The 97 rational numbers 49/1, 49/2, 49/3, ..., 49/97 are written on a blackboard.
Two of the above numbers X and Y are chosen and replaced by X*Y-X-Y+1.
The procedure is repeated until a single number Z(say) remains on the board.

Determine the possible values of Z.

(In reply to solution for 4 elements only by Charlie)

To compare the results with a common denominator, each of the outputs from the 4-element simplification was multiplied by 24. After sorting the results were

Posted by Charlie on 2016-03-23 14:52:58