 2 ends of strings
(they could be the ends of the same string) and tie them together. At each step, I could
make either a longer string or a loop.
a) What is the expected number of steps it takes me to turn all the strings into loops?
b) What is the expected number of loops? (Express this as a sum)
Transcribed Image Text:Problem 8. Suppose I have 50 strings. At every step, I randomly pick 2 ends of strings (they could be the ends of the same string) and tie them together. At each step, I could make either a longer string or a loop. a) What is the expected number of steps it takes me to turn all the strings into loops? b) What is the expected number of loops? (Express this as a sum)
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