Ten Crypto Problems Assignment

Abstract

This assignment is intended to afford an opportunity to consider the Crypto problem. Ten problems, posed in the assignment, are considered for solution. The solutions are presented in CSL, the prescribed way to express solutions to Crypto problems. A bit of analysis of the solutions is preformed. I present a few thoughts on how I think I go about solving Crypto problems. I translate one of the solutions into English.

10 Problem/Solution Pairs

  1. Can you make 2 from (3 7 8 5 8)?
    2. Answer : (((3 + 7) / 5) + (8 - 8))

  2. Can you make 5 from (15 11 2 4 15)?
    3. Answer : ((15 - 15) + 11 ) - (2 + 4))

  3. Can you make 1 from (12 14 11 12 5)?
    4. Answer : (((11 + 5) - 14) - (12/12))

  4. Can you make 13 from (12 4 10 15 5)?
    5. Answer : ((12 / 4) + (15 - 10) + 5)

  5. Can you make 15 from (5 1 1 10 11)?
    6. Answer : (((10 - 11) + (1 + 1)) * 5)

  6. Can you make 0 from (7 11 4 13 3)?
    7. Answer : (((7 + 4) - 11) * (13 + 3))

  7. Can you make 8 from (12 4 2 2 1)?
    8. Answer : (((12 + 4) / 2) / (2 - 1))

  8. Can you make 1 from (9 11 14 2 13)?
    9. Answer : ((11 - 9) - ((13 + 2) - 14))

  9. Can you make 3 from (0 9 0 9 7)?
    10. Answer : No Solution

  10. Can you make 13 from (1 6 12 1 8)?
    11. Answer : (((12 + 8) + 6) / (1 + 1))

Responses

  1. Which two of your solutions do you believe to be most similar? Why?
    2. Answer : I believe solutions number 1 and number 7 are the most similar because they are using the same operators in the same order.

  2. Which one of your solutions do you believe to be most different from all the rest. Why?
    3. Answer : I believe solution number 4 is the most different from the rest because none of my other solutions starts off with the divide operator.
    It is also the only solution to add a single number to the end.

  3. Which one of the problems do you think took the longest for you to solve?
    4. Answer : Problem number 2 took me the longest to solve.

  4. Translate your solution to problem Number 7 to English -- striving to do so in an appropriately expressive way -- artfully and unambigously.
    5. Answer : Add twelve plus four, now take the answer of that and divide it by two, then take the answer of the previous and divide that by two minus one.

  5. In one relatively short paragraph, articulate how you think you go about solving a Crypto problem.
    6. Answer : My technique for solving a crypto problem was to know the multiples of the answer I am trying to get. After knowing a couple multiples,
    I would try to derive the multiples from the numbers that were allotted to me by grouping them in pairs. When I get a pair that is a multiple of the answer,
    I would try to get another pair that could potentially give me the answer.