1000 men are standing in a circle numbered 1 2 1000 1 takes a sword kills 2 and hands over

1 to 1000 are in a circle...1 takes a sword, kills 2 and hands over sword to 3, who takes it, kills 4 and gives it to 5....like this the sword moves the complete circle...killing all even positions...now we are left with all odd positions...like men no. 1, 3, 5, ... 999...and when 1000 dies, sword comes to 1 again... now it kills3 , and gives the sword to 5, and so on...on completion of round, the dead people were of form 4n-1...so people are left with form 4n+1..likely, 1, 5, 9,...997..and like this the sword keeps on moving and we are left with... are 1,9 , 17, ..993..but sword is with 993..
15 years agoHelpfull: Yes(10) No(5)

977 is the answer.by using josephus algorithm starting from 1 to 20 we get a formula 2(N-2^m)+1 where n is the total numbers m is the least square of two which is equal to or less than total.
10 years agoHelpfull: Yes(4) No(0)
All your answers are wrong. Though Hitesh got near. For a hint, search for Josephus Algorithm. Or use a program logic.
15 years agoHelpfull: Yes(2) No(0)
Or, here is another hint for you... Try finding out the survivor, when initial number of people are 1, 2, 3, 4, ... to some number like 20. Try to find out some sequence out of this. This surely will help.
15 years agoHelpfull: Yes(1) No(1)
Only one can survive....
15 years agoHelpfull: Yes(0) No(6)
1
15 years agoHelpfull: Yes(0) No(3)
The right answer is 2(488)+1=977
The problem is quite similar to Josephus problem.
10 years agoHelpfull: Yes(0) No(0)
I took n=100
Method remains same
Solution to the Riddle using Josephus Problem approach:
The solution requires getting the nearest smaller number that is the power of 2, in this case 64 and subtract it with the given number.100-64=36.

Now we apply the formula;
2n+1 = 2*36 + 1 = 72 + 1 = 73.

Hence answer = 73
8 years agoHelpfull: Yes(0) No(0)

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