There are some poles, and on the first pole are some rings, each a different size. The sizes of the rings increases from the top to the bottom of the pole. The only allowable move is to take the top ring from any pole and place onto another pole. You cannot place a ring on top of another ring unless the other ring is exactly one size bigger. You can make as many moves as you like.
Your goal is to move all the rings onto the second pole, in the same order. What is the highest number of rings that can be moved when there are N poles? How can you move this many rings?
my solution for the number of rings that can be moved as stated in the directions with N total poles is ½N(N-1).
i think this is right but since no one seems to agree with me i have my doubts. according to alot of the other formulas there is a way to move 7 rings following the specific rules with only 4 poles. someone reply to this and please provide directions to do that if it is even possible. anyone who agrees with my formula reply to this and back me up. i also think it is related to triangular numbers like Erik O. origionally said. with my way just substite the number of poles into the formula for "N" and it will give you the number of rings.
my solution (someone back me up)
