Question: How do we solve questions (a) and (b)? Consider the following puzzle. Five coins are arranged around the vertices of a pentagon. The goal for

 How do we solve questions (a) and (b)? Consider the following

How do we solve questions (a) and (b)?

Consider the following puzzle. Five coins are arranged around the vertices of a pentagon. The goal for this puzzle is to go from the starting configuration below to a goal configuration that is a rearrangement of the coins around the pentagon. There are two allowable moves that can be applied repeatedly in any order: - Move X: you can rotate the coins around the pentagon, and - Move Y: you can rotate the coins in the upper triangle of the pentagon. For example, two applications of move X from the starting position results in Then one application of move Y to the above results in For each of the following, show that the given configuration can be obtained with a combination of moves X and Y, or prove no combination of moves X and Y lead to the given configuration: (a) (b)

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