If Prithvi managed to win the game though Surya began the game, what could have been the minimum number of balls greater than 5 that were lying on the floor?
Explanation:
When two players play a game such that
• they pick balls alternately, • each player can pick balls from 1 to n, • last player to pick loses.
The winning strategy in such scenario is to leave ((n+1)k + 1) marbles in your turn.
Whoever picks marbles from ((n+1)k + 1) marbles, he/she will lose.
For Surya to lose the game he should have picked the first time from (4k + 1) marbles.
From the options given, 9 and 13 are of the form 4k + 1. The least of these is 9.
Hence, option (b).
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